Why don't more movie villains have crabs to stroke?

Why don't more movie villains have crabs to stroke?

At the Boston Children's Museum, we have a few things set up for children to try: some fishing rods, a crab trap, a felt fishing games for the little ones, and a touch tank (usually filled with crabs).

Kharliyah adding some art to our sign.

In my first week here, I have learned several things about crabs, such as how to identify a green crab vs. a spider crab, how to tell a boy vs. a girl crab, and how to properly pick up a crab (though this skill took much longer than the others). And Tuesday of this week, I finally picked one up! It's not that I was worried about being pinched. The legs freaked me out (they still do, to an extent). Struggling crabs feel so weird.

The catalyst for me picking up the crab was a group of children that came over eager to see some crabs. No one else was by the crab tank, so I reached in, found a lone crab with no claws (I know, a little bit cheating) and picked her up. 

Me desperately trying to look evil
by stroking a crab.

Crabs, it turns out, are really fun to stroke. Green crabs (the most common species we've found) have very smooth shells, and it's rather relaxing. So that got me thinking: why don't more villains stroke crabs? It's a bit of a movie cliché for a villain to be backlit and stroking a white cat. Why not have a crab? Or a tank of crabs to casually reach into, pull out a crab, and start stroking while speaking. Crabs are certainly more menacing than cats, at least in my opinion. Though it is easier to train a cat than a crab.

What I learned from picking up a crab this week was not to overthink things. Sometimes I have a tendency to over-analyze situations and see the worst-case scenario possible. I didn’t really think before I picked the crab up for the first time: I just did it. Thinking things through isn’t necessary a bad thing, but sometimes it’s better to just do.

Staying hydrated with Bella and Jahari.

Sarah M