Wednesday, December 01, 2004
CHOPSTICKS OR SPOONS
In a Japanese or Chinese restaurant in the Philippines, one is likely to be handed a spoon and fork for utensils. Chopsticks are available, but often only when requested.
Filipinos have a fondness for the spoon and fork because it makes it easy to consume their staple, rice. We love our rice fluffy so that it doesn’t clump and stick together. Thus, it would be darn near impossible to eat rice if we used chopsticks, although that may be anachronistic in Southeast Asia.
I learned to use chopsticks after my father came home from some sort of training in Taiwan. Bursting with enthusiasm for his new found knowledge, he promptly took us to Japanese and Chinese restaurants to impart this skill to us.
My first impression, of course, was that Taiwan must have been an entire nation of nutcases. Who, in his right mind, would bother to pluck his food with two unwieldy pieces of wood? The temptation to reach for the trusty spoon and fork was darn near overpowering.
The worst part for me was that I couldn’t pick several pieces of food at the same time. Thus, I was denied the symphony of flavors I had enjoyed in my mouth whilst scooping up my food with the spoon.
Over time, though, I learned to appreciate the advantages of chopsticks. The deliberate way by which I had to select which tasty morsel to ingest first made me understand that each serving had its own unique flavor to be appreciated in itself. There was beauty not just in the symphony, but in the unaccompanied aria as well.
Choosing between spoons and chopsticks is like choosing by which means we interact with others. If we choose the spoon, we jump into a gang, not paying much attention to individual qualities, but rather enjoying the interaction we have with everyone. In these situations, the spoon is the better choice, and it does its job well.
It is when the moments are more intimate that we have to use chopsticks; when a friend needs a shoulder to lean on, someone to listen, or when we decide whom to love or even to love at all. Chopsticks make us appreciate our loved ones as individuals, the smile that brings us boundless joy, the knowledge that we are cared for, and the hope of a bright future together.
Sometimes we don’t choose correctly, and we may brush aside someone who needs our attention, because we have chosen the spoon or we alienate ourselves from our coterie, when we wrongly choose the chopsticks.
It is in choosing correctly that one builds successful relationships with others. When we choose between chopsticks and the spoon and the fork, may we always choose wisely.
Filipinos have a fondness for the spoon and fork because it makes it easy to consume their staple, rice. We love our rice fluffy so that it doesn’t clump and stick together. Thus, it would be darn near impossible to eat rice if we used chopsticks, although that may be anachronistic in Southeast Asia.
I learned to use chopsticks after my father came home from some sort of training in Taiwan. Bursting with enthusiasm for his new found knowledge, he promptly took us to Japanese and Chinese restaurants to impart this skill to us.
My first impression, of course, was that Taiwan must have been an entire nation of nutcases. Who, in his right mind, would bother to pluck his food with two unwieldy pieces of wood? The temptation to reach for the trusty spoon and fork was darn near overpowering.
The worst part for me was that I couldn’t pick several pieces of food at the same time. Thus, I was denied the symphony of flavors I had enjoyed in my mouth whilst scooping up my food with the spoon.
Over time, though, I learned to appreciate the advantages of chopsticks. The deliberate way by which I had to select which tasty morsel to ingest first made me understand that each serving had its own unique flavor to be appreciated in itself. There was beauty not just in the symphony, but in the unaccompanied aria as well.
Choosing between spoons and chopsticks is like choosing by which means we interact with others. If we choose the spoon, we jump into a gang, not paying much attention to individual qualities, but rather enjoying the interaction we have with everyone. In these situations, the spoon is the better choice, and it does its job well.
It is when the moments are more intimate that we have to use chopsticks; when a friend needs a shoulder to lean on, someone to listen, or when we decide whom to love or even to love at all. Chopsticks make us appreciate our loved ones as individuals, the smile that brings us boundless joy, the knowledge that we are cared for, and the hope of a bright future together.
Sometimes we don’t choose correctly, and we may brush aside someone who needs our attention, because we have chosen the spoon or we alienate ourselves from our coterie, when we wrongly choose the chopsticks.
It is in choosing correctly that one builds successful relationships with others. When we choose between chopsticks and the spoon and the fork, may we always choose wisely.
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