The Slice: This would have been big news

Most of us realize that a lot of people don’t know what they are talking about.

That’s a given.

But sometimes strangers say things that are wrong on so many levels, you almost wouldn’t know where to begin if you tried to correct them.

Here’s a case in point.

Tara Leininger and Donivan Johnson were out at Spokane International Airport early one recent morning, waiting for a flight.

Nearby, a guy on a cell phone described the scene visible out the windows.

“Yeah, I’m at the airport in Spokane,” he said. “I’m watching the sun come up over the Cascades.”

“Recycling bin: The New York Times Book Review’s Marilyn Stasio must really love Jess Walter’s line about Spokane being “the trailer park of the Pacific Northwest.”

She has used it twice now.

“Corporate naming rights for the Intermodal Center: “If Trane heating and cooling systems were to sponsor the Intermodal Center then it could be known as the Trane Depot,” wrote Joe Donaldson.

And Maria Washington suggested that if the Davenport Hotel sponsored the train/bus center it could have an easy-to-remember acronym: DIC.

“Trends that have gone from bad to worse: Second-rate celebrities on football sidelines.

“Key questions: 1. Who is the least attractive person on The Weather Channel?

2. Is there a movie more autumnal than “The Trouble With Harry”?

3. What does your Netflix queue say about you?

“Name this flavor: Ferris senior Grace Chapin turned 18 this week. Here’s one of her highlights that became a family legend.

“For as long as I can remember, Grace has sniffed her food before beginning to eat,” wrote Sue Chapin, her mother. “Not an attractive habit, but what can a parent do?”

Well, once when Grace was about 12, the family stopped for ice cream cones.

“As she was handed her cone and began her ritual sniff, a man who had obviously not bathed in a VERY LONG time walked up and stood directly behind us,” wrote Sue Chapin.

Grace took a whiff of her cone and reacted with revulsion.

“My ice cream really smells bad,” she blurted.

Her mom, who realized what had happened, eventually pulled her away from the counter.

“To this day, whenever someone in our family is eating an ice cream cone, one of us is obligated to say, ‘My ice cream smells really bad.’ “

“Today’s Slice question: Who’s on your list of “Local people I really like but almost never see”?