Cat+Fish

A few days ago, I was watching a cooking show; they were making catfish.

"After you've cleaned the catfish, gotten all the bones out, coat it with the breading."

I looked at the filets: all the same size, color, and shape with no rough edges. Those filets weren't cleaned by human hands.

The host leaned in conspiratorially. "Do you know why they call them 'catfish'? Because the fish have whiskers like a cat!" He pantomimed in excitement.

I was shocked. I was incredulous. Could it be, I wondered, that there are people in this world who eat catfish-the-meat and have no idea what catfish-the-animal looks like?

Then I thought about how likely I would be to distinguish a beef cow from a dairy cow by sight alone.

I was chagrined.