Lessons from The Fly

If you watched the Vice Presidential debate Wednesday night between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence you probably got distracted when a "fly" flew on the side of Pence's brylcream looking hair.  Out of nowhere, the fly just sat there calmly on top of his head for roughly two minutes.  As a result, social media blew up last night with all kinds of meme's and comments like:  

The #FLY was the big winner not Pence. He can smell $#&T from a mile away. #TrumpFailedAmerica #VicePresidentialDebate2020 #pencefly

The truth of the matter, from my perspective, is that little fly was the most compelling part of Pence's presence on the debate stage.  If you listened carefully, he avoided answering the moderator's questions directly and tried to use the same bullying tactics Trump demonstrated when debating Biden the week before.  What woman in America (or perhaps the world) hasn't been subjected to a man trying to "outtalk her" or "put her in her place" or make her feel like she's "less than" he is.  It's a never-ending cycle but it's gotten old and Pence showed a lot of women what a lack of compassion and disregard for a woman's intellect and opinion looks like.

But let's talk about that fly and some little know facts about flies in general.  Why did the fly choose to land on Pence's hair and not Kamala's?  Why did the fly seemed to be unmoved by Pence while he was talking?

Well, did you know:

1)  Oil is an important food for flies.  Oily hair is an attraction (remember how Pence's hair looked).  Also, some body odors are more attractive to flies than others.

2)  House flies defecate A LOT! It is speculated that house flies defecate every time they land on something or someone.  Do you think Pence washed his hair when he went home or did he become a nest for future flies?

3)  They can spread a wide range of diseases.  Due to their feeding and breeding habits, house files come in contact with a range of harmful bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli.  These flies often spread the bacteria onto us by contaminating our food, cooking utensils and glassware. 

4)  They have unhygienic breeding habits.  House flies will lay their eggs on feces, rotting carcasses and decaying fruit.

So based on this information, one might conclude that Pence had a lot of oil in his hair and a body odor that was attractive to the fly.  Perhaps if he had been wearing a cinnamon, lemongrass or lavender fragrance, the fly would've left him alone because, according to experts, they hate those smells.

But this wasn't the first time a fly took center stage at a political debate.  Maybe you recall a fly landed on Hillary Clinton's eyebrow during the second round of the Presidential debates in 2016.  Just like Pence, she was unfazed by it and we all know the outcome of that election. 

Does the fly know something we don't? Hmmmmm............