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The Slice: It’s the perfect excuse for the perpetual procrastinator

We’re about to enter that special time of year when all sorts of social hook-ups and business lunches can plausibly be put off with the magic words, “Let’s get together after the holidays.”

Dealing with panhandling in downtown Spokane: Let’s set up polygraph machines on every corner.

Things that clog our brains: Spokane Valley’s Jeff Brown still remembers his kindergarten girlfriend’s phone number. Of course, it’s a pretty easy number to recall — Riverside 1231. “Then it changed to Riverside 7-1231.”

Just wondering: What was the best subject-line message you ever saw on an e-mail?

Worst school colors: Dana Freeborn understands that her high school’s teams now sport different hues. But back in the ’60s when she attended Mt. Rainier High in Des Moines, Wash., the Rams wore baby-blue and white uniforms.

There are honest people in our midst: Just recently Peggy Coffey and her sister both had their parked cars damaged by other vehicles. In each instance, the driver left a note that turned out to have legitimate contact information.

Amazing.

“I’ve decided the world isn’t really going to hell in a handbasket,” said Coffey.

Slice answers: Asked if their dreams are usually set in Spokane, half a dozen wise guys replied that this certainly tends to be the case with their nightmares.

Several readers proved that they could draw up seating charts reflecting their workplace at the time of their long-ago first real jobs.

And most readers responding to the question about whether Spokane kids will be ready for the increasingly multicultural future suggested that they’ll be just fine. There were, however, a few doubts expressed about how older generations might adapt.

“In general, the adult population doesn’t know how to react to an accent or a name they can’t pronounce, because they just so rarely see it,” wrote Jacqueline Senouci.

Today’s Slice question: What’s the best way to brace for the onslaught of Christmas music?

A) Never take your earphones out/never stop listening to tunes of your own choosing. B) Gird your loins. C) It’s not a problem for me. I like it, even though I know it will be an aural tsunami this year because marketers are panicked about the economy. D) Come up with a meditative mantra that helps you tune out distractions and keep murmuring it for the next six weeks. E) Isolation chamber. F) Hypnosis. G) Other.

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098; e-mail pault@spokesman.com. At Frank Golubski’s home, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without playing Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant.”

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