The Slice: You never know when this tendency might flare up

North Idaho’s Karen Botker wonders if she is a redneck.

“Are rednecks a nationality? Are they a cultural group with similar interests? Are they born with mutant DNA? Are they taught to be rednecks? Or are they normal human beings who love their 13-year-old van?”

That last question is the key. You see, Karen owns just such a vehicle. And she has discovered it’s not easy to find replacement parts. So she found herself saying she ought to acquire a similar van from a local auto salvage operation and place it in her backyard. You know, so she’ll always have matching parts.

Karen now suspects those who heard that innocent moment of brainstorming will never let her forget it.

Always look on the bright side of life: Lawrence Killingsworth recently discovered that his high school jacket from 1963 now fits like a charm. “Thanks to the miracle weight-loss powers of radiation therapy.”

Slice answer: Jim Price said one episode of “Spokaneshire,” a hypothetical Sunday night PBS show, could deal with cracking the case of the choir’s missing offering plate at Manito Presbyterian. “And, contrary to Presbyterian tradition, the mystery was solved without creation of a committee.”

The view from the corner booth: Jim Clanton filed a report from Spokane’s seamy underbelly. Or thereabouts.

“A buddy and I are on a quest to have a burger at every locally owned dive in Spokane before we depart to the other side. Kind of a way of making sure we stay in touch. I don’t play golf and he doesn’t run.

“The result of this is that we eat at a fair number of sketchy taverns around town. My buddy is a teetotaler and I am pretty close to one, so we usually order iced tea with our burger. The reaction of the proprietors often reminds me of the scene in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ where Clarence orders a mulled wine from Nick in George’s alternate life.

“Nick snarls to Clarence, ‘We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast.’ Happened to us today.

“But, to paraphrase another favorite movie, ‘The dudes abide.’ ”

Today’s Slice question: What topic most sharply divides Spokane area women along generational lines?

A) Child rearing. B) Food preparation as a gender role. C) Marijuana. D) Desirablity of racial/ethnic diversity. E) Identifying which foods will kill you. E) Definitions of appropriate apparel. F) Other.

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. I’ll send a coveted reporter’s notebook to at least one reader who can identify this song lyric: “But his bosses didn’t like him, so they shot him into space.”