John lived in downtown Louisiana with his two favorite buddies—a well-mannered and playful monkey, and a very talented but shy oyster. John loved both pets so much that he trained them both to behave like humans and thought that they have learned enough, he wanted some exposure for them. One breezy evening in downtown Louisiana, John visited a popular jazz pub along with his well-trained monkey and smart oyster. They went inside the pub and headed straight to the billiards hall. Suddenly, the rope around his monkey’s neck got loose and the monkey jumped into the billiard table, picked up the cue ball, and swallowed it while John and the oyster looked on overly astounded.

Shocked, the waiter yelled at John “How could your monkey do that? Go home and don’t you ever bring your monkey here again. It gave me so much trouble.” Three weeks later, John was back again to exactly the same jazz pub with his monkey and oyster, and went straight to the billiards hall. Thinking this time around, everything should be fine as he waited with his oyster for his turn to play billiards. Before everyone could notice it, his monkey got loose again and jumped into the billiard table, picked up a peanut, put it inside his butt, took it back, and swallowed it. Everyone who saw it was so disgusted. Again the waiter came and shouted “What the hell did your monkey do? That’s terribly disgusting! I already told you not to bring your monkey here again.” John was shocked and speechless, so, the smart oyster interrupted and said “What the monkey just did was to check for sizes before he swallows things!” Good reasoning there, smart oyster!

The oyster in this story played a smart role in reasoning out on behalf of John, which makes the oyster a lot tastier to the tongue. No! People should be aware of the health risks of eating raw oysters. Gulf oysters contain Vibrio vulnificus bacteria that can make people sick and die in just a few hours when eaten raw or half-cooked. People with serious illnesses, immune deficiencies, cancer, diabetes, stomach disorders, liver, and iron overload diseases are at a higher risk. Check out BeOysterAware.com for other health-related information, preventions, symptoms, and risks brought about by eating raw or half-cooked oysters. Yes, they’re yummy but better be smarter than the oysters.