My Latest Worry*

When I moved into my own apartment, one of the things I was most excited about was being able to host whoever I wanted, whenever I wanted. For the first time, I was also excited about decorating my place of living and making it feel like a true humble abode, to be enjoyed by all the new friends I'd make and by me, myself & I.

But as they say, be careful what you wish for. 

In the last couple of weeks, I have made some big (actually literally very small) enemies and have started to go a bit insane. You've seen them. You've been annoyed by them. You wish they didn't exist...

...

...dramatic suspense...

...

fruit flies!

...

You know when you're too scared by the answer to something that you don't want to even look up the question? That's me with fruit flies right now. I don't want to know if they spread disease, how they lay their eggs, where they came from, or really anything (except for HOW to get rid of them, that I have researched for obvious reasons). I have put out a couple traps, but they are not full proof. I get that I had some banana peels in my not-completely-sealable-trashcan for a couple weeks too long, but I don't think this kind of behavior was warranted. I can't even feed my sourdough starter (yes I am on the sourdough train) without having one of these things try to invade my process. I've started talking to them. Or rather, I've started pleading with them, and not just in my head. I find myself now talking to myself. This madness has got to end!!

First I want to rewind a bit, back to where it all begins: the grocery store. I feel like people don't warn you enough about these guys. In fact, there should be warning labels on fruits that say "warning: fruit fly attraction". While this may seem obvious, it's actually really not. How was I supposed to know that my meager bunch of bananas in my apartment with no open windows would lead to a swarm of uninvited guests? I have been a consumer and eliminator of bananas and banana peels, respectively, for a significant chunk of my life, and have never had it this bad...so come to think of it, maybe it's more of a problem with my trash can. In that case, Target should have warned me that buying the cheapest trash can would have dire consequences. 

Now, I know that this takes generations and generations, but my fear is that natural selection will weed out the fruit flies that are falling for my traps, and leave the clever ones that then lead to smarter and smarter fruit flies until they're impossible to kill. Before you know it, they'll be unpeeling my bananas all by themselves! I'm actually surprised (but grateful) that any fruit flies still fall for simple traps - I'm currently using a banana peel with water and detergent in a jar to lure them to their deaths. 

Anyways, this is not the company I craved. Thanks for reading my rant and hopefully this can serve as a warning for you.

*I recognize that having my latest worry relate to (hopefully) harmless little creatures in my kitchen is a privilege and could definitely come across as insensitive, given the crazy political climate (and everyday struggles and much larger worries that a significant portion of the population experiences). I acknowledge that this is more like a tiny occasional itch in comparison.