The Slice Attention Diners, Fresh Pizza Bites In Aisle Four

You weekend grazers aren’t fooling anyone.

A woman who does those food demonstrations in stores told us she can always tell when someone feeding on multiple samples of sausage or cheese dip has no interest in actually buying the product.

And remember to wipe your mouth.

Comet tale: We heard from a reader in Greenacres who told us about a game her family plays. Basically, it’s this. You tap someone on the head and say “Hale-Bopp.”

“Who knows what we’ll do for fun once the comet is gone,” she wrote.

We’re not even going to guess.

Slice answers: “How could gardening NOT arouse our sexuality?” wrote a reader in the Spokane Valley. “Plants, dirt, water, fire and sex are primal.”

Another reader took offense at the question, reminding us that the Swell Paper is a “family newspaper.”

And one guy said it definitely is arousing when certain of his neighbors are the ones doing the gardening.

E9…Hit…A3…Miss: We’ve got mixed feelings about state lotteries. But we’ve got to admit we get a kick out of the Idaho Lottery’s “Battleship” scratch cards.

Maybe Spokane should host “Battleshipfest.” Downtown’s streets could be lined with card tables at which people would sit and play Battleship. Why, it might just become the largest outdoor gathering of…uh, never mind.

One reader filled in the blank this way: “All the evidence suggests that I am a (refrigerator) magnet.”

Three wishes: 1. We wish every story behind a “Lost Pet” flier had a happy ending. 2. We wish loud, foul language caused instant laryngitis. 3. We wish we were better at winking.

Jack L. Johnson wonders: “What is a friend worth?”

Warm-up questions: Do the people where you work have a code word that means “There is an attractive customer/visitor over here and you should come see for yourself”? Has there ever in the history of Spokane television been a Sunday evening local news program that didn’t conclude with a report from a “Star Trek” convention? What percentage of Spokane area residents have been to the West Edmonton Mall? What is your family’s nickname for telemarketing calls?

Today’s Slice question: What’s the one thing that consistently surprises first-time visitors to Spokane?

, 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. The Final Four is about car commercials.