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Me & My Chopsticks
by Alex Chan
There is a funny thing that happens when you get older; you slowly become your parents. Did you ever notice that happening to you? Well, I noticed it this year. I'm not sure what the defining moment was but I am recognizing my parents' logic in my thinking. Below are some examples of what I mean.
1) I started to turn off the lights in rooms not in use.
2) I would rather turn on the fan than the A/C.
3) I notice that other cars are passing ME on the freeway. (For those of you who know me the California Highway Patrol had my tickets pre-printed)
4) I am appalled by the style and pricing on new Nike shoes.
5) I tell my younger brother to learn the proper use of chopsticks.
Most of those examples can be explained by the fact that I'm a homeowner now. I welcome your sighs of empathy for those of you who are homeowners like me. For those of you still spending money on cars, clothes and clubbing you'll just never understand what I mean. In fact, I sound like a parent right now!
Anyways, the chopstick subject really hit me hard. I noticed that I give other Asian-Americans a gaze of amazement when I see them use forks. Why? It never used to bother me before; like I said earlier, my younger brother uses a fork all the time. So why now? Why do I feel that all Asian-Americans out there should be trained in the art of holding a set of chopsticks (and properly while I'm at it. By the way, the scissor technique is not correct. I see a lot of you out there using it. You might get hurt one of these days or worse yet, you might end up flicking your food to another table if you use too much force)?
History of Chopsticks
The Chinese have been using chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, using twigs to remove it. Overtime, as population grew, people began chopping food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Small morsels of food could be eaten without knifes and so the twigs gradually turned into chopsticks.1
Some people think that the great scholar. Confucius, who lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced the development of chopsticks. A vegetarian, Confucius believed knives would remind people of slaughterhouses and were too violent for use at the table.1
Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Central Asia most people have traditionally eaten with their hands.1
1- Taken from the website FactMonster.com, http://www.factmonster.com/spot/chopsticks1.html by David Johnson
Based on that historical information, I began to understand why I favor using the trusty ol' chopsticks to enhance my dining pleasure. Who can deny thousands of years of continued usage right? So, let me try to explain just what I am getting at here. Please be aware that the following is my own opinion. If you feel that chopsticks are stupid and unbearable then you are entitled to whatever you feel is right.
The Lowdown
In my opinion, chopsticks are the essence of simplicity. That simplicity is also a reflection of Asian culture and life. When you think of Asian or Far East culture, you begin to lose your thoughts towards images of yoga, Feng Shui, Japanese gardens, koi ponds and other peaceful thoughts. That's because Asian life and culture is based on that simplicity and inherent alignment with nature.
Chopsticks are the perfect example. It arose from the use of two branches to allow a person to pick things up. Chopsticks allow a safe distance to observe an object and it can be made out of anything in any situation. Now if you were going camping and forgot to bring the fork, how assed out would you be?
And yet, the simplest things in life are the hardest to grasp. Just like learning the use of chopsticks. It's only two sticks! People get really frustrated when learning to use chopsticks. You see it all the time when eating dim sum. You have these determined folks reading the instructions on the wrapper intently, knowing full well that they have gone through this process a million times before in the past. Then in their last ditch effort at redemption, their piece of dumpling goes flying in the soy sauce causing ridicule and laughter from their friends. "Ah, fuck this stupid shit. Waiter, give me a fork!"
I think using chopsticks gives me a sense of pride, a sense of belonging to my community. Maybe I feel that I have lost my Asian side in that gray landscape of being Asian-American. Maybe I yearn for a simpler time in my life when all I cared about was just being. Maybe life is just an endless cycle, no matter how much you try to run away from your past, you end up reliving it.
Or maybe people should learn to appreciate utensils from other cultures instead of just the food. You know what I mean? Hey, I know you're going to say this is America and forks should be available. No it shouldn't! How can you have authentic Asian food such as Chinese, Japanese or Korean without using chopsticks? If you want the utensils to be Americanized then go eat Americanized Asian food like Yoshinoya (Beef Bowl) or Panda Express.
Can you imagine if I walked into Lawry's Prime Rib and asked for chopsticks? The waiter would probably say, "Sir, this is an American restaurant. You're supposed to figure out which of the three forks you should use throughout the meal." See what I mean; certain situation dictates certain decorum. If it doesn't make sense for me to ask for chopsticks in an American restaurant then it shouldn't make sense for people to ask for forks in Asian establishments.
I suppose this article is just a metaphor for what I am feeling. The true meaning of this article is not chopsticks but the respect of one's culture and identity. Just because you don't understand a culture doesn't make it right to impose your identity for the sake of comfort. It's just like walking into an Asian house with your shoes on. If you have done it before then I'm sure you have been asked to take your shoes off or you noticed everyone else with no shoes and felt disrespectful. Right?
So, if you feel compelled not to disrespect my house take off your shoes. If you don't want to disrespect my culture's food then use chopsticks. Simple huh?
All this from two sticks.
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