The Slice: Let’s get to the bottom of this cover-up

Let’s start with a seasonal question.

Sweaters or sweatshirts?

You make the call.

OK, let’s move on.

•The dumbest thing done by someone working in your home: “It’d have to be the time painters spray painted our living room and then forgot to turn off the machine,” wrote Alison Highberger.

“One of the workers stepped on the handle and sprayed a big arc of green paint onto the freshly painted white ceiling of the adjoining dining room. Paint also rained down all over the living room furniture, dishes and objets d’art that were stacked in the dining room and on the table (everything had been taken out of the living room and was crammed into the dining room).”

Next.

“When we had our kitchen remodeled, the flooring guy mistook my brand new kitchen sink for a utility slop sink,” wrote Lisa Giegel. “He left scratches and adhesive in it after washing up the installation tools. I would have been happy to let him use the one in the basement had he asked.”

To be continued.

•Why I don’t eat apples: “False teeth,” said Bob Kirlin.

“Because they contain salicylates,” said Bill Hochstatter.

“I don’t like their taste, texture, smell, feel, peel, the crunch or even the first bite (hurts the roof of my mouth),” wrote a reader named Christie.

“Beautiful on the outside but mushy on the inside,” wrote another nonfan.

And Roberta Garner had this to say.

“You have validated me merely by asking the question. Even if I didn’t respond, I could rest easier now knowing that I must not be the only freak who does not like apples.”

•Second opinions: “After reading your Sunday Slice, I found my copy of ‘Spokane Saga’ that I have had for many years,” wrote Joyce Callaway of Medical Lake. “I enjoyed rereading the book.”

Wayne Pomerleau bought a used paperback copy for about a quarter some 30 years ago, when he was new to Spokane. But he still hasn’t read it. “Sounds like such dreck,” he wrote.

•Putting a different spin on the Inland Northwest accent: Years ago, Gary Rust spent a month in upstate New York attending management training sessions for IBM. “There were about 30 people from all over the U.S.,” he wrote.

Two of the participants, one from Brooklyn and one from Atlanta, had a hard time communicating. “They were constantly asking me what the other was saying.”

So, calling on his honed-in-Spokane speech recognition/speaking skills, Rust translated for them.

•Today’s Slice question: To what extent is your workplace personality an act?