That’s the up and down ones. They’re kept there without across ones to eat

I can assure you that I have better things to do in life than sit at a computer making up origins of common phrases

https://uselessetymology.com/2019/11/07/the-origins-of-the-phrase-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps/

Fun trivia… Pulling yourself up from your bootstraps is impossible and the phrase came from an 1800s physics textbook that asked why a person can’t pull themselves up that way.

It somehow got twisted to mean that it should be possible with hard work.

Ya know, when hermit crabs find a new shell and it’s too big for them they sit next to it. Others come try it and if its too big for them they sit next to it too.

But what’s interesting is they line up by size, with the largest crab closest to the shell.

Finally, when a big crab comes by and the shell fits, he drops the old one and the next largest crab gets it. That second crab drops his old one and the next crab gets it, etc, etc. All the crabs in line get a new shell as soon as the crab in front of them moves into their new shell.

So, yeah. I’d watch hermit crabs all day if I could too.

Oh man, I loved True Names, A Fire Upon The Deep and A Deepness In The Sky. I never got around to read ling the rest or his stuff but maybe it’s time