The little square of paper that comes under the manapua is to keep it from sticking in the steamer.
Most people know that.
The first wrapper around a Tomoe Ame candy isn’t the one you eat.
You learned that one in kindergarten.
But what’s the deal with the adhesive foot mats that come with the little cardboard roach traps?
Tell me you’ve never wondered.
Robbie Watland wondered. Well, his co-worker wondered aloud, and he realized he didn’t know the answer.
“Is it meant to help them into the trap, because, you know, roaches have a hard time climbing into things? Or, is it meant for them to clean off their feet so not to be rude when entering into someone’s home?”
It’s one of those topics that can get social media circles going for hours:
“They’re little welcome mats.”
“They’re for decoration — Cockaroach Feng Shui.”
“They’re stickers for the kids.”
“I think it’s to give you something to wipe your fingers on after you have to touch that smelly roach bait packet you put in the middle of the glue.”
“Those are to be used to tape the trap upside down or sideways.”
“I was thinking it was made to dampen the noise of their movement right before they take their final leap.”
“So a roach doesn’t get stuck with its butt sticking out, because that would be embarrassing.”
“So they don’t slip going in and sue for negligence!”
There are a few rebels who ignore the instructions on the package and use the traps without the sticky foot mats. As one man put it:
“There is no difference. The trap catches them if you have the foot mat or not. I use the foot mat on my television set, it helps to keep the remote from sliding off the T.V.”
But most people do, obediently and unquestioningly, follow the directions, even though they might not know the purpose of the adhesive foot mats.
“I am so careful when putting them on and line them up with the picture of where the mat goes, even making sure they are right side up … sigh! I think the Hoy Hoy Board of Directors are sitting there laughing hysterically at us.”
“I never thought about it, but when I make the Hoy Hoy house, I too religiously put the foot mats on very carefully.”
According to the Tohtonku company (maker of Hoy Hoy Trap-a-Roach), the little mats make the traps more efficient. “More Powerful catch with special Foot Mat,” it says on its website, and yes, with that odd capitalization. “Absorbs oil and water completely off roaches feet for stronger stickiness.”
So that’s that. There is a purpose beyond decoration. We can now move on to the mystery of how to unwrap a gas station tuna musubi without the rice rolling completely off the plastic and onto the floor. Sigh.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@ staradvertiser.com
