There’S Thin Line Between Nice, Sleazy

This is what it has come to.

If you speak to a little kid, people watch to see if you are a pervert.

And if you greet an elderly person on a street corner, onlookers wonder if you might be a scam artist.

Boy, modern life can be swell.

Sign of the season: We saw a cashier at a register near a heavy-traffic store entrance. She wore a winter coat over her store uniform.

Gag gift or the roar of party animals in action — you make the call: The Washington Association of Wheat Growers is sponsoring a raffle. One of the prizes is a gallon of Roundup herbicide.

Return to sender: “Down the block was a man whose neighbors on either side had pine trees in their yards,” wrote Shannon Lorenz of Spokane. “Before mowing his lawn, he would pick up all the pinecones in his yard and throw them into the neighboring yards. How he determined which pinecones were from which tree is still a mystery.”

This date in “Hogan’s Heroes” history: Episode 9, Nov. 12, 1965 — “Go Light on the Heavy Water.”

A well-guarded truck arrives at the camp. London orders Hogan and the boys to destroy its cargo, thought to be headed for nuclear research. They do. — from “Hogan’s Heroes: Behind the Scenes at Stalag 13”

Assignment for grade-schoolers: Design a coat of arms — it can be for your family, your class, your neighborhood or whatever — and send it to The Slice.

If you aren’t sure where to start, ask your teacher about heraldry.

Snowboarders’ slang in the Year 2003:

Poomer - someone who tries dazzling jumps but can’t quite pull them off.

Sniffer - a snowboarder whose real interest is making social contacts.

Boing boing - someone who falls a lot.

Composter - snowboarder with poor hygiene.

Citizen - snowboarder with a life beyond snowboarding.

Mertz - someone over 30.

Marsupe - snowboarder with candy bars in his or her pockets.

Oral - snowboarder whose talk exceeds his ability.

Inert - never having snowboarded outside the Inland Northwest.

Today’s Slice question: With two weeks to go, maybe it’s time to ask. Are there people who secretly wish their extended-family Thanksgiving gatherings included just a little of that classic holiday tension we’re always hearing about? (You know, just to liven things up a bit.)