I think I just ate a shell...but it was a pearl

by Kevin
(Kenai, AK)

We were eating at tourist trappy restaurant near a beach on Kauai and I had ordered the scallops. They were nice and plump, encrusted with coconut and other stuff so I took my first forkful and felt something hard and unyielding in my teeth. The wait staff came over when my wife told them that I had a shell in my dish. The chef even came out and watched me as I carefully attempted to extricate the offending particle without expectorating on my plate. I got it out and sure enough, there it was, not a shell, but a fairly round, white pearl. The chef offered to bring me another dish but I figured my chances were low of getting another pearl and indeed, this was the case. It was everyone's first in fact.