My parents' objections to my using utensils unusually for eating

glennmagusharvey

Pizza is normally held by hand, right?  Well, it makes yer hand icky and stuff.

Why not cut it with knife and fork?  If that takes a while, why not just fork it and lift it that way?  If that is prone to having stuff slide off, why not use two forks, or support it with a knife, or for that matter, use a pair of long chopsticks?

I was eating (small-ish slices of) pizza using chopsticks at lunch today, and my dad didn't like the sight of it.  What?  It's not like we're not otherwise already mixing western and eastern cuisines; also for lunch were dumplings, bok choi, and rice porridge.  Yes, we had pizza along with that.  Why the hell not?

Also, potato chips.  They also make hands icky.  So what do I do?  Well, it was my dad who had the first idea--slip them between the tines of a fork.  Then later, chopsticks and even tongs.  Only have a knife or a spoon?  Still no problem!  (though it becomes a bit more of a delicate balancing act.)

AHR

You are no New Yorker, that's for sure.

RedEyedAbyss

Something to do with social norms, I guess. Though if you're not in front of a crowd, I don't see why it matters.

ColorPrinter

HERETIC

GTFO

Wicked223

There are plenty of cases where we're forced to do things sub-optimally because of existing social norms; this is simply another one.

RedEyedAbyss

(grumbles at the lack of support for the Dvorak simplified keyboard)

Ponicalica

Abyss_Worm: Where have you had trouble?  Aside from a few ZXC-based flash games(and combining Dvorak and US-International in the particular way I want), I haven't.

LouieW

glennmagusharvey,
Pizza is normally held by hand, right?  Well, it makes yer hand icky and stuff.

Why not cut it with knife and fork?  If that takes a while, why not just fork it and lift it that way?  If that is prone to having stuff slide off, why not use two forks, or support it with a knife, or for that matter, use a pair of long chopsticks?

Your actions there remind me of this Seinfeld episode in which people start eating snickers bars with a knife and fork. Sorry, I suppose that was a bit off the point.

I think that it will probably seem strange to others for you to use chopsticks and the like for things like potato chips. I feel like most people just wash their hands afterward rather than mess with doing stuff like that.

Stormtroper

Tissues.

glennmagusharvey

Actually, I'm also open to using two fingers for potato chips then licking the fingers and wiping them off on a napkin afterwards, if I'm not doing something that requires the hand those fingers are on (such as using a computer keyboard).  This is because saliva has some emulsifying properties that let it dissolve fats like grease.

As for social norms, here's another one that I routinely push the limits of--the idea of not clearing plates of all the food on them, down to the last noodle shard, grain of rice, etc..  I try to do it quietly, since the most prominent thing about this that tends to annoy people seems to be the noise.  Why do I do it?  Because it's otherwise wasteful and sometimes I'm bored after finishing a meal and waiting for other people.  So why not?

glennmagusharvey

> There are plenty of cases where we're forced to do things sub-optimally
because of existing social norms; this is simply another one.

This bugs me.

AHR

The concept or the action?

glennmagusharvey

The fact that it happens.  The concept is just a concept.

AHR

I don't really think it happens too much, but I am a bit of a naïvely positive idiot.

The_Edge

I ate a hot dog with chopsticks once. I blame my elementary school though. It was international week and so they gave us chopsticks for lunch but no Asian food to go with it. So, I felt like I had to use them for something. OP has now inspired me to use chopsticks for non-Asian foods again. Revolution!

Bob

> There are plenty of cases where we're forced to do things sub-optimally 
because of existing social norms; this is simply another one.
This bugs me.

Crimson

Sub-optimally? The point of making pizza thin and slicing it is so you can eat it by hand while on the go.

Unless it's Chicago-style deep dish, eating pizza by hand IS the most optimal way to eat it.

TheMightyAnonym

Chopsticks are awesome. They are the ULTIMATE utensil.

Easy to clean, fun to use, and highly versatile. What more could you want?

glennmagusharvey

The only thing they can't do is spoon stuff.

You can fork stuff with it.  it's two sticks.

You can cut stuff with it, to some extent.  Stab both sticks into something and then use one or both to push apart whatever it is.  At the very worst, you can stab stuff repeatedly to create a separation line, or stab stuff one at a time.

Or better yet, just use the sticks to grab something like tongs and then bring it up to your mouth--to take a hearty bite out of it.

They're also useful for mixing drinks.  Got honey stuck at the bottom of your tea?  Your drink powder not dissolving properly?  Stir up!

Eating meat stuck to bones?  They're great for picking at little details.  Only a fork can do this better to some extent, and even that depends on how wide the fork is.

TheMightyAnonym

No, it works for soup if you slurp. That's how you are supposed to do it, anyways.

glennmagusharvey

Also possible with chopsticks?  Moving rice, especially up the side of a bowl to your mouth.