[wordup] the crab ...

[Adam Shand]

From: http://orbis-tertius.net/joe/india/9-03.the-crab

ITEM 9-03:  The Crab
By Joe Edelman

A man enters an upscale restaurant in Bombay.  He is seated amidst Indian
businessmen and VIPs.  The restaurant overlooks the Arabian Sea. The man
is well-dressed:  his clothes are new; his hair and beard are well-coifed.
The man orders crab, and, after a time, it is brought to him.  It is a
large crab:  before it was steamed and covered with garlic and butter,
they say it weighed more than a kilogram.

As the man begins to eat, he is careful to avoid disturbing his new
clothes.  His attitude is refined.  His appearance is respectable.  No one
is looking at him, yet.

But then the man begins to suffer from an illusion:  he gets the idea that
the crab and his life might be mysteriously linked.  He begins to suspect
that, if he doesn't relish every bit of crabmeat, this fact will roll out
of the restaurant like a tidal wave, sending consequences and
ramifications out to every corner of his life-- perhaps even through the
whole world-- and he will never be able to recover from his decision.

He begins to suck on the crab.  The man has been given utensils with which
to eat the crab-- a nutcracker and an array of microscopic forks-- but he
finds that he prefers to use his teeth and fingernails and the strength of
his hands.  It may be that the man makes certain soft growling sounds,
now.  The melted butter, which before he had been careful to contain,
begins to spatter on his clothes and his laptop computer.  The businessmen
and VIPs have noticed, but the man delights in their hostility.  He
smashes the pincers and legs of the crab with his fists; he uses his
tongue to eek out every bit of crabmeat from the body of the crab.  He
spits gills and bits of exoskeleton out onto the table in front of him.

When he appears to be finished, the waiter delivers the check immediately,
without asking if he would like anything more.  He doesn't want anything
more.  The crab is all.  The man pays for his adventure and walks out.

Is this man a hero or an idiot?