Random reminder

Press, 7 April 1978, Page 18

Random reminder

NO FLIES ON HIM

Many Christchurch, homes are reporting more flies than usual this summer. One 11-year-old we heard of got quite excited when his mother produced an aerosol can and. announced that the time'; had come to spray the; flies. It seems he'd just been reading a book about: Vietnam, and he knew all! about chemical warfare, j “Defoliation,” he mut-i tered darkly. “Hit the en-!.i vironment where it!: hurts.” He not only tookji great delight in firing theii appropriate “squirtage” in! each room; he enjoyed; even more making an in-!I spection tour afterwards, o

, “Body counts,” .he said knowingly. “That's what tells you if you're winning,” and he carefully (■•""er-ted all th- dead flies and lined them up on the : iront door step for inspection.' Unfortunately, not all {insect-killing aerosols are !as effective as the makers (promise. One by one, the ! carefully collected bodies to life. Some of 1 the take-offs werp a b ; - .shaky, but in the end (the whole collection or istunned flies had flown off into the garden. ! That hasn’t deterred the (young environmentalist. Since then he happened on a book about horse

racing: betting, gambling, odds, and all that kind of thing. When last seen he’d: carried out another defoliation in the house, carefully collected his body count and laid it out on the front step. And he had half the kids in the neighbourhood on hand laying bets on which fly would take off first, and which would revive last. He said there was no truth in the rumour that he'd rung in a couple of genuinely dead flies, and he challenged one of his! punters to swab the win-' ning flies if he didn’t like the results.