The Slice: When phone rings, take a deep breath

Maybe you have a short list, too.

It consists of people you talk to on the phone only when there has been a death in your family or theirs.

I guess a case could be made that, almost by definition, we are not especially close to these individuals. Still, there can be a special connection.

Past demonstrations of decency and compassion in these difficult conversations are not forgotten. So when you see the name on Caller ID or hear his or her voice on a phone message asking you to call, it can make you want to sit down.

Even before you answer or return the call, anxious anticipation body-checks you out of your routine.

You hope it’s something else. But it is not, of course.

It’s funny. We stagger through the day, lurching from one forgettable thing to the next. Then, with no warning, we hear from someone we haven’t talked to in ages.

And suddenly we find ourselves hoping for the grace to be at our best, at least for a moment.

Channel changing, the early years: When Rachel Hellman was a kid, keeping the television picture steady was not a big problem. “But because it was before remote-control existed, I estimate that I would be at least $200 richer if I had a dollar for every time my older sisters threatened to punch me if I didn’t get up and change the TV channel before they counted to 3,” she wrote. “Their words still haunt me, ‘One… two…’”

Slice answers: Gary W. Smith hasn’t come close to being run down by someone in a motorized wheelchair. “But I have learned to be wary of motorized shopping carts,” he wrote. “I think they should be equipped with back-up alarms.”

And Justin Rowland addressed the question about whether being in your car counts as time spent outdoors. “If you’re out and about enjoying creation, absolutely,” he wrote. “If you are still attached to your smart phone or other such ball and chain, then no.”

Today’s Slice question: What’s your most predictable physical manifestation of stress?