Paul’s People, No. 87

I had not met Ron Hardin in person until this morning.

But I have suspected for years that he’s a good guy. Meeting him simply confirmed that.

A native Spokanite, Ron spent years as a radio newsman and then another stint in broadcast advertising sales.

More recently, he has worked and volunteered for several social service programs here in Spokane. His enthusiasm for the good work these programs do is infectious.

One of my favorite Slice submissions from Ron arrived in early 2007. It involved stores placing products related to back pain down low in impossibly hard-to-reach spots. Loved that.

But my pick for No. 1 would be something Ron shared with me a little more than a year ago.

“Sometimes words we use with technology get picked up by the kids and are repeated in an unexpected way,” Ron Hardin wrote.

Here is his story.

“When our granddaughters come to visit, they have rules to follow. One such rule is to clean up all toys before leaving the basement.”

Doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

Hardin was downstairs with one of the granddaughters the other evening when they were called upstairs for dinner. The little girl had been engaged with a “Sesame Street” play set. Hardin reminded her of the clean-up rule.

She looked at him and said, “I put it on ‘pause.’ ”