The Slice Nothing Like An Altar Boy To Liven Up A Spokane Party

We haven’t done a study, so we can’t say for sure.

But by our estimate, there are 10,000 former altar boys in the Spokane area.

The implications? You tell us.

Phone follies: Except for the area code, which some callers apparently get confused about, William J. Plonske’s law office in Moses Lake has the same telephone number as the Swell Paper’s Idaho CityLine.

“We get calls daily for everything from Rappin’ Rudolph to horoscopes, from NRA polls to editorial comments on stories,” wrote office assistant Liberty Jerentowski. “We have heard some interesting opinions and questions…but our clients get a little impatient when we are trying to get ready for a trial and someone wants to know what time it is in Mexico.”

High praise for Idahoans: “There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. It’s called the Montana state line.” - from Herb Caen’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle We’re not suggesting this: But if people started body-checking riders as they zoomed by, bicyclists might get the hint that they don’t belong on sidewalks in front of businesses.

Workplace rule: Saying “Hi” to a sourpuss makes you the winner.

Trend forecast: Trillions of cats and zero songbirds.

Slice answers: Thanks to all who shared airport celebrity sightings. A comprehensive list would use up all our space. But we enjoyed this note from Wilbur’s Dorothy DeMers.

“I was in the Atlanta airport last summer when I spotted Richard Simmons… When I was sure it was him, I hid behind a pillar, because, being among the weight challenged, I was afraid he would spot me and make me do a few rounds of ‘Sweating to the Oldies.”’

We recommend: If you’re surfing through those educational channels and come upon that Robert Cringely PBS series on the evolution of the personal computer, check it out.

Warm-up question: What feat of “He/she slept through the whole thing” is your family’s most amazing achievement in the snoozing arts?

Today’s Slice question: What aspect of life in the Spokane area is most like a beer commercial?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: The Slice appears Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. What some folks don’t seem to realize is that lots of people around here have been all over the world.