The Slice: It helps to be able to see where you’re going

It’s not Spokane’s biggest cold-weather problem.

But drivers whose cars are not parked in a garage and then do a stunningly inadequate job of scraping their windshields and rear windows are sort of a hazard on the road because they can’t really see.

Let’s move on.

Just wondering: College students returning home to Spokane for the first time since heading off to school a few months ago tend to notice what about the old hometown and/or their parents?

For those who fear it might be a contentious Thanksgiving: Which of the following classic movie lines seems most applicable to the circumstances you anticipate encountering Thursday?

A) “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” B) “Go ahead, make my day.” C) “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” D) “You talking to me?” E) “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” F) “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” G) “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” H) “You can’t handle the truth!” I) “I see dead people.” J) “Snap out of it!” K) “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” L) “My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.” M) Other.

Another reader signs up for The Slice’s Never Been to Hawaii Support Group: “I doubt I will ever get to go,” wrote Julie Heerensperger Warren. “I married a man who refuses to fly. Bummer for me!”

Here’s one more list to which you can add your name: Those who never acquired a fondness for eggnog include Cynthia Laird and …

You know what they say about confession: “I am embarrassed to admit that my record of catalogs received in a single day was 26,” wrote Barbara Keene. “I have cut that figure down to a reasonable count of two or three daily.”

Slice answer: Larry Barringer, a veteran, likes being told “Thank you for your service.”

“It’s great to hear.”

He likes when it is offered without extensive grilling about where he served and what he did.

Warm-up questions: Do you get the reference if someone says “roast beast”? If you had to guess, what percentage of Inland Northwest residents know the difference, at a glance, between wheat and barley? What percentage of Spokane panhandlers are lying?

Today’s Slice question: Ever been flipped off by someone wearing a Santa hat?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. A reader called to say she’s pretty sure she won’t live long enough to use all the return-address stickers she has already received from groups seeking donations. “Enough already.”