Jerry told me to go ahead and serve
the rat that fell into the fryer while
scurrying along in front of it with
a big piece of chicken in its mouth.
Maybe it was trying to bring food
home to its babies, kind of like
a family-size bucket. Probably
eight rats could have eaten
from that one piece of chicken.
I felt sorry for it and grossed out,
both, and I definitely didn’t want
to put it in a bucket, let it go
out that door. But I guess a rat
and a chicken are pretty close,
when you think about it, and
there’s no real reason we eat
one and not the other. Jerry
said that was true, plus
it’s not good to waste food,
and also we’d have to spend
half an hour cleaning the fryer,
sterilizing it according to
the manual from corporate.
Better to let someone get
a little extra protein, he said.
It’s someone else’s rat now.

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Kentucky Fried Rat