It is National Lobster Day (which is a bit more exciting than National Research Administrator Day). I assume the lobster PR people (and I am referring to the people who promote eating lobsters, not polishing up their image) want you to eat more lobster.
Eating lobster has always been one of those things people without money think people with money do all the time. It's right up there with caviar, frog legs and escargot (all things I've been served on a cruise BTW). Caviar tastes like salty fish eggs (which it is), frog legs do taste like chicken, and once you get past escargots being snails they do taste pretty good (I think it is the garlic and sauce though). Lobster tastes good. But it doesn't taste that good that it is worth boiling a creature alive to eat it.
And why do they boil the poor things alive instead of killing them first? It comes down to bacteria that multiply incredibly quickly when the lobster dies. That bacteria produces toxins. And cooking after it is dead doesn't necessarily kill those toxins. Lobster flesh also breaks down quickly after they die so cooking them alive keeps the meat firmer and sweeter.
None of these things probably make the lobster feel better about being boiled alive. Studies suggest lobsters may feel pain or at least feel a bit upset that they are being boiled. I'm not sure how the studies "suggest" that but it seems highly probable. Pain isn't just a human joy.
Some places in Switzerland and Italy now have laws requiring lobsters to be stunned (electrically or by chilling them) before boiling. I'm not sure that reduces the lobster anxiety.
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