| From: | Robert Watkins robert.watkins@******.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | the value of education (OT-rant, long) |
| Date: | Fri, 16 Jul 1999 09:33:43 +1000 |
> > >Chopsticks are bloody hard to learn. Anyone with a minimal amount of
> > >dexterity can learn to use a knife and fork. Chopsticks take a lot of
> > >practise.
>
> Talking as someone with decades of knife/fork experience, and
> probably minutes of chopstick experience... I think your view is
> overly subjective. Have you actually spent a lot of time learning, or
> did you have a couple bad experiences and just start asking the waiter
> for a knife and fork when it didn't work out? My first guess is that
> you've just accepted chopstick usage as a skill not worth the effort
> learning, so naturally you aren't proficient.
When you reply to my comments, you should read my message, Mark, not just
Arcady's cut down version. :) I said there that I've been using chopsticks
readily for the last 14 years or so. I learnt when I was 12, when I started
learning the Chinese language, and I had used them before that as well (just
not very well). When I eat Asian food, I will use chopsticks in preference,
largely 'cause my friends don't know how and I like to rub it into them. :)
> Have you seen parents trying to teach their kids how to use a
> knife and fork? It sucks. They keep throwing their food everywhere.
> Small round vegetables (peas and carrots) are especially difficult.
> But give them a year or so, and they figure it out. Back in (Chinese)
> school, I was the only 7 year old who had to eat a lot slower with
> chopsticks than with a fork and knife, and I've figured it out since
> then. I also hated Chinese food and usually ate with a fork and
> knife. It's really not that hard, especially if you start them at the
> appropriate age. It's definitely easier than teaching someone how to
> write, and anyone with a minimal amount of dexterity can do that. My
> grandmother, OTOH, tried to learn very late in life and never did
> figure out how to sign her name without help.
Parents try to teach kids to use a knife and fork when the children do not
have sufficent manual dexterity. Asking them to pick up small items with
them is asking for a headache. They should start them out on food that's a
lot more manageable.
> Also, there are things you can do when eating with chopsticks
> that you can't do at a western table setting. It took me a while to
> get used to "proper" table manners. I still like to eat with my bowl
> in my left hand and bring it up to my face, unless I'm in a restaurant
> or someplace formal.
Yeah, I know... eating rice with chopsticks is just plain disgusting by
Western standards. You really shouldn't shovel food into your mouth like
that. :)
--
.sig deleted to conserve electrons. robert.watkins@******.com
