The Slice: Just who are your flying companions?

When you are in another city waiting for a flight to Spokane, the other travelers at your gate often seem to be the sort of people who …

A) Would offer help if you needed it. B) Would be able to put on a car’s spare tire. C) Defy simple-minded categorization. D) Would call a columnist and leave a message saying, “Man, how much vacation time do you get?” E) Other.

Ring ting tingling too: “I was just wondering if anyone else starts to whistle ‘Sleigh Ride’ whenever a school bus with tire chains jingles by on the road,” wrote Karen Burgard.

Or perhaps begins to hear the Ronettes/Phil Spector wall-of-sound version. Ringalingaling dingdongding.

Slice answer: “As for spiders in boots, one word: Shopvac,” wrote Lawrence Killingsworth.

Actually I think there’s a little dot between the “Shop” and the “vac,” so that might be one and a half words.

“Giblets” could be a slang term for …: “Junk, as in airport talk,” said Gary Polser. “Don’t touch my giblets.”

Janet Culbertson suggested it could be a good name for the little pieces of wood that don’t get burned up in the fireplace.

“A roly-poly cat,” said Marjorie Lefevre.

Institutional spokespersons who appear to disdain the news media: Several readers named individuals who talk to reporters on behalf of local law enforcement agencies.

To be a nonconformist in Spokane: “Stop at stop signs,” said Jim Roeber. “Especially in residential areas.”

’Tis the season: “I find that there is a very thin line between being a Good Samaritan and enabling someone to continue operating with inadequate equipment,” wrote Tomas Kelley Lynch.

Today’s Slice question: If you routinely recline your seat back on crowded airline flights, which best describes your attitude?

A) It is permitted, so I do it in good conscience. B) My comfort trumps all other considerations. C) If I feel my seat slam into someone’s knees, I avoid eye contact when I get up to use the restroom. D) The Golden Rule is for chumps. E) Other.