Waiter, There's a Fly in my Pasta!

After reading about Shoshana's unfortunate dealings with a customer service rep, I thought I'd say something nice. One week ago, I was making linguine and, while I was boiling the pasta, I saw these little black things bubble up in the water. At first, I thought it was part of the spoon. We run everything through the dishwasher so sometimes the utensils aren't in the best of shape. So, I scoop up one of the specs with my ladle and put it on a lid. I ask Husband to come in and ask him if it's a bug. I don't actually think it's a bug, but it's my standard question when I find anything - a speck of dust, leftover food crusted to the stove after I'm done cooking, anything. The only difference is that this time he says yes. So, I freak out. While I'm freaking out, he discovers that we have an extra box of linguine. He empties the pot and throws away the pasta, washes the pot and fills it up with water again. Meanwhile, I'm going through every strand of pasta in the new pot.

Rationally, I understand that this is a possibility. It still creeps me out. While the pasta was cooking, I e-mailed the company on the e-mail provided on the box. I'm expecting some form letter, but within hours, I received an e-mail from De Cecco asking for the code on the box and in what country I live. Luckily, I didn't throw the box away yet so I responded with the information. The next business day, I get another e-mail outlining the shipment and storage policy they have in place and an explanation on what the code on the box means. Then, they ask me for my address and phone number to send me a token of appreciation. I figure it means another box of pasta which is fine by me.

Meanwhile, I go grocery shopping again. I needed the manager's help to reach something. So, while he was helping me, I mentioned to him that I bought some pasta there the previous week and, when I cooked it, there were insects in it. I just thought he should know just in case more people say anything, but I've already mentioned it to the manufacturer. He gives me a free box of pasta, too. I happened to have one in my cart. Plus, he directed me to a new line at the check out.

Obviously, having anything in your pasta other than pasta is bad, but it's nice to know everything got resolved really well. I know the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but it's nice to know the mildly irritating wheel gets a little attention, too.