The Slice: She’s really into playing games

I don’t have space here to list all of my failings as a husband.

But I want to mention one: I’m not really into board games and playing cards.

My wife, on the other hand, comes from a family of dedicated game players. She really enjoys it. But she seldom gets to play because yours truly would rather fall asleep in front of the TV.

Never mind that I seemed to enjoy playing games back when we were dating.

So here is my idea. I happen to know that a lot of those who read The Slice are really good people. And it is a statistical certainty that some readers are game players. Right?

Well, what would you think about inviting my wife to sit in during your next game-playing session?

I’ll wait to hear from you. A word of caution, though. She likes to win.

Long-Lasting Nicknames Department: “I can relate to the nickname ‘Chubby,’ ” wrote my friend Don Hanlon. “My mom’s nickname was ‘Tubby.’ Her older sister called her ‘Tiny Baby,’ which would come out sounding like ‘Tubby.’

“My mom is 95 and has outlived all but one of eight siblings. But her brother Bob, at 88, still calls her ‘Tub’ or ‘Tubby.’ She has never been overweight.”

When you knew you had found the right one: “My mother introduced me to trout fishing when I was only 4 or 5,” wrote Jim Roeber. “The summer following our graduation from college, my intended and I were on the front lawn of my childhood home, on our hands and knees, picking up night-crawlers so my mother and I could go trout fishing the next day. I knew then that I had a keeper.”

Jim and Jean have been married 63 years.

Today’s Slice question: Readers of a certain age might recall when the TV character Gomer Pyle, in “The Andy Griffith Show,” made a “citizen’s arrest.”

Well, if you were to do that, what offense would you target?

I’d start by ticketing people illegally riding bicycles on sidewalks in downtown Spokane. Of course, that would be pointless as a majority of them belong to the “last known address” crowd.