Weird Lunch

I got dim sum for lunch. I needed some comfort food that was cheap. I scored.

As I waited for my order, I sat at a table next to the live seafood. There were 4 compartments - 3 small and 1 big. The catfish or catfish-like fish swam aimless about in the large compartment, while large shrimp, crabs and lobsters clawed and stretched over one another in the remaining 3.

The tanks were like little TVs and I was peering into an episode of Nature. The crab had the most interesting "show." One crab had figuratively snapped. It stabbed and clawed at its cell mates trying to provoke a fight, possibly attempting to end its own life because it was dueling to the death. It poked at one crabby mate, then another. It even jabbed at the unlucky crabs to be smushed at the bottom of the pile. They were resigned to their fate and didn't need a stabby reminder of it.

The crab kept assaulting anything that moved and soon a riot broke out. Five crabs were mixing it up like prisoners in the yard. They scuttled and stabbed and blew water at each other. It was intense, and scary. The "cracked" crab slammed itself against the window taunting me with, "Do you want a piece of this?!" Frankly, I didn't.

I got to thinking about the living/processing conditions of our "food" before it makes it to our plate. What a horrible end of days for these crabs! I have that image juxtaposed with Gordon Ramsey wishing his lambs well with a kiss on the head before they go off to the slaughter. They lived well. What does all this mean to me, the carnivore? It can't be good.

Maybe this is why I don't go out much. Reality is too raw for me.