Running outta' time

As your character watches the hibachi chef prepare their meal, something seems ... off. What is it?

Source

Sorry, I'm new to this. Is...is...that thing supposed to be moving away from the fire?

Hello, yes welcome to the restaurant. Today you will learn everything about hibachi. It's a tradition where I'm cooking right in front of you. You can see your food be prepared, fresh and healthy yes. So this is hibachi and it is japanese but really it was started in America first then it go to Japan but now Americans think it's authentic japanese. it's getting big in Japan too, thank you for coming.

Yeah wow I always thought it was an authentically japanese experience, I didn't realize it was so westernized and modern and actually influenced japanese culture. It's so cool you get to do this sort of performative cooking, it's entertainment and it's also food. And customers get even hungrier as they look at their foo...Sorry, like I was saying before I'm new to this but surely you don't want bugs to be walking in the grill as you cook them right? Don't you want them to be dead as you cook them?

In japan sometimes we eat living creatures. Like take the squid for example. In reality it's dead already but you put soy sauce in it and it touches muscles and they move so it is looking like the creature is alive but only an illusion. But be careful! Many people eat them thinking those are dead but then move the tentacles go in your neck and choke the foodpipe. If you don't chew properly, it can kill you. So you either kill the sea animal in your mouth or it will kill you in your neck! Nature, you know, that's how it balances.

Right, right, no I get that. Totally I've seen videos on youtube, a famous comedian I know visited those parts and tried it I do find it fascinating and I'd like to try it. What you're cooking though, it doesn't look like a squid...and the squid from your story is't like pan fried is it? Seriously, it looks like it's charging at me, could you...not put it in my dish, I want everything else but the living walking freak of nature that looks real pissed at me for some reason.

In japanese culture, it is a sign of great disrespect not to accept your host's offerings. Even if try a little, say ohhh so great, and say ohh but stomach is paining or make an excuse but try and say yes otherwise your hosts are affected badly. They become offended.

No I get that, it's true of a lot of cultures, but that doesn't look like it's applicable to our current situation because the person is quite living and physically manifested and I don't think that asking someone to cook a slug-like creature that appears to be out for your blog is too distasteful or disreputable thing to do, you kno?

The cook picked up the black blob that was moving slowly, raised it with his right hand, looked at it carefully, and plopped it in his mouth, without bothering to chew.

You see punnk, the cook said with his most Jersey American accent, that's how it's supposed to be done, everyone does it okay, will you now just stop complaining and bitchin' about this thing just do it the way people of other cultures do it? Have so frikkin' respect for what other people make and cook, man!