For those of you who don’t know, I am obsessed with Betta fish (Siamese fighting fish). I have consistently had two of them at a time for the last 4 years (each usually lives about 2.5 years on average) and I had a couple previously as well.
A couple of weeks ago, one of them died after a LONG battle with something I could never really identify. Jack seemed to be sick since the day I got him a year and a half ago (when the last Pirates of the Caribbean came out – hence the name). A couple of days after he died, after sanitizing his tank and preparing it for a new fish, I went to a pet store that I do not normally buy from although it is the same chain I go to. They have 48 hour guarantees on their fish and unfortunately this fish barely made it 36 hours! Long story short, the conditions they had him in and the conditions I put him in (the right ones) shocked his system. Anyhow, they told me that I could bring him back but I couldn’t get there for a number of days due to a knee injury preventing me from driving. So what did they tell me to do? Put him in the freezer! Yes, that’s right… in a bag, in the freezer! No refund without a fish in hand; don’t even get me started! Anyhow, then the person I talked to on the phone wasn’t there that night as he said he would be, naturally, so I had to have a battle as to why I was there four days after the fish died. Eventually they agreed to give me a credit note instead of a refund and I left without buying a new fish from them because I didn’t want to go through all of that again.
Fast forward to this past weekend… I go to the shop I usually get my fish from and find the most beautiful Betta I have ever seen – no joke. I asked a sales person how much he is and he said that since he was a “show fish” he was twice the price. It was “Black Friday” weekend so I thought I would get a discount but no, he was twice the usual price. I didn’t care, I wanted that fish! As I was debating for a second, someone walked by and asked me if I was buying him. YES! Decision made, he is mine! He kept walking and said “enjoy!” as he walked away. I asked the sales guy if he could hang onto him for me for a minute because I wanted to look at the others too because I was debating getting a second fish from them (yes, even though I had one at home still). He said sure… and not a minute later he came to tell me that another guy sold my fish! I turned around and, sure enough, he was in a bag ready to go! I looked at who was buying it and it was the same guy who told me to enjoy! After a minute of protest he let me have him and my sales guy joked that we were in the cutthroat world of Betta fish! No kidding! I took my fish, went to the cash and was then told they won’t accept my credit note since another store issued it! At this point, I didn’t care; I just wanted to get out of there!!!
It is now two days later and I am happy to report that the new fish is very happy in his new home. Due to the drama that ensued over this fish I debated calling him Shakespeare, but decided on Romeo specifically instead! He was worth the battle! Now, if only I could get a decent picture of him!
