I called a local seafood place (**cough, cough Ward's Seafood**) to make my Christmas Eve fish order. They have been around FOREVER and most locals swear by them.

Q: "I need 14 whole, live lobsters. How much do you get for lobster?"
A: "$18.99 a pound."
Me: "That's obscene."
Clerk: "That's been the price for six months and it's not even locked in for the holiday."
Me: "So I can show up on Monday morning and it can be more?
Clerk: "Yes."

Go online... Superpages "Fish Market, Clearwater."
Find another place: Harr's Surf & Turf.
Call Harr's.

Q: "What do you get for lobster?"
A: "$12.99 a pound."
Me: Get someone on the phone who can take an order.

I escaped gouging by the skin of my teeth. You?