Gar. Server time is not my time. Gar.

Only one post yesterday...

Yeah, I meant for this to post before the date on the server changed.

Anyway, this crab vending machine thing is weird. Sure, they're 'sleeping' in the machine, but it still seems kinda mean.

My local Freecycle moderator pisses me off, so at one point I looked her up to see who the heck she was. Turns out she had her 15 minutes of fame locally for protesting a lobster Grab-It crane game that was at some diner/restaurant place in Mass. I read all about it. There were some parts of it that made me feel kinda bad - like, maybe lobsters shouldn't be vended. But then when you think about it in context, I don't see why not. We EAT the things, we catch them, kill them, and EAT them. Among all their trials and tribulations, some time in a vending machine is probably not that different from time in a tank in a lobster house or supermarket. The Freecycle lady had done some research to justify her crusade and found some study that showed that the lobsters might be conditioned to feel "Dread" when the claw grabber motor started up, which presumably made it worse than if they were just eaten like a lobster elsewhere. OK, but a lobster in a supermarket might then feel dread when the fishmonger rolls back the lid and starts grabbing around with tongs.

In other words, I felt like I should be outraged by the idea at first, but when I compare it to how we normally use and treat these animals, it was hard to justify taking a special stance on the idea of a vending or crane game.

I do feel bad for the hermit crabs people sell on the boardwalk as pets for kids. Totally unnecessary, and it seems to indicate a disposability of life for no purpose that I don't like.

Yeah, I doubt it's any crueller than what normally happens to crabs, but having it out in public highlights how weird and terrifying our industrialized agriculture system is.

The problem is, while I try to buy better-raised animal products when I can, I just love eating meat. And the moment I lose my job, I know I'm ditching Willow Farm and going straight back to Tesco Value.

having it out in public highlights how weird and terrifying our industrialized agriculture system is.

In a way, I think that's a good thing.

The oddity aside, I think I'd be tempted to buy one if I could keep it as a pet. Regarding hermit crabs, I hate when they sell them with all the crap glued to their shells. Hermit crabs do not need glitter.

I feel obligated to relink to Weebl's Crabs song as an example where the crabs are not the only ones being subjected to cruelty.

Also, this is why I love surimi (fake crab made from pollack).