Ghoti

??

For those not familiar with phonetic spelling, this represents the word (in non-phonetic spelling) "fish".

Hunh??

"gh" as in "enough", "o" as in "women", "ti" as in "nation".

No crazier than any other English spelling.

So what brought that up? I just got back from the grocery store. Sausage, some veggies, chicken. No fish. I wanted fish.

The Fish Guys weren't there today. The guys who normally handle the fish counter are a couple of Real Characters. When some people need to make their lives bit more surreal, they watch reruns of Saturday Night Live. I buy fish. It's worth it for the show.

Helps that when the Fish Guys are running the fish counter, the fish are absolutely fresh. The area doesn't smell like fish. When you have one of them filet a fish, you get no scales, no bones, and all of the meat. Delivered with some of the best standup comedy around. Sometimes, the woman at the deli counter gets involved too. I think they appreciate an audience -- the little old Jewish ladies who hang out at the deli counter just don't Get It. The little old ladies bark orders. I feed them straight lines.

Once I bought fish at this chain's flagship store. It's a huge barn of a place, the size of an airplane hanger. A big one. The fish guy there did a ventriloquist routine with my fish.

Another store of the same chain has some very sober, hardworking fish people. No clowning here. It smells bad. The fish don't look happy. I never buy fish there.

So what is it with fish?