I'm cute, not crabby

...which was the slogan printed on a t-shirt I saw this last weekend at the Jane's Island/Crisfield crab festival, featuring a crab derby and, far more fascinating, the "Crab Picking" competition. These ladies, most of whom have been picking the meat out of commercially gathered crabs for decades, compete each year for the reigning title of fastest picker. The ladies are given a huge pile of crabs and ten minutes to pick, urged on by the cheers of the crowd. You would never believe how fast they pick, and yet how little meat each crab yields! If only I'd had a little extra cash I

would have picked up that t-shirt for the darling little yumikins, who, in spite of being sinfully cute, can also

be quite crabby when she has a

mind to it.