Website design By BotEap.comI am surely not the only one who has experienced this. He was in a restaurant, eating a wonderful poached salmon when, out of the corner of my eye, I felt something rush across the room. A few seconds later and my suspicions were confirmed. This time I saw him square on as he was heading straight for me: a fly.

Website design By BotEap.comThis turned out to be a restaurant that took great care of its food and its customers. When the waiter saw the intruder, I could see a flash of anguish on his face. He was now intrigued as to what would unfold. Restaurant staff can’t win, of course. The waiter can chase the fly with a rolled-up newspaper, drawing its full attention, or he can stand there, smiling and bearing as the intruder searches among the abundant plates for food.

Website design By BotEap.comI was particularly worried because I know flies hang out in the nastiest places. As they test with their feet, they are more likely to land on some open food item and deposit a few particles from the manure heap they just visited, or possibly into the trash cans outside the restaurant. Personally this made my salmon look a little less appetizing and to be honest my respect for this particular establishment. What made matters worse was that it was November, when most of the flies should have died or gone into hibernation. This suggests that the flies were still breeding and using this restaurant or an adjoining building as their home.

Website design By BotEap.comThe waiter then disappeared only to return moments later with the restaurant manager. Then I saw both men following the fly with their eyes. The fly, and its gaze, ended up in the hair of a diner. She had immaculate hair in loose curls. Perhaps the fly had taken a liking to the chemical the hairdresser had put there. Whatever the reason, though she hadn’t realized it, the fly had decided to stay in her hair and there was no sign of her coming out. What made this worse was that although the lady was unaware of the problem, most of the diners were. Her gazes alternated regularly between the lady’s hair and the restaurant manager. What was she going to do? She noted that her actions were being closely monitored.

Website design By BotEap.comThe problem he had was that he wasn’t sure the fly was still crawling in this woman’s hair. If he tells her there might be a fly there, she can make a scene. The problem is that his reaction was being closely scrutinized by an increasing number of diners. He headed towards the lady. When he got within 2 feet, the lady noticed him. Just as she began to point at her hair, the fly silently moved away and landed on the white tablecloth at the next table. He quickly brushed away the pointing finger and, now quite excited and unaware of the old couple sitting at the table, struck it with his bare hand. I understand! The surprised old couple looked at him in bewilderment as he waved to the waiter. The waiter came over and picked up the corpse between thumb and forefinger. Both the men and the quarters made a quick start.

Website design By BotEap.comA fly managed to undermine the reputation of this restaurant, causing untold damage. The moral of the story was that the restaurant manager should have kept up. Good restaurants are increasingly using discreet fly-swatting machines. These devices are lamps. However, they are not ordinary lamps. They emit ultraviolet light that attracts flies. Once the fly inevitably ventures into the lamp, it becomes silently trapped there in a very sticky plate of glue, never to emerge. All of this happens out of sight of diners as they continue with their meals.

Website design By BotEap.comThe more discreet fly zappers are made especially for public-facing areas, such as restaurants and bars. They are also popular in the home. The next time you see a fly in a restaurant, speak quietly to the manager; it can save your reputation and your business.