Spunky Food

Over Labor Day weekend I stopped for lunch at a local Wellfleet fish market for a lobster roll, and to see their recently caught (but not for sale) very large rare blue lobster. I placed my order and was checking out the blue lobster when a tourist couple came in (I would bet money they were from New York - growing up in a tourist town you get a feeling about these things).

"We've come to see the blue lobster!" the man loudly proclaims to the store. The owner directs him towards the lobster tank in front of him where I am standing.

"Wow, it's huge! I want it, how much?" the man asks. The owner tells him it is not for sale.

The following is a pretty accurate detail of their conversation.

Man: Well, which of the remaining lobsters in the lobster tank are live?
Owner: They are all alive. They were just in the ocean 2 hours ago.
Man: I mean, which one is the most lively?
Owner: Most lively?
Man: Yeah, you know, sparky.
Owner: Sparky?
Man: Which lobster has the most spunk?

I had been standing nearby waiting for my sandwich trying hard not to laugh, but when the man asks which lobster has the most spunk, I turn my head toward the couple. I think, is this man really asking which lobster has the most spunk because he wants his dinner to be spunky? I found this very odd and I don't think I'm alone. I usually don't try to give my food any sort of personality characteristics.

I paid for my lobster roll and left. I then decided to assume that he wasn't looking for the most spunky lobster because he wanted his meal to be spunky, or that he wanted some sort of power over this creature as he boiled it alive, I decided he wanted the most spunky lobster because he wanted to set it free and thought the most spunky lobster would have the best chance at not getting caught again. (An idea I can get on board with! Don't ruin it for me.)


Anyway, it was clear enough to me which lobster had the most spunk; the medium sized creature that was sitting on top of the large blue lobster twice its size.