random

last weekend while shopping at petco with my girl friends, a baby clownfish had been assaulted by a fish five times its size.  after what seemed like a minute of being rammed and bitten repeatedly, he finally eluded the attacker and swam to a secluded corner of the tank by the water filter. 

my friend and i were so pissed that the guy she reported the incident to didn't do anything, and it looked like the attacker (sorry, i can't remember the name of the fish, but i would be able to identify it in a lineup) was getting close to finding the clownfish.  we were worried that another assault would ensue.  i kept watch while my friend went for help.  not that i could have done anything since the tank was locked, but at least i could keep an eye on where the little one was hiding.  well, i hope it was hiding.  for minute i thought the clownfish was dying the way it kept floating instead of swimming to the surface.

finally, a few seconds later a cashier came with a small container and scooped the little clownfish out of the tank.  she was very nice and seemed concerned, unlike the jerk from earlier.  i realize the store was understaffed but it was a life and death situation, and we didn't want to see little nemo ripped to pieces.

i still can't get the bizarre scene out of my mind.  talk about being in the wrong place, the little fish was not supposed to be in that tank.  i remember the description for the aggressive fish clearly mentioned size requirements for other fish in the tank, but somehow a little clownfish wound up in there?  how the guy overseeing the department had not noticed this is beyond me--it was SO obvious.  apathy is way too common.

and speaking of apathy, this story is so sad.  how can people step over a woman bleeding to death and not do anything for her?  one person even stopped to take a picture with a cellphone, but didn't call for help?  seriously disturbing...