Quick, Henry, The Flit!

I was sitting here thinking of my grandmother relaxing in her rocker and reciting this verse to me.

"Little Fly upon the wall,
Ain't you got no shame at all?
Ain't you got no petti skirt?
Ain't you cold?"

One I liked even more began with "Won't you come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly?" Who can forget getting her hair caught in a hanging fly strip or setting something down on a piece of flypaper lying on the table? An old proverb says that flies have their virtues but it's a bit hard to believe. I suppose they were put on this earth for some reason. Perhaps they carry pollen from one plant to another as bees do. Some flies are used by scientists in the study of heredity.

The World Book Encyclopedia states that flies are among the most dangerous pests known to man. They carry germs inside their bodies or in the hair on the body. Touching an object, they leave many germs behind. Each female fly can have as many as one thousand newborn a year. So - "Shoo, Fly, don't bother me."

When I was a child, my brothers, sisters and myself used to earn extra pocket money by swatting flies which had managed to get into the house. I heard of a customer in a restaurant who called the waitress over to his table and said, "There's a fly in here that's annoying me." The waitress immediately answered, "Just show me which one it is and I'll have it put out!"

I guess if you didn't already know, you have probably figured out that a flit was part of a popular advertisment for a spray canister you pumped to spray flys.