The Slice Grads Are Just Eager To Start Earning Dough

Talk about mixed feelings.

Florence Young works at Whitworth College. She has been helping with preparations for graduation. And she has observed a recurring theme.

“It is intriguing to me how many people are so eager to attend a ceremony which they want to be over as quickly as possible.”

Worse than gabbing on a cell phone: A friend was at a stoplight when he looked over and saw another driver eating a bowl of cereal.

Let’s see. If that takes two hands, how many hands are left to operate the vehicle? How many brains?

You had to be there: Sandi Kessler was rafting near Avery, Idaho, when she saw what she described as a “Deliverance”-like couple sitting in a truck adorned with a bumper sticker, “Will Log for Food or Sex.”

Baby pictures: “Recently our son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Kim Harmon, brought over pictures of their son, Ryan,” wrote Chuck and Alice Harmon. “Ryan was conceived in January and won’t make his debut until September.

“Not only do we have pictures of our future grandson, we have been invited over to watch home movies. Things are really different these days.”

Driver’s exam: When Jeff Martin took his road test back in the ‘80s, he didn’t want to risk overlooking anything that might possibly influence his score. So he started by asking the enormous examiner in the passenger’s seat to buckle up. This subcontinent of a man fixed Martin with a humorless gaze. “They don’t fit me,” he said.

Martin still passed.

Sales tax tokens: Here’s your answer, Betsy. They were used in Washington 1935-1951 and were worth 1/5 cent and later 1/3 cent. They came in several different styles. According to the Department of Revenue, about 185 million of the aluminum ones with a center hole - like the two you dug up - were distributed.

We’re told they also made good washers, poker chips and fishing tackle.

Thanks to all who called or wrote, including Debra Wayne. She found a token in her own garden this spring.

Warm-up question: What’s the sure sign that your dishrag needs to be replaced?

Today’s Slice question (suggested by Cheney’s Vicki Elmore): How many people in the Inland Northwest would list drinking coffee as a hobby?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: The Slice appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. Don’t use antihistamines sold in alleys by guys in ballcaps and Hawaiian shirts.