She Didn’T Let A Few Measly Insects Bug Her

Thu., Aug. 3, 2000

By Paul Turner srpaulturner@gmail.com

Here’s how to be a gracious guest.

Ann Fennessy had been invited to dinner at the lake home of an older couple. It came time for dessert. Raspberries and ice cream were about to be served.

But Fennessy noticed something that gave her pause. Numerous tiny insects - thrips to be precise - were crawling all over the raspberries.

“Obviously, this nice older lady couldn’t see them,” the Spokane singer recalled.

Faced with a dilemma, Fennessy made a choice.

“I just ate them,” she said.

* Who is more apt to ruin your experience at a restaurant or movie: A baby or a loud, obnoxious adult?

* Not coming to a theater near you: A friend passed along a few responses to the reader challenge.

“The Unbearable Whiteness of Being.”

“A Driver Runs Through It.”

“Hayden Place.”

“Woodstove.”

* Family Phrases Department: Back when she was about 3, Lew Titchenal’s daughter Marcia announced that she was going to take a dump in the pool.

Everyone was pretty sure she meant “dip.” But Marcia’s malapropism has lived on among family members declaring an intention to go for a swim.

* Gender studies: On a recent Saturday, Ann Kerwin and a friend went to Spokane Power Tool and Hardware to purchase screws. “When we entered the store, I saw a number of attractive men,” said Kerwin.

She sniffed the air a couple of times. “Smells like testosterone and machine oil,” she said.

The woman behind the cash register laughed and said she calls the store the Nordstrom for men.

* A bee crawled up under her shorts: Years ago, Chuck Haywood was taking a walk with a woman near Spirit Lake. “Suddenly she came to attention,” he remembered. “And I heard her mutter, `What a helluva place to get stung by a bee.’”

* Slice answer: “If cars made policy, there wouldn’t be a multimillion dollar backlog of street repairs,” wrote Brian Sayrs. “(Those potholes hurt.)”

* Overheard on the bus (one early-teens girl talking to another): “My mom won’t let me wear them that tight because of boys and stuff.”

* Today’s Slice question: What would the Spokane area look like if property owners landscaped exclusively with vegetation that did not require watering?

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