Enter any small Ikarian grocery store, the kind that resembles a
glorified hole in the wall, and you will find surprisingly large variety of
food and non- food items. Among the fresh fruit and vegetables you will find
shelves crammed from ceiling to floor with a vast collection of canned, wrapped
and boxed items, and usually one or two articles that will leave you scratching
your head as to "what is this?” The day I went shopping at my favorite
grocery store in Agios Kirikos turned out to be a busy shopping day for locals.
I found myself impatiently waiting in
the check-out line behind a rather plump but pleasant elderly woman, buying
her daily goods. After paying for her groceries she suddenly realized that she
needed one more household item, a fly swatter. Immediately she let the store
owner know that she wanted one that would not break on the first swat on those
pesky Greek flies, like the last one she had, but one that was sturdy yet
flexible and strong enough to last a full summer of fly swatting. 
The grocery owner,
listening intently to her request for such a fly swatter, quickly reached
behind the counter and proudly produced the exact item she requested. Not to be
bamboozled, the doubtful senior citizen wanted to see this promoted fly swatter
in real action. The grocer, eager to make the sale, pointedly replied, “Just
see how effectively it kills flies.” Hardly were those words spoken when he
spotted the nearest unfortunate fly buzzing around the Turkish delights,
behind him. With one swift, deadly motion of his wrist, he smashed the fly up
against the wall, leaving a dark smudge on the newly painted surface. The
customer impressed, but still not convinced of the over- all quality of the fly
swatter, needed additional evidence of its destructive force. Leaping over the
counter, like Superman, the grocer spotted two other possible victims flying
around the store. Stealthily tracking them from the fresh fruit stand to
the back of the store by the soap display, he methodically in a matter of
a few seconds, proved his point twice over.Finally convinced of the fly swatter’s overall value and construction, the customer plunked down her one Euro, and proudly marched out of the store holding her groceries in one hand and brandishing her new weapon of destruction, complete with dangling parts and guts of the unfortunate flies in the other.
