The Slice: Avoiding the odor is really just a black-and-white issue

The thing that surprises you about skunks when encountering one face-to-face is how big they can be.

The other morning, I happened on to one that seemed to be the size of a small bear.

Maybe it just seemed that big. Walking to work in the dark, my eyes have been known to play tricks on me.

But I trust my nose. And when the predawn air carries that unmistakable whiff of polecat, I become hyper-alert. Wide-eyed and head on a swivel, I scan bushes and glance under cars for any sign of a South Hill Pepe Le Pew.

So far, I’ve been lucky. The skunks I have met on my way to downtown have understood that I meant them no harm. They let me pass without incident.

I’ve actually mumbled “Thank you,” a time or two.

Still, I routinely find myself thinking ahead about how getting sprayed would alter my day.

Could I go to that appointment reeking of skunk juice? Would my co-workers pass out if I went on in and wrote my column without changing clothes?

It’s 2007, and everyone prizes full color. But I’ll tell you, black and white can still quicken your pulse.

“We interrupt this boycott for a special report: So, you know that Medical Lake family The Slice has been following, the ones who are trying to go without watching TV this month?

Well, a KXLY news team went out and interviewed them for a feature story. So that puts an unexpected spin on the viewing boycott.

“The big dilemma now is: Are we going to break our TV-fast to watch ourselves on TV?” wrote Robin Trout. “The jury is still out. More discussion is needed.”

“Today’s Slice question: If you were the czar of the S-R, how would you decide which towns in the newspaper’s circulation area require tacked-on “Wash.” or “Idaho” state identifiers and which do not?

A). Add the state name when context fails to make the location of the town immediately clear.

B) Add the state name when an editor who has lived here for half an hour might be confused.

C) Add the state name when the population of the community in question is less than 500.

D) Add the state name when you want to signal to readers living outside Spokane that the S-R doesn’t really know this area and assumes that no one else does either.

E) Add the state name if you assume no one knows that Republic and Davenport are in Washington.

F) Add the state name when there are towns in both Washington and Idaho with the same name.

G) Add the state name if you believe that every story about football should explain what is meant by “touchdown.”

H) Add the state name if you think editors at the S-R ought to model themselves after Donald Sutherland in “The Dirty Dozen,” when, after being told the name of a soldier’s hometown, he says, “Never heard of it.”

I) Other.