The Slice: Not a creature was stirring, except you

Stealthily extracting a middle-of-the-night snack from the fridge can be a challenge at any time of year.

But right now, when refrigerators are 110 percent full, it is a particularly dicey undertaking. One false move could trigger an avalanche of Thanksgiving vegetable bowls, covered dishes, pie tins and plastic containers of leftovers.

That can make noise. A lot of noise. The kind of noise that wakes people from a sound sleep.

“Huh? What was that? Scott, is that you?”

Not what you want at 2:30 a.m.

So you take it nice and easy. Employing a pickpocket’s touch, you ease your arm into the fridge and execute a fingertip search for the delicacy you crave.

Because you are moving in slow motion, like a cat about to pounce, you have time to ask yourself several key questions.

Why is the thing I want always in the back of the fridge?

Is that dish of mashed potatoes load-bearing?

After yesterday, how is it possible that I am hungry?

Why does reaching into this fridge remind me of that nighttime scene in “Red River” where the trail hand trying to sneak a pinch of sugar dislodges the chuck wagon’s pots and pans, creating a clanging cacophony and prompting the cattle herd to stampede?

Did I just put my hand in a bowl of jellied cranberry sauce?

Is this what they mean by “First World problem”?

How Families Wound Up Here Department: “My dad, Lloyd Roach, a B-29 pilot stationed on Guam, supposedly flipped a coin between Spokane and Albuquerque,” wrote Cheryl Miller. “My mom (Edna Roach) always said it probably was a two-headed coin.”

Good grief: Last year I bought extra postage stamps depicting scenes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

I thought it would be fun to use them to mail cards in 2016 when, presumably, they would not be available. But earlier this week my wife purchased some of those stamps at a post office.

Oh, well. I can always use them on the Avista bill.

Never Been to Hawaii Support Group update: Readers noted that those who are afraid to fly could get there on a cruise ship. Others suggested those married to someone who doesn’t want to travel should go to the islands with a friend.

And Tomas Kelley Lynch recommends spending the money on a motorcycle instead.

Today’s Slice question: What’s one difference between Spokane Valley and Bedford Falls from “It’s a Wonderful Life”?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Do you feel your vehicle is safe for highway travel?