PENSACOLA, FL—Normally, Flippy McAllister is known for his quick wit, bright color, and good sense of humor, but lately he's found reason to sigh.
The 2-year-old goldfish admits that he leads a pretty full life. He has a 1-gallon aquarium all to himself, a few plants to look at, a water filter to keep him company, and all of the colorful pebbles he could ever want. Still, he is not without desires of his own.
If he's really honest with himself, despite the clean water and view of a few bushes and a house outside, Flippy is beginning to find his diet rather dull. It's not that the food is not good, or that it's not nutritious. On the contrary, Flippy is a specimen of good health: in his prime. Perhaps it is this richness all around him that has caused him to fall into a bit of a depression.
Flippy, at times, finds himself wishing that his food wasn't so soggy all of the time, but then feels guilty about being dissatisfied with his seemingly perfect existence. Wishing he could just focus on the beauty of the bubbles, or the joys of swimming counter-clockwise, Flippy starts to berate himself whenever he finds that he is upset with the soggy food.
Flippy has found himself trying to catch the little flakes the moment they hit the surface of the water, which does help a little, but as soon as he gets one gulp down, he finds that the rest of the flakes are as drenched as he was the day he hatched. He has even found that he's lost a little of his appetite because of the monotony.
Knowing he has little to no control over the choice of food has slowly led him to a bit of an existential crisis. He will often sit and stare at the colors and shapes outside of the aquarium, having lost the desire to even see what might be behind the plant in his tank. He'll ask himself what it's all about. What is it all for, if he can't change one element of his fate?
Worse yet is when Flippy will fall into a spell of guilt for enjoying such luxury for a goldfish, and thinks about the other fish out there who do not have it so well. Knowing that there may be other goldfish just like him, even some who were in the pet store tank with him when they were young, whose water is not cleaned, who don't get pretty pebbles, or even sand—these thoughts drive him close to madness at times. He questions why he deserves anything nice: what made him so lucky?
Flippy thinks that he can't take much more of these thoughts and the feeling of powerlessness. He explained that he is seriously considering pouring his despondency into something more productive, such as poetry, art, or interpretive dance. At times, he's also considered a hunger strike, but is doubtful it would accomplish much.
When reached for comment, his 6-year-old owner, Sarah McAllister, stated, "Yeah, mommy says that when he dies I can get a hamster!"