It is hard to imagine that anything mere millimeters long could cause much, if any, uproar. At the Latin School of Chicago, however, fruit flies (2-3 millimeters long by the way) are not going unnoticed. And rightfully so! When one of these red-eyed insects can lay up to 500 eggs at a time, it is hard to believe that the school isn’t underneath a stripped tent, awaiting extermination. Despite their rapid mating skills, fruit flies don’t possess any talents and their only redeemable quality is their healthy eating. Thus, and in cohesion with their title, they’re instinctively attracted to the fruit. Though, worry not fruit fly enthusiasts, they’re not only polluting the confines of the cafeteria; they’re everywhere.
Various students are noticing them in a variety of places. Annie Schwab, a senior, frequently sees them buzzing around the senior longue and her math room. Nadja Knox, a sophomore, notices them daily all through the fifth floor hallway. Simmone Carlton, junior, admits that they often fly around her computer. Junior Jacob Lorig even noticed a few in the bathroom. Finally, and arguably most disturbingly, our flying fiends surprised junior Frankie Burik by being in her soy sauce. Burik noticed fruit flies in Latin’s soy sauce two days in a row. It is clear that these bugs are making themselves all too comfortable.
When asked about fruit flies, David, the general manager of Food Quest, doesn’t find them to be much of problem. He admits,
“We’re aware of [the fruit flies], but it is hard for us to keep on top of stuff like that [due to] our large quantities of fruit shipments. When fruit rots there are going to be fruit flies but when you throw away the rotting fruit, the flies go away. We do absolutely the best we can to ensure that [their infestation] doesn’t happen.”
Latin’s fruit fly epidemic started, ironically, with a good cause. Hoping to expand Latin’s recycling, the can and bottle was installed in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, more often than not the cans/bottles that go into that specific bin are not emptied. Earth protector Mr. Cronister underlines, “In a perfect world [we would] rinse it and throw it out.” Due to our imperfections, fruit flies find a home in our garbage. Recently, students have even taken to throwing out their not rinsed bottles and cans to the blue recycle bins in classroom. Those bins are meant for paper only and the good intent behind throwing your bottles in there is actually detrimental.
As a result, it is important to keep a few things in mind: 1) stick to putting paper in the blue recycle bins, 2) keep the thought of rinsing bottles/cans before recycling them in the back of your head, 3) stay away from the soy sauce for a while.
