The Slice Warning: ‘Tis Season For Catalogs

Chances are, you’ve noticed.

It’s catalog season. The annual avalanche has begun.

Some of us receive so many at this time of year it’s almost laughable.

Most come from places far from here, inviting us to do business with outfits in Maine or California. And that’s fine. All’s fair.

There are Inland Northwest businesses that send catalogs across the country, too. Coldwater Creek comes to mind. So we’re not going to get into all that.

But we’ve got to admit it would be nice to open the mailbox and see reflections of life in the Inland Northwest more often. After all, New Mexico and Vermont aren’t the only places that offer distinctive products.

You want specifics? OK, here are some catalogs we would like to find nestled in our mailbox.

“Frederick’s of the South Hill.” Complete line of intimate apparel for the boudoir, including all your Spokane favorites - sweatpants, baggy T-shirts and thick wool socks.

“Nose Rings and Things.” Bring the STA Plaza experience into your home. Call now.

“Mail-Order Legume of the Month.” Have a different package of peas or lentils delivered 12 times a year. High-fiber fun.

“Duller Image.” Stuff you actually need at prices you can almost afford, as selected by the Inland Northwest’s No. 1 team of madcap minimum-wage survivalists.

Slice answer: After asking about businesses where long-time employees don’t even bother introducing themselves to new hires because of the high turnover, we heard from Chuck Kirk, who works in a grocery warehouse. “It’s like Vietnam,” he wrote. “We don’t want to get too close to the new guys because they will be gone soon.”

And a local chef told us that when filling out work schedules for his kitchen staff, he tends to write in “NFG” - which roughly translates as “new guy” - instead of using the recent hire’s name.

The Slice’s favorite Teresa Wright movies:

1. “The Best Years of Our Lives.”

2. “The Pride of the Yankees.” (On AMC tonight at 6.)

3. “Mrs. Miniver.”

Warm-up questions: How many people who moved here from somewhere else were victims of a crime during their first week of living in the Spokane area? Ever tried putting on a pair of glasses when you were already wearing another pair?

Today’s Slice question: What is the Inland Northwest’s most popular key-chain doodad and what does that say about us?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

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. Randy Richter said admitting that you don’t care about the WSU Cougars can make you an outcast around here.