Fishy Situation or My Only Friend?

I have a fear of fish.

BUT somehow I ended up with one. This is how the story unfolds….

I was in a spa buying a purse in there that I liked. (I don’t make enough money to actually get any of the spa services) While I was in there this guy walked in with a crate of beta fish. He tells everyone that he is with this church that helps get people off the streets and into rehab. Once they have been rehabilitated, they make and sell crafts to try and get back on their feet. If you ask me a fish in NOT a craft, but there he was selling fish as crafts.

Well the spa owner buys a fish from the guy and then asks out loud if anyone wants a fish. I wasn’t into it. First off, I didn’t want a fish PERIOD. Second, the fish was $10! I could buy a beta fish at a pet shop for like $2! (I actually found out later that this is not possible in the town I live in since there is no pet store.) Third, I didn’t trust this guy. HE looked fishy. Was he really making crafts for this church? I had never heard of this church, but what do I know? I haven’t lived here long enough to know if this church even exists, let alone has former drug addicts sell fish to people trying to shop in stores that say “no solicitation” on the door.

Anyway, the spa owner asked out loud if anyone wanted to buy a fish. I just kept quiet while waiting in line to buy my purse. As I get to the cash register, everyone else in the store who had found it in their hearts to buy a fish (which was everyone but me) is searching through the crate for their match. The guy asked me flat out if I wanted to buy a fish. I should have just had the balls to say no, but instead I come up with what I thought was a viable excuse, “ I would, but I don’t have any cash with me. Sorry.” I wanted to applaud myself for coming up with a tightly locked excuse until I heard, “Oh, I can add ten dollars to your purchase, run your credit card for that amount and give him ten dollars cash from my register.” I look over and see the spa owner holding her outrageously priced fish making this suggestion. Did she really think that I wanted this fish?

At this point, there is no way out. I can’t say that I have no money because I’m buying a purse and it’s too late to say I just don’t want a fish because I already said that I DID! So the next thing I know I’m picking out a fish. It was slim pickings since everyone in the spa had already picked a fish for themselves. All but one of the fish looked sickly. I could have picked a sick fish and waited for it to die, but that would be a waste of my $10. So I picked a pretty blue fish that I named Paul.





I got Paul a new bowl and some food and he is still alive and well.