A few days ago I was sitting with a colleague who asked, “why don’t people eat shellfish?”

Not wanting to be dismissive, I went into a whole discertation as to what it means to be kosher. I gave the theory and reasoning as to why Jews (and Muslims) keep kosher- explaining the different foods that aren’t considered Kosher, etc. I then added my own, “and anyhow, shellfish are what are known as ‘bottom feeders,’ meaning, they basically eat all the stuff left over that nobody else wants to eat so really, it shouldn’t be considered a delicacy or pricey, IMO.”

Looking at me with a foreign look (could have been a WTF, are you for real?, I work with this woman?? or something else…) he said, “it was a joke,” and walked away.