The Slice: The Slice: Keep your cool this season

In some homes, the TV is the center of attention.

In others, it’s the computer.

But in the weeks to come, the refrigerator will vie for the No. 1 spot. It’s a seasonal thing.

With that in mind, here are The Slice’s Ten Commandments of Fridge Conduct.

1. Thou shall not stack leftovers in such a way as to create the potential for an avalanche.

2. Thou shall not bear false witness against siblings/spouses about who took the last piece of lemon meringue pie.

3. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s freezer space.

4. Thou shall not kill whoever took the last beer.

5. Thou shall not cram.

6. Thou shall not stand there with the door open for 10 minutes.

7. Thou shall not neglect to screw on lids securely.

8. Thou shall not forget to wash hands before pawing through 18 food containers.

9. Thou shall not sneeze into the refrigerator.

10. Thou shall not create nuclear fusion by filling fridge far beyond capacity.

“Slice answer: “My favorite latte would be named after me, but they only know my dog’s name – Becky,” wrote Kathy Morse. “So it would be called Becky’s Special: Double hazelnut latte, 20 ounce skinny.”

“Recycling: Everyone knows that the rainy-day plastic bags the newspaper comes in are perfect for picking up after dogs. But a friend with an injured football-player son said those bags are also just right for keeping a forearm cast dry in the shower.

“Slice answers: Readers said there are two ways to deal with a friend or relative who uses foul language around your young children.

1. Direct, in-their-face confrontation and ultimatum.

2. Acquainting offenders with the concept that cussing isn’t really an impressive way of expressing oneself.

Thanks to Cal Riemcke, John Wilson, Karen Cole, Doreen Robbins and others.

“Warm-up question: Who is the youngest person in the Inland Northwest still keeping in touch with friends and relatives by writing letters the old-fashioned way?

“Today’s Slice question: There are several ways to define “buying locally.” A purist might say it involves purchasing items that were made here (from locally produced components) and sold here. Of course, a case could be made that buying some made-in-China piece of toy in a Spokane area store supports the people who work at that retail outlet. Or that local delivery people benefit from catalog orders. And so on.

So I’ll leave it up to you to sort out precisely what it means. But here’s my question.

As holiday shopping season approaches, how hard would it be to stick to a “buy local” pledge?