A Salt with a Deadly (for Flies?) Weapon

Flying insects are always kind of a pain in the neck during the summertime-flies seem to irritate us all when we’re spending sometime in the great and humid outdoors. Well, now there’s a unique way to fight back against the pesky critters- something one of the local news programs turned me on to, and I think it could be the next big (or bug) thing! It’s called “Bug-A-Salt”- a weapon specially designed to take down those insidious insects. It’s a gun- that shoots salt! It appears to be a gun similar to those Super-Soaker water guns, but, instead of water, it fires ordinary table salt! You pump the gun to build up a lot of pressure, then, when you squeeze the trigger- bam! It fires the salt, which strikes the insect, killing him with its impact-but leaving the bug in one piece, easy to dispose of! The salt is environment friendly- biodegradable- and non-toxic; it won’t harm windows , furniture, or walls; and table salt is pretty inexpensive! The gun holds about fifty shots- each one being, as they describe it, “a pinch of salt”. It sprays 3 to five feet from the gun- and they encourage you to practice your bug shooting by shooting at aluminum foil to see the spray pattern and better adjust your aim. While the salt is, of course, non-toxic- this gun is NOT without danger- obviously, you don’t want to aim it at any human or animal-a shot in the face or skin would be very nasty. Their website (just Google “bug-a-salt” ) has one whole page of information about how despicable flies are- from their disease-carrying history to the nasty things they do to your food. It certainly makes the fly public enemy number one- and justifies your using this a-salt weapon to defend yourself against the flying menace. Naturally, I thought of other uses for the gun- in summertime, you could quickly and easily season a huge picnic’s worth of watermelon or corn on the cob with this handy helper. perhaps they could be used to fight the invading Asian carp as well.During the winter, perhaps you could spray those icy sidewalks as you go with the salt, to prevent nasty slips and spills! It could also be a handy form of protection against muggers if you just switch out the salt with pepper- imagine the difficulty a would –be robber or assailant would find himself in if he was suddenly sneezing and helpless! Let’s see if this anti-fly gun ends up catching on with the public…or if it’ll just end up putting salt in the wounds of a failed inventor… A quick note- again, I don’t wish to turn this blog into the “look who’s dead now” column, but I do want to acknowledge the passing of a classic TV veteran with a long and fruitful career- Sherman Helmsley, who made it big on “All in the Family”, “The Jeffersons”, and “Amen”, among others. He was also a Broadway star, and made quite a name for himself on the stage. His irascible but lovable characters provided to assure him of iconic status in TV history. Little-known fact- he was a jazz keyboardist! I’m not going to say that he’s finally “movin’ on up”- but he will be missed. As will Chad Everett, who also passed away, best known for his role as a doctor on ”Medical Center” in the late 60s- early 70s. Let’s get ready for the Olympics from jolly old England- I am personally waiting to see if there’s a salt-shot-put, using that anti-bug gun. Perhaps the Brits can fill it with loose tea leaves and present tea-time in an instant!