The Slice: Good lemonade salesmen don’t grow on trees

Hey, kids.

If you’re going to try the lemonade stand thing, don’t have obviously dirty hands.

It’s poor salesmanship.

Also, a good sign (and a smile) is better than yelling.

Let’s move on.

“Something going around: “When I was younger and feeling a little under the weather my mom would say I had a case of the ‘gomboo,’ and now I say the same to my children,” wrote Kim Collins.

In Joan Ralph’s family, diarrhea and throwing up were known as “the muntut and pughgag.”

“Slice answers: Parents told about employing a variety of tactics – from prayer to pacing – to help a child do well in a recital or athletic competition. One spoke of closing her eyes and mumbling a meditative mantra.

“Speaking of good-luck rituals: Slice reader Ray Blowers wonders about the “habits, secrets, superstitions, etc.” of those gambling at local casinos.

Good question. But I’ll give you 3-to-1 that no one tells on himself.

“Slice answer: Don E. Nelson noted that, when it comes to summertime people-watching opportunities afforded by sitting outside a hospitality venue, the main drag in Wallace is tough to beat.

“Signs of summer: In Keri Yirak’s extended family, there’s such a thing as the “good” paper plates, intended to be saved for company.

“Today’s Slice question (for those who did not grow up here): How many people mark the length of time they’ve lived in this area by the age of someone born soon after they arrived?

I’m sure parents do that. But milestone babies don’t have to be your own.

Not long after moving to Spokane, I attended a social gathering at a co-worker’s home just off Indian Trail Road. The hostess was expecting and had started to show.

Unless I’m forgetting a parade-the-kid-through- -the-office visit, the next time I saw that baby-to-be was last Saturday, at a party hosted by another colleague. (Having moved to the East Coast years ago, the family was back for a visit.)

That yet-to-be-born infant is now a poised young lady just about to start her second year at Boston University. She was a good sport about helping me figure out that she had not made her official public debut when I first encountered her.

The moment suggested a new way for me to answer a question many of us get asked now and then.

Q: How long have you lived in Spokane?

A: A college sophomore.