The Slice: Not all couple conflicts are lofty

The question was about stupidest fights.

Donna Potter Phillips has a nominee.

“We’d been married a short few years when the wedding-present toaster started ‘stinging me’ every time I pushed the lever down. I kept asking him to fix it and he replied, ‘It doesn’t happen to me … must be your imagination.’

“Well, I picked up the toaster and dashed it to the floor, thereby ‘fixing’ the problem. We yelled about that for days.”

Blood meals: Longtime readers of The Slice know this column has occasionally mocked the notion that this area has a major mosquito problem. But I’ll be keeping quiet this year.

Define your terms: What is meant by the phrase “showboating” as pertains to Hoopfest court monitors?

Gas vs. charcoal: What are the key personality differences between owners of the two kinds of grills?

You might be more inclined to attend a class reunion if …: A) Your after-graduation life had been more successful, at least in a superficial sense. B) You had an apology you wanted to make in person. C) You had actually enjoyed your school years. D) You could be assured that a classmate whose association with you had been emotionally damaging would not be there. E) Your spouse was not apt to keep asking, “How about that one … did you sleep with her, too?” F) Other.

Just wondering: How many people wept openly during certain moments of 1998’s “Saving Private Ryan” even though the elderly combat veteran for whom they cried was still very much alive and would be for several more years?

The polite term is “wrinkles”: “When my now 8-year-old grandson was 4, we were sitting on the couch reading a book,” wrote Laurie Ryser. “As I was reading I noticed Ben (my grandson) was staring intently at my face. I paused to ask what he was looking at. His answer? ‘Gram, did you know your face has cracks in it?’

“Yes, I still love him.”

Warm-up question: You know on those remodeling shows where the homeowners say they need this or that because they do so much entertaining? Well, do you believe their lives really are an unending parade of open-concept social gatherings, or do you suspect they host about as many parties as the rest of us?

Today’s Slice question: I am absolutely, totally in favor of everyone keeping in mind what Memorial Day is all about. No question. But is there such a thing as taking the role of Memorial Day Scold a bit too far?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@ spokesman.com. Pine pollen can look like limeade powder.