The Slice: Reactions offer varying states of thought

So I met this nice guy named Louis.

In the summer, he divides his time between Spokane and North Idaho.

He told me about how his steady companion, an appealing woman whose name I’ll leave out of this, had fallen and hit her face. The spill produced a nasty bruise that took a while to fade away.

Anyway, Louis said that when he and this lady would be out in public in Spokane, more than a few people noticed her discoloration and fixed him with nasty looks.

But in North Idaho, no one reacted that way.

OK, there is nothing funny about battering. But Louis wasn’t kidding. He said the difference in reactions was not just in his imagination.

So how would you explain this?

Perhaps Idaho residents hold the presumption of innocence in higher regard.

•Slice answers: I’m way behind on sharing readers’ responses to questions. So here’s a smattering, after which I will declare myself caught up.

I had asked how many readers had bikes in their garages or basements that hadn’t been ridden since Nixon was president. And Coeur d’Alene’s Cathy Kraus e-mailed a photo of a bicycle belonging to her husband. She guessed that it hasn’t been ridden since LBJ was in office.

Eric Johnson reported that there are 10 fans in use at his house.

Debbie Miller said her all-time favorite “Star Trek” episode might be the one where Spock is overcome with a need to, as Miller put it, “return home and take a wife.”

Speaking of marital relations, several readers responded to the question about who has engaged in intimate social congress on the most consecutive days. But I’m having a hard time fact-checking these claims.

Jon Etherton had several ideas about things kids could sell on days when the lemonade isn’t moving.

“Ice-cold pop,” he said. “No worries about improper hygiene in preparation.”

Among his other suggestions were stock tips, discounted subscriptions to the S-R, indulgences, treasure maps and fortune cookies.

Slice reader Stephanie Mills recalled a time she and her brother tried to sell captured insects. “Needless to say, our venture was short-lived,” she wrote.

A couple of readers noted that Americans who experience soccer as their first sport don’t usually have much trouble learning to avoid using their hands, though one noted that sometimes very young goalies have to be reminded that this prohibition does not apply to them.

•Family Sayings Department: A friend’s dad has been visiting her here in Spokane. English is not his native language, so he speaks with a bit of an accent.

“He’s been eating a beagle every morning,” wrote my friend.

Huh?

“Of course, he means a bagel, but bagels will never be called anything other than beagles at my house from now on.”

•Today’s Slice question: In which long-gone major league ballparks did you attend baseball games?