The Slice: Let’s add one to the list of choices

Dennis Magner said I overlooked one option the other day when proposing potential categories for a future Slice collection of reader photos.

“Kids freaking out about having their phones taken away from them.”

Let’s move on.

Slice answers: Mary Ann Barney nominated her friend Hugh Chapman as the Inland Northwest’s most politically liberal pickup truck owner.

Roger Stephens nominated Steve Paulson. “He drives a 250 Ford diesel.”

And an email from John Hancock had “Progressive pickups” in the subject line and said simply “I have a pickup.”

Enough said.

In lieu of a mud room: “When my sister was married to a farmer she kept a stack of paper grocery bags by the back door,” wrote Liz Schatz.

There were often open, empty bags standing just inside that door.

“His task was to step into the bags and shuffle around the house as needed. That kept all the dirt inside the bag and it kept the poor guy from having to pull off his filthy boots every time he came in the house for a meal or whatever.”

Re: Tuesday’s column: A number of Slice readers said they know the impatient, traffic-directing driver I described.

“The guy you’re looking for lives near me,” wrote Patti Baird.

Laurie Powers said “Yes, you can definitely feel the difference when there is a traffic snarl and someone is trying to be kind and wave you in, as opposed to a ‘I am directing traffic for no explicable reason and do what I say immediately’ hand gesture.”

Cindy Matthews weighed in with this. “Yes, we’ve encountered that guy. He must work for a car rental company that delivers and picks up the cars at your location as he is in a different vehicle every time we see him.”

Another reader suggested his brother lives in Coeur d’Alene.

Then there was this, from John Bafaro. “Yes, I run into that guy often when driving. I’m amazed at how many vehicles he has. He also likes to cross-dress on occasion. Used to be that people offering you right of way were friendly, generous sorts. I don’t travel much either, but in the last couple of years I have driven in both San Antonio and Omaha, and thankfully he was in neither city.”

Today’s Slice question: What are the best/worst things about the diminishing hours of daylight?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Slice readers seem to be sharply divided about the appeal of pumpkin flavor.