YOU SAW ME
Thank You for Paying: Thank you to the gentleman who paid for my Reuben sammy at O'Doherty's Irish Grille the other week! Another gentleman paid on St. Party's Day!CHEERS
The Successful Return of Garden Expo: Thank you Spokane for supporting The Inland Empire Gardeners' Garden Expo at Spokane Community College. It was a long two-year wait but what a crowd we got when we came back. All parking lots were full before the show even opened at 9am. We warn our 239 vendors that people tend to come early like at a garage sale. Truly a labor of love brought to you by a local non profit organization. Somehow we survived the wacky weather this year. We are extremely thankful to SCC, TIEG (The Inland Empire Gardeners) volunteers, vendors and our amazing customers. It was so nice to see the full garden carts, cute kids and dogs. It is definitely a garden festival with food, espresso, music, garden railroad display, seminars & demos. Thanks again for supporting Garden Expo. If you have pictures of our event please send them to TIEG.org. Save the date for next year's Garden Expo May 13th 2023. Thanks to The Inlander too for always support us.
Free Donut Won My Heart: Ginormous THANKS and gratitude to the beautiful woman that gave me a free Krispy Kreme and large slushee just because you couldn't take my $10 bill! Krispy Kreme on Sullivan has the best people, and I love them all forever.
Vraiment Cool! = Really Cool in French: Inlander! Poutine article was très délicieux! I am a Canadian expatriate living in Spokane for 17 years. Don't tell Donald Trump! I have found good traditional poutine hard to find. Your article is sure to expand my belly and shrink my wallet... but not too much! Though I am an anglophone from Vancouver, BC, I LOVE this wonderful dish from Quebec that is best made with curds that are so fresh, they squeak when chewed! Should anyone be foolish enough to disagree, please know that I am armed with snowballs and somewhat terse words. Merci beaucoup!
Cheers to the STCU/Best of Broadway: Cheers to the STCU/Best of Broadway for again offering "Student Rush" tickets for the show "Hamilton"! Thank you for providing a way for so many students and their parents to see this wonderful show.
Baby Daddies & Party of Who Contributors: Both of you have said what I'm sometimes at a loss of saying. I appreciate smart people.
Saved from Financial Nightmare: I was working at the Lilac Festival merchandise trailer and a gentleman brought me a wallet he found on the sidewalk. I had just been talking to a very nice couple from Seattle who were in the area scouting for colleges for their son and had never been to Spokane. In that conversation I learned they were also attending Hamilton — a key piece of information that proved to be the saving puzzle piece. I took the wallet over to the officers at Lost and Found, and when they opened it looking for an ID, lo and behold it was the same couple! I quickly went over to the TicketsWest office open prior to the show, explained the situation, with the officer present and they were able to track down their contact info. In five minutes I had them on the phone. They were so relieved and grateful because his wallet had numerous credit cards, money and IDs, a financial disaster in the making for a first-time visitor to Spokane. We met, took a picture, and they invited me to their home in Seattle! This all started because of one honest man who turned in a lost wallet intact. Sir, please know what you did was an example for all and thank you. BTW, they made the show on time :) Think about all the positive comments this family will share about Spokane and its generosity — a little kindness and honesty is what makes the world a better place for all.
JEERS
The Loonies Have Landed: In case anyone is still wondering whether lunatics have taken over the asylum once known as the United States, the answer is YES. Before the bodies of the 13 murder victims in Buffalo were cold, the cockroach conspiracy "theorists" crawled onto their anti-social media platforms to claim that the shooter, a paranoid boy in body armor, another example of fragile masculinity run amok, was set up to do the deed by the "federal government." It's not just the usual suspects —Neanderthal men — spouting this nonsense any more. Right-wing politicians and the reliably ridiculous Tucker Carlson-type pundits are spewing the same lie, and the alt-right QAnon creeps lap it up. Nothing can shock the conscience of the unconscious. We are doomed.Handicapped Frauds: I am newly disabled. And I am shocked at how many people abuse the blue placard. If your grandma is not in the car, or your disabled child is not with you, or if you don't really need to use it, please do not use the space! My disability makes it extremely exhausting to walk. Too much activity equals I can't get out of bed to use the bathroom. It means bedpans and urinals. So...to the Karen soccer mom in the workout outfit, obviously fully capable in the white car full of kids at the post office on the South Hill two weeks ago... I will be thinking of you.
Little to Cheer About: It's small comfort to know that Idaho is not yet entirely controlled by worshippers of The Donald. Take a look at the electoral map showing where Janice McTrumpy won big. Kootenai and Bonner and Boundary Counties are clearly under the thumb of thugs. In the olden days Northern Idaho was wistfully described as a beautiful "state of mind" (compared to the "mindless state" down south). Now sane people in Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry must avert their eyes and keep their mouths shut or risk confrontation with a Janice-juiced Jackboot who's most certainly armed. We are surrounded by unhinged ugliness.
The Thoughts of Chairman Viper: Realizing that it's possible for the human mind to hold vastly contradictory ideas, I'm nonetheless thoroughly befuddled by Mr. Birdsong's notion that he can protect children and stooge for Trump at the same time.
Re: Bloomsday Cheers and Jeers: Jeers to me and you. You're right. I forgot the "rules" of walk on the right, run on the left (AFTER the "race"). That's totally on me. But, this was my first time running. When I did so, I did follow the "rules." I read my instructions and then followed the digital signs on the route also. I wish others would have done the same. I didn't see a lot of "fine and friendly." I saw a lot of "I'm walking. Stumble around me."
Where Art Thou... Advice Goddess?? Inlander Advice Goddess — Oh, how I miss you! Will you come back, or are you gone forever? Will someone attempt to replace you? Were you too raw and jagged for the sensitive souls of Spokane, Washington? I've been missing your weekly quick and candid reads; they're humble, entertaining and filled with humility. Thank you, and I hope to see your words again some day. [EDITOR'S NOTE: The "Advice Goddess," Amy Alkon, retired from writing her column a couple months ago.]♦
