How To Tell Someone Their Fly Is Undone

Background: Someone I love and cherish has recently come into a managerial position in a retail establishment. One of the employees has a fly that is perpetually undone. Cherish has no idea how to communicate this message and has retained my assistance.

My Advice: Say to the guy Hey your fly is undone.

Resistance #1: I'm not sure if his fly is undone or if there is something wrong with his zipper.

My Response: Uh, ok well you're the one asking me for advice. You said fly undone, I gave you fly undone. If something is wrong with his zipper, perhaps try Hey I think there's something wrong with your zipper, it looks like your fly is undone.

Alternate Response to Resistance #1: I don't think it matters. If you say Hey, your fly is undone and it's actually his zipper, he may counter with Oh, it's actually my zipper, or he may just take care of it without an explanation.

Resistance #2: I don't want to say anything to him when we're alone in the store. I'm a woman and he might think it's creepy.

Response to Resistance #2: Wait till you're not alone in the store. Then say to him Hey, your fly's undone or it may be that something is wrong with your zipper

Resistance #3: I don't want him to think I'm looking at his zipper and if I say something to him, it might be uncomfortable.

Possible Response #1 to Resistance #3: You're right, it is kind of uncomfortable. But it's even more uncomfortable for the customers. If you don't take care of this, customers may be creeped out and leave the store and then you will lose sales because you are unable to tell an employee his fly is undone.

Possible R#2 to R#3: He stands to lose much more than you do. If you don't tell him, he will be walking around at half-mast all day. Just look him straight in the eye and say Hey, your fly's undone.

Possible R#3 to R#3: If this is really challenging for you, and you honestly have no idea how to communicate this message try the sandwich technique where you slip the information between two pieces of bread, like so Hey, Mario, great job stacking the yogurts. Do we have any strawberries in the back? Hey, your fly is undone - please take care of it, and then unpack the cotton candy grapes.

Bad Ideas: If none of the above solutions resonates with you, please do not:

• Post a sign in the break room saying All Flies Must Be Done. This is confusing and kind of weird. 
• Reach over and fix the fly yourself. This kind of gesture can be misconstrued.
• Make a scene out of checking your own fly, and making sure your zipper is done up, hoping this employee will take the hint. You never know when you are being caught on film.

In Conclusion: As a manager of a retail store, you are responsible to ensure that your employees follow the dress code which in this case includes zipped pants. Your best method in my opinion is the most direct approach. If you really can't do it, you may want to outsource this function to a trusted associate. (Get someone else to tell the guy to zip it). If that doesn't work, perhaps consider an employee uniform that does not include zipped pants (Rugby uniform? Catsuit?)