The Slice: Neighbors couldn’t bare it

Some missed opportunities are hard to forget.

“When I was living on College Hill in Pullman near Greek Row, one of the fraternities had an annual Water Follies,” wrote Martha “Marty” Mullen. “As the major activities seemed to be 1) standing around their swimming pool and 2) shrieking, it was often a noisy event.”

In an attempt to mollify the neighborhood, fraternity members distributed fliers apologizing in advance for any disturbance. One year, they actually invited neighbors to attend the party. That year’s handout read “Please bare with us and come join the fun.”

“As an educator, I saw this as the perfect ‘teachable moment,’ ” wrote Mullen. “Surely the appearance of a bunch of geezers (anyone over 25) in the buff would forever imprint the difference between bare and bear in the minds of this group of young people.”

Unfortunately, she was unable to persuade anyone else to take part and the brilliant plan had to be shelved.

“Misspeaking: “My husband, Dave, when describing someone’s weak position, says ‘He doesn’t have a grain of salt to stand on,’ ” wrote Patti Ormsby of Coeur d’Alene.

“Slice answers: It happened quite a few years ago, and it was before she moved to Spokane.

But South Hill resident Terry Currey remembers the time a neighbor’s baby crawled in through her pet door, losing his diaper in the process.

When the kid was discovered, he was watching TV.

And in another matter, Mary Farley said her friend Rosie Robertson probably holds the local record for being bitten by cats the most times. “I have known Rosie for 30 years and I don’t think she has ever turned down a stray,” said Farley.

“Ron and Judy Lugone’s all-time Top 10 movies: “Harold and Maude,” “King of Hearts,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” the “Godfather” series, the “Indiana Jones” series, the “Lord of the Rings” series, “Taxi Driver,” “The Graduate,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai.”

“Today’s misheard song lyric: Jennine Murphy thought Neil Diamond’s “Forever in Blue Jeans” was “Reverend Blue Jeans.”

“News hound: Jim McCall had a dog named Rafter who understood that newspapers are a good thing.

“When we were receiving the Walla Walla paper in the evening, he figured out that if he brought the paper in he received a doggie treat,” wrote McCall.

But why settle for one treat?

Rafter began collecting other family’s papers, which he would dutifully deliver to McCall.

“Of course, we went around the neighborhood to determine who was missing their paper, returning them and apologizing,” said McCall.

Maybe Rafter should have gotten his own delivery route. Then he could have bought his own treats.

“Today’s Slice question: Who is the happiest person in Spokane?