I kid... or do I? Cue dramatic music!
But in this case I can say I'm more pleasantly confuddled than irked then. When I sit down to dinner with a group of friends, the waitress place brings our food, say a bowl of noddles, a pair of chop sticks atop each... and a fork with mine. When I was at a food court, the waitress actually delivered a dish with chop sticks, then apologized, took them away and handed me a fork and spoon even though I didn't say a word other than "Ummm, what?" following the encounter.
I know it is glaring obvious how white I am, I mean in Asia, I'm literally sticking out like an albino on a black sand Hawaiian beach. Don't think I have noticed some of the much older and very young Singaporeans just outright staring at me, I instead enjoy to think they believe me as some sort of ghost or paranormal apparition, given my bleached white appearance and blonde hair!
I finally took note to this repeating chop stick vs. fork occurrence when my boyfriend's mother delivered lunch one afternoon, handing him some chop sticks and myself a fork. I instantly and POLITELY pointed out that I didn't need the fork, I could work the chop sticks like any person. I don't think in any way she meant it as an offence, more from the surprised look she gave me I think it instead could have been construed as she assumed I'd be more comfortable with a fork then chop sticks.
She of course obliged and quickly fetched a pair for me. Then as she sat with us, she inquired how proficient I was in the art of dining with chop sticks. I claimed no expert ability to using them, I mean seriously my boyfriend fries bacon in a pan with chop sticks instead of a spatula, so my skills must range down into the some what experienced novice.
But I guess over in Asia, everyone takes it as a accepted fact that Caucasians, especially Americans, are completely void on the knowledge of chop stick usage, along with our inability to speak any language other than English, our love of pop culture and our tendency to invade Middle Eastern countries. However given how widespread the Asia dispora was, almost every city in the world has there own China-town... or like New York City where we also have a Little India, Korea Town and one street that the Japanese are slowly expanding to take control of.
I did however note to my boyfriend's mother following our fork vs. chop stick interaction, how my late exposure to eating with chop sticks came about. During college, after coming back from a bar crawl, the only food establishment open past 2:00 AM in city are the take out Chinese restaurants, you know the one's with the inch thick bullet proof glass between you and the counter and a shielded bank-box they put your money into to get your food. Being as they only provided us with chop sticks and it was too far to take the food home to our dorms which didn't even have a communal kitchen, it instead fell to the arduous quest of learning to use chop sticks without any supervision or example from an experienced expert.
I do admit my first few attempts as a college freshman trying to use these wooden implements quickly devolved into pushing the food around the styro-foam container or shoving it right into my mouth or best of all, spearing an egg roll with one. It took several months before I began to actually use the devices as they were intended to be used.
Today I can use chop sticks.. adequately.. I don't have the dexterity or flashy skills that would allow me to fry bacon, cook meat or pluck a soup dumpling with a marksmen's eye. I however am good enough that a bowl of ramen stands little chance of lasting long, regardless if I'm armed with chop sticks or a fork... and now that I am in Singapore, its going to be chop sticks.
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