The Slice: Looking back on the eclipse years from now

When little kids recall the eclipse decades from now, here’s what I predict they’ll say.

1.) “Well sir, there I was, minding my own business out by the swing set. When all of the sudden everything started to get dark. I immediately thought it was the North Koreans and hightailed it down to our bomb shelter, left over from the 1960s. And I’ve been down here ever since.”

2.) “I was only 4, so I figured I was too young to be having an LSD flashback. But the older I get, the less sure I am. My grandfather did say ‘far out’ a lot.”

3.) “Until fairly recently, I thought it had all been an interactive promotion for a ‘Star Wars’ movie.”

The far country: I knew it had been mentioned in The Slice a time or two years ago that there is a school named after Robert E. Lee over in East Wenatchee. So just out of curiosity, I searched our electronic archives. One reference to it appeared in my column from Jan. 23, 1996. Here’s the item, which led that day’s Slice:

There’s some truth to this.

“On January 11, the students of Robert E. Lee Elementary, in East Wenatchee, watched staff member Sylvette Engley be sworn in as a U.S. citizen,” wrote Cathie West, the school’s principal. “During the patriotic program, one second grade girl whispered to her teacher that she wasn’t a U.S. citizen. When the teacher inquired why, the 7-year-old reported confidently that she was born in another country – Spokane.”

Warm-up questions: When surveying some serious damage to a vehicle, are you able to resist saying, “Oh yeah, that’ll buff right out”? When a co-worker is summoned to go see the boss, do you say “Thoughts and prayers”? What really ought to be part of freshmen orientation for new college students?

Today’s Slice question (for men who played football in school): The word or phrase that best describes your most memorable coach is …

A) Caring. B) Sadist. C) Decency. D) Indictable. E) Frustrated drill sergeant.

F) Teacher. G) Screamer. H) Bully. I) Inspiration. J) Miscast.

K) Nutcake. L) Leader. M) Loyal. N) Honest. O) Simian.

P) Fair. Q) Unqualified. R) Lombardiesque. S) Sane. T) Hair-length obsessed.

U) Resilient. V) Militaristic. W) Throwback. X) The man who made me hate August. Y) Volcanic. Z) Other.

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Several readers admitted they can still name most of the families who lived on their block during childhood but don’t know many of their neighbors in 2017.