The Slice: Re: A movie not appropriate for all ages

Maybe a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

“My mother took me to see a movie when I was about 9 called ‘The Mating Game,’ with Debbie Reynolds and Tony Randall,” wrote Valerie Adams. “I thought it was funny and cute.”

Then, when Valerie was a teenager, that 1959 film was back in a local theater for some reason. Valerie expressed an interest in seeing it again.

Her mom had another idea. “She wouldn’t let me see it because it was too risque. I told her I had already seen it with her a few years before. She said that was when I didn’t know anything and now I did.”

Falling asleep at a concert: Back when concerts were held at the Boone Street Barn, Ruth Bartoletta and her husband-to-be Frank were invited to go see the rock bands Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top.

“I knew he had no idea what he was getting into so I brought ear plugs for the inevitable volume. As expected, the music was deafening. I retrieved the ear plugs from my purse only to find him asleep. Whether or not he was snoring, I could not tell.”

Keeping it in the family: “My two grandsons in New Jersey have become Zags fans,” wrote Barry Bauchwitz. “We just sent them sweatshirts.”

The boys are also Los Angeles Dodgers fans. “We brought them to Dodger spring training in Arizona a couple of years ago. After all, the grandparents want to ensure that they are raised with the right values.”

Of course. And speaking of the Dodgers …

It was a different time: I recorded and eventually watched an episode of the ancient “Donna Reed Show.” The info had indicated the episode featured Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale. At one point, while the family is visiting Chicago, Donna’s son phones the main number for Wrigley Field and asks to speak to the big hurler. (The Dodgers were in town to play the Cubs.)

“May I speak to Don Drysdale?” Still cracks me up.

But all that is beside the point. Before the family leaves to go to Chicago, Donna is inundated with requests from friends. They want her to call various extended family members who live in Chicago while she’s there. So here’s my question.

Do you remember when people actually did that, because long-distance calls were such a big deal?

Today’s Slice question: Is there anything scarier than seeing a parent carrying an infant in a backpack while gingerly traversing icy sidewalks or parking lots?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. I wonder what bus rider was the last to realize that STA is on a holiday schedule today.