On a quest to flush out answers

The biggest cultural divide in our area isn’t between Republicans and Democrats, Washingtonians and Idahoans or even personal-watercraft riders and people who can read.

It’s between those who have septic systems and those who don’t.

Or so it seems to me.

I think about this whenever I take a drive out in the country and see those yellow S-R delivery tubes along a rural road. I ask myself, “What do I really understand about the lives of the folks out here?”

Well, I know they are, by necessity, possessors of an independent streak that even a city dweller can admire. They have to know how to do at least a few things for themselves.

And they probably don’t sit around complaining about tardy snow plows.

Still, I wonder. What should residents of incorporated municipalities know about our fellow Inland Northwesterners who live out in wells-and-generators country?

So I’m asking Slice readers with homes on the back roads: What should city people understand about how your lives are different from ours?

Now I realize there’s not an impenetrable barrier between the two groups. Around here, lots of city dwellers grew up in the country. And there are plenty of townies who wind up fleeing to the backwoods.

In fact, I’ve even asked in print why a city person with an easy commute to work would move out to the country. (I heard a lot about scenery, quiet and crime rates.)

But this time I’m curious about the attitude and lifestyle credentials required to make a go of it out with the hawks and horses. How is that distinct from the city life skill-set?

•A dozen reasons to buy skating tickets:

1. You want to be a part of a true Spokane happening.

2. Come 2010, you’ll be able to sit back and say, “I’ve got ‘em, you want ‘em — make me an offer.”

3. Making your mortgage payment every month has gotten boring.

4. So you can eventually write a letter to the editor complaining about your seats.

5. “Free” T-shirt with every $1,000 order.

6. Because you think being there in person will be better than Hi-def.

7. To see some of America’s finest butt-twitching.

8. To avoid your usual nonbuyer’s remorse.

9. So you can be the good son for a change.

10. A little voice in your head told you to.

11. Civic pride.

12. It is cheaper than springing for a downtown condo.

•Today’s Slice question: What’s your prediction about mosquitoes this summer?