The Slice Rockets’ Red Glare Can’t Match A Kid’s Underwear

After the fireworks in Coeur d’Alene the other night, the Cheeley family was headed back to the house when little Gabriel, who is almost 3, piped up.

“It’s time to go home when my underwear turns green,” he declared.

Nobody argued with him.

Parenthood: A reader shopping at a Spokane Valley discount store had to smile when she heard a public address announcement informing a certain person that “Your mother is leaving the store.”

Empty ritual or one of those moments that make life bearable - you make the call: There are these two guys who ride STA’s Route 29 early in the morning. They usually don’t converse during the trip downtown. But when one of them gets off a couple of stops before the STA Plaza, the other always tells him to have a good day.

Brave new world: “Our Church Has Gone Techo,” began an item in a South Hill church’s bulletin. Did the big news have to do with a web site or the arrival of an advanced PC?

Nope. “As of June 30, our church has a fax machine.”

Life is so unfair: We have this fantasy where MTV films a season of “Real World” in Spokane and all the self-absorbed young people do is sit around and complain about how boring it is here.

Oh, wait. Never mind. That’s no fantasy. That’s reality at any one of about a dozen hangouts near Gonzaga University.

One sign that your pets own you: You interrupt phone conversations by saying, “Wait a second, I think Fozzie wants something.”

You couldn’t breathe but at least you could open the window at night without detecting that smell: So far, it appears that there are no skunks on Mars.

It’s not the same thing as having style, but it’s a start: Using vintage suitcases when traveling.

Warm-up questions: What goes through your mind when you see that sign for the defunct East Sprague Drive-In Theater? Whose home has an entrance that has gone the longest without being used? Is it true that, in the Inland Northwest, the “captain” of even a tiny boat is empowered to conduct wedding ceremonies for special 24-hour “Summer marriages”?

Today’s Slice question: In terms of outlook on life, what’s the biggest difference between Spokane area residents who have basements and those who don’t?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: The Slice appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. Our pick: American League, 7-5.