Looking For Our ‘Tony Bellevue’
Is there a Spokane-area equivalent to Seattleites looking down their noses at Bellevue residents?
Sure, there’s making fun of the South Hill. But even as brainless stereotyping, that has never seemed satisfactory. For one thing, it overlooks the fact that there are several different kinds of neighborhoods there.
Maybe you have a better answer.
At the grocery store around noon on Sundays: Jan Polek has observed that shoppers at this time appear to be divided into two groups: “Those who are dressed up and on their way home from church and those who are in sweats and sneakers and look as if they just rolled out of bed.”
There’s more. “The interesting thing to observe is that the churchgoers are smiling and chatty, while the `recent risers’ lurk in the aisles, trying to avoid eye contact. I am sure about the latter because that is what I was doing this Sunday.”
Hearing voices: We heard about local women who, when they have colds, sound like Farrah Fawcett, Patricia Neal, Tallulah Bankhead and Debra Winger.
Little Luke: We can expect a new round of naming newborns after “Star Wars” characters. And that’s certain to be an improvement.
Just wondering: What’s your favorite example of management speak? Here’s one we like.
MANAGEMENT SPEAK: “Your project is on hold.”
TRANSLATION: “We’ve put a bullet in it.”
For the record: Belva Jay, a Spokane school bus monitor, didn’t offer an opinion about reactions of rural children. But she said city kids definitely get excited about seeing deer.
Pronunciation problems: Shirley Chavez is 62. But she remembers a time in fifth-grade when her attempt to say “Leaning Tower of Pisa” proved embarrassing.
And no, she didn’t say “pizza.”
Another woman told about memorably botching the pronunciation of “shipping.”
This will be handy if she becomes a time-traveler: Spokane’s Anne Ashley just received her Library of Congress Associates membership card. It’s “Valid Thru JAN 1900.”
Slice answer: Several readers said alarmingly graphic work stories are an “occupational hazard” of having a nurse for a spouse/significant other.
Today’s Slice question: How often do STA riders say, “Pardon me, but I’ve been looking at the back of your head and here’s what I think you ought to do with your hair…”?