The Slice : Blast from the past calls for an ash-cot

Today is Mount St. Helens Eruption Anniversary Eve.

So there’s just one shopping day left.

How about a gray scarf for that special someone on your list?

“Slice answer: Not surprisingly, I heard from readers who said they pet their neighbors’ animals.

But Mike Cool noted that his family enjoys their neighbor’s Scottie so much that they go through withdrawal when the pooch, Murphy, is away on vacation.

Cool said they have thought about acquiring a dog of their own. “Then we watch Murphy eat a sprinkler head or a couple of tulips and decide that the situation serves ours and Murphy’s purposes just fine for the time being.”

“Forget spaghetti flicks: A mention of lentils in The Slice got Spokane’s John Simanton thinking about possibilities for a new Northwest-flavored film genre – the legume western.

He suggested that the movies could include “A Fistful of Lentils” and “For a Few Chickpeas More.”

OK. But don’t forget “The Good, the Bad, and the Garbanzos.”

“Flow theory: A friend has observed that when a man enters a restroom that has three urinals and sees that one of them is being used, he will choose the remaining urinal that leaves an unoccupied space between him and the other guy, if possible. But if a man enters the restroom and sees that none of the three is being used, he will select the middle urinal.

“I’m not sure what this means if anything, but it ought to be worth a sociology project for some enterprising student,” he wrote.

OK, a couple of things.

If guys coming upon three unoccupied urinals choose the middle one, how is it that a fellow would ever have occasion to choose the unit two urinals away from a man who was already there? Well, that can be explained by keeping in mind the concept of urinal churn. That is, you might come into a restroom and find just one guy there. But when he came in before you, there could have been others – who have subsequently departed – already on the scene, so to speak.

And this thing about selecting the middle urinal when there are three from which to choose…. Uh, I’m not so sure about that.

I’m guessing a lot of guys opt for the one on the right. I will admit, though, I haven’t made a study of it.

Let’s move on.

“Warm-up question: If high school students in Washington and Idaho experienced something akin to “foreign exchange” semesters living with families in the other state, what would they learn?

“Today’s Slice question: Have you ever been to a concert and sat next to someone who loudly sang along with every song?