Where's my HASENPFEFER?

So it's New Year's Day and the Goat is off engaging in goat-like activities with all the other little goats (he went to a football party with his buddies), and the kid and I have no plans other than to hunker down in the snow and cold. Sort of a bummer.

I peruse the weekly grocery circular and see that Giant Eagle has live lobsters on sale for $8.99 a pound and the sale ends today and they're open on the holiday. There are few things the kid and I enjoy more than spreading out newspapers on the kitchen table and sharing a messy lobster feast, so the answer to the dull holiday was obvious.

"How about a lobster dinner, kid?"

We pile into the Mini and schlep through the snow to the Giant Eagle, where we immediately head back to the lobster tank. This is what we find:

"How can they be sold out when there's all those lobsters in there?" I say to the kid. She doesn't say anything, just eyes the tank with disappointment.

I find someone at the seafood counter who finds the seafood manager who explains to me that all the lobsters are reserved.

"When's the guy picking them up?" I ask, hoping they would only be holding the lobsters for an hour or so.

"Not until Sunday."

"Did he already pay for them?" I ask, stunned. After all, it's Friday.

"No, but he's a big customer that buys tons of stuff here all the time. And," she adds with import, "he'll have to pay full price because the sale will be over by Sunday."

"So your flyer says you have lobsters on sale, and you do have lobsters, but you're not selling them until after the sale?"

"I know it seems odd," she says.

"I'll need to talk to another manager," I say.

* * *

Perhaps some "big customer" is at the Giant Eagle today complaining that his/her order is short two lobsters, but I do not feel bad about this. To them I say, they were delicious.