If you shop at McClendon Hardware in White Center, you probably already have met the Duchess. She has been a cashier there for nine years.

Duchess is her nickname but her real name is Vida Rayfield and she hails from Chimacum but now lives in Boulevard Park. I noticed the 24 bracelets on her left arm and got curious because she has so much metal on her arm she could set off every security detector at Sea-Tac. But she never takes them off so the security people just take her aside to satisfy their curiosity.

She got her nickname when she was a "bratty" little kid and classmates pinned it on her.