Options For 2000 Include Cup Holders, Map Lights

Tue., Nov. 16, 1999

By Paul Turner srpaulturner@gmail.com

If you’ve tried to squeeze by one of these rolling behemoths at a crafts fair or holiday bazaar, you might have noticed.

Baby strollers have gotten huge.

This didn’t happen overnight, of course. The SUVing of baby strollers has been building for years.

But some of today’s fully-loaded models are about the size of compact cars. A few of these strollers seem so unnecessarily big that they ought to have names such as “The Aisle Clogger” or “Baby’s First Ego Trip.”

What are parents thinking? Are they wanting to make sure that, if there’s a collision with another stroller, their kid will crawl away unscathed?

What’s next? Babies crying on cell phones and sucking on 20-ounce lattes?

Hey, put down the bottle and drive.

* Slice answer: Slice reader Dan Lambert said City of Spokane employee Lars Morgan never whines.

* Annual reminder: You have a choice. You can try to lead a meaningful life. Or you can keep track of college basketball scores.

* Enough already: It’s past time to retire the expression, “It’s not rocket science.”

* Says here: OK, New York is special. But almost any city would come off as worthy of PBS treatment if you played Gershwin in the background.

* Multiple choice: Which of the following best describes the facial expression you tend to adopt when working on a computer? (Feel free to consult family members, co-workers or classmates.)

a.) baffled.

b.) blissed out.

c.) constipated.

d.) slack-jawed trance.

e.) fearful.

f.) frustrated.

* Peaceful coexistence: Sitting along the jagged fault-line separating Vandals fans from Grizzly backers at Saturday’s Idaho vs. Montana football game in Missoula offered a lesson in tolerance.

Never mind all that squishy talk about empathy and understanding.

There seems to be one essential key to coexisting with those with whom you disagree: Ignore them.

* Warm-up question: What Inland Northwest business has the most vice presidents?

* Today’s Slice question: What Spokane area parents have a son or daughter attending a college with a student population featuring the smallest percentage of kids from the Inland Northwest?

Local journalism is essential.

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