Colin May Have Been Thinking Of That Certain Serpent In Genesis

Lisa Arsenault was teaching a first-grade Sunday school class when she asked the students to tell her the names of the two groups in a religious story they had discussed.

“There were the Jewish people and the…,” she prompted.

A little boy indicated that he had the answer.

“Yes, Colin,” said Arsenault.

“The reptiles,” he replied.

Of course, that’s not the only way kids can get “gentiles” wrong.

Sooner or later, most Sunday school teachers hear “genitals.”

A thank-you: WSU student Dan Boleneus saw our request for stories about gifts teachers had given.

And he told us about a couple of special women at Shadle Park High School.

The truth is, we were looking for recollections about grade school teachers. But we’ll make an exception here.

“At a particularly difficult time during my senior year I had contemplated suicide,” he wrote.

Enter English teacher Jaki Lake and counselor Jeanne Lancaster.

“Very literally, these two women may have actually saved my life…through some extraordinary patience and a whole lot of understanding, they helped me to see that I would be able to make it through my troubles and succeed in life.”

He won’t forget them.

“They gave me the gift of a second chance, and a new me.”

Overheard on an STA bus by a friend who was sharing one of those three-person bench seats with a teenage girl reporting on her dermatologic health: “I haven’t had that rash in quite a while.”

One thing I never used to do before moving here: “Hibernate.” - Lita Karlstrand

Deciding what to have for dinner: “Whatever thaws quickest,” said Sharon Beck.

Spokane is the ( ) city in America: “Most average” is how Sonya Thurling filled in the blank.

“Blandest,” said Rich Young.

“Hoopest,” said Larry Barringer.

“Most insecure,” said Judy Ohrt.

“Potholiest,” wrote Nancy Stucker.

Readers also offered “most accommodating,” “most compassionate,” “most inbred,” “cheapest,” and “most unsophisticated,” among others.

But we’re sending the T-shirt to Cheney’s Bob Neubauer. He said, “Spokane is the vaguest city in America.”

Somehow that just sounds right.

Today’s Slice question: What local house cat could go 15 rounds with a coyote?

, 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. A friend recently overheard a culture-sharing high school boy teaching profanities to an exchange student.