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The Slice: Sleigh bells ring, I’ve stopped listenin’

Fri., Nov. 28, 2014

By Paul Turner srpaulturner@gmail.com

What’s it like to work at a business where Christmas music plays nonstop?

I want to address this at length but first need to hear tales from the front.

Do you find it easy to tune out? Did you discover that you enjoyed it? Was there one particular song that challenged your ability to be of good cheer?

Of course, there is Christmas music and then there is Christmas music. You might not react to “The Holly and the Ivy” the same way you would to “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”

Anyway, please let me hear from you ASAP. And if you are afraid of getting in trouble with your boss, maybe we can work something out about protecting your identity. Also, let me know if it would be OK to come visit your place of business and listen for myself.

Feliz Navidad.

Just wondering: Which Spokane resident has rubbed shoulders with a greater number of famous people … Mike Kobluk or Jess Walter?

Old business: “Sorry this is late,” wrote Larry Winters, “but if you have space for an additional comment about driving on the left side of the road … I did not drive when we were in Ireland, but I never got over the sight of seeing a dog in the driver’s seat.”

In the matter of school sports mascots, it turns out The Slice isn’t quite done with that either.

“I attended Havermale Junior High in 1968/69,” wrote Steve Sauser. “We were a feeder school for North Central High School, the Indians. We were the Papooses, which somehow didn’t strike fear in the hearts of our opponents. So we voted and became the Warriors. We still couldn’t win much.”

Vern Melvin shared this. “(Teams fielded by) Libby Junior High (now the Libby Center) were the Kittens.”

Some called them the Tiger Kittens due to being a feeder school for Lewis and Clark High. Melvin recalled that football star Gale Cogdill was a Kitten before being a Tiger, Cougar and then, in pro football, a Lion.

Today’s Slice question: How do you reconcile the yearning to make Christmas meaningful with the avidly acquisitive desires of children?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Spokane Valley’s Gary W. Smith has a Black Friday game plan: “Stay home and read a book.”