The Fly on the Wall

There is a fly on the wall in the ladies' room at work.

I'm not talking in metaphor here; it's an actual fly.

Actually, it looks a bit smaller than a fly.  Perhaps it's a gnat.

I've been able to examine it closely because, well, I believe it is deceased.  It's on the wall of the first stall, just sitting there on the ceramic tile.  It's at about eye-height.  I reckon it didn't just expire sitting there perched on the wall -- someone must have smashed it.  But not hard enough to, well, leave gnat innards on the wall.  And certainly not hard enough to make it come off the wall. 

It's been there for weeks.

We've got cleaning folks who come in and clean the bathroom every night.  They clean the toilets, restock the supplies, and wash the floors.  I guess removing dead insects from the walls is outside their job description.

I haven't removed it because ... well, because I didn't remove it when I first saw it.  I mean, when I first saw the dead gnat on the wall, I figured, "Hey!  Dead gnat.  Someone will clean that up tonight."  But nobody did.  And the next day, when I saw it again, I thought, "Y'know, if I clean that off now, someone will wonder why I didn't just clean it off yesterday."

Apparently, the same thing went through the minds of the cleaning staff.

And everyone else who uses stall number one.

I mean, that thing was there before I left for Alaska.  When I came back, I was shocked to find it still stuck to the wall.

Now I think it's almost like a science experiment -- let's see how long it takes before the dead gnat falls off the wall.  Either that, or it's a test of wills to see who will weaken first and wipe off the gnat.

It's not gonna be me.  I'll use another stall before I crack under the pressure.