How to Kill Flies

B.R. Man writes about why flies are difficult to swat.

Sometimes, back when my brother and I were little, my father would have important businessmen visit the house for dinner. One of these taught my brother a trick.

Flies cannot see directly in front of their noses. Normally this does not hinder them since most objects are wider than a fly's nose. However, it is quite easy to put a rubber band on a ruler, pull back the rubber band, slide it right up to a fly's nose, and WHAP! get the fly.

My brother thought this was great. He ran around the house that evening killing any flies he could find. Then, apparently, he forgot about the trick.

Not so!

To my mother's later embarrassment, he had merely mentally filed away among Things To Do When Important Businessmen Visit. The next time the family had such a visitor, shortly after dinner my brother's voice interrupted the adult conversation as he called out from the next room, "Got it! Mom, I can't find the head!".