She didn't eat Flipper

It was an innocent comment. And it was based in fact...

My wife and I were having a nice meal in Alpine, Texas at a top notch restaurant called The Reata, named after the ranch which provided the setting for the 1950s epic "Giant," starring Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean. The movie was shot near Marfa, or only about 20 miles from the eatery.

I ordered chicken breast.....my son Alex, steak....and Carol ordered Mahi, Mahi. The food arrived and we started eating. Towards the end of the meal, I casually questioned her as to whether she knew what Mahi Mahi really was?

"No," she said.

"You are eating Dolphin," I stated.

"No I'm not....I wouldn't eat Dolphin."

"Well, you are...." I responded.

With that, she was done. And when the waitress came by with the check....she asked....

"Is Mahi Mahi really dolphin?"

"No, I don't think so," the waitress said.

"OK," I said...."but I think Mahi Mahi is dolphin."

Later as we prepared to go to sleep that night....Carol got sick. I mean real sick. And here's the thing about it. Instead of griping that the fish wasn't done....or that the creme sauce was too rich, she started blaming me.

"I wouldn't be sick if you hadn't lied about the dolphin," she said between trips to the bathroom.

She was still sick the next day as we started home. She called ahead to her son to tell him we would not be going to be able to visit him in Odessa because, "Mike made me sick by saying that I was eating Flipper."

So, now....here in my own personal blog.....I would like to expose the truth. I looked up the words Mahi Mahi and here's what I found:

Although its common name is dolphin-fish, the mahi-mahi is a fish not a dolphin, and is not at all related to the Delphinidae family of mammals whose common name is simply dolphin. an alternate name for mahi-mahi is common dolphin.

I rest my case. A dolphin is a dolphin. I did not say she was eating Bud and Sandy's mammal that we grew up loving on Flipper. I said she was eating dolphin....maybe I should have said she was chewing on common dolphin.

Whatever it was....it provided some common illness for my wife.

For the record...she did not eat Flipper. And having finally clarified this for all of you....I don't believe I will be eating anything--anytime soon.