Hardly Anything Special

Doing something for the first time is kind of a big deal. I went over to the market today and got myself fish. It was a whole Milkfish. Not the packaged fish that come in tins or the kind that are packaged with that foam lining. It had eyes and a mouth and a tail. Most of those things are cut off at most grocery stores or chopped up into itty bitty pieces and don't even resemble it's natural shape.

There, in the market, were at least 15 different kinds of fish. I looked at them all and said, "I'm down with the Milkfish" (no . . . not out loud silly). So I skimmed over the stack of fish packed into the mountain of ice and picked one up that I thought was a good size. It was weird. I used a plastic bag as a glove . . . but it was weird holding a whole entire fish in my hand. I wonder what it's like to catch a live one.

Of course I've seen fish before, it's not something new to me. It was the act of selecting one and bringing it up to the counter to get it cut that I had never done before. You see, I normally get the stuff in a can or the kind that is wrapped in plastic.

One of my fears is not being able to speak to the guy (it's hardly ever a girl) behind the counter. The place I went to has the look that it only hires people who don't speak English. And that's great and all, but it makes people like me feel uncomfortable. There should be signs in these places that say, "WE SPEAK ENGLISH!"

It sounds lame, but I don't care.

So, I went home and cooked my Milkfish and ate it, too.