“Mel and the Waiter” by David Sydney

Mel was irate. He called the waiter over.

“Look at that.” He pointed to the bowl with his soup spoon.

“What?” The waiter’s glasses needed lens wipes.

“There’s a fly in my clam chowder.”

What kind of place was this, Mel wanted to know. Flies in his clam chowder?

“I’m sorry. You’re mistaken,” said the waiter.

“That’s a fly floating there. That’s disgusting.”

“You ordered the shrimp bisque.”

“I thought I ordered clam chowder. But there’s a fly in that soup.”

“The world’s full of flies,” said the waiter, now irate with Mel. “But I’m sure it was shrimp bisque.”


David Sydney is a physician. He writes fiction in and outside the EHR (Electronic Health Record).