<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><blockquote type="cite" class="" style="border-left-style: none; color: inherit; padding: inherit; margin: inherit; "><div class=""><div id="article" role="article" class="" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; "><div class="page" style="line-height: 25px; "><h1 class="title"><span class="" style="font-weight: normal;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">Eatin' With Sticks</font></span></h1><br class="">When you think about it,<br class="">eatin’ with sticks<br class="">is the natural thing to do;<br class=""><br class="">that is, without getting all<br class="">sociological about it,<br class="">it makes logical sense<br class=""><br class="">to handle your food<br class="">with these smooth extensions<br class="">of your fleshy fingers --<br class=""><br class="">that way, the hot<br class="">is truly cool,<br class="">bit by hit making its way<br class=""><br class="">south to your mouth<br class="">as you choose<br class="">what you chews,<br class=""><br class="">chowing down on, say,<br class="">succulent shoots of bamboo<br class="">with sticks of bamboo<br class=""><br class="">as you come full circle<br class="">in the ecological<br class="">sense of things,<br class=""><br class="">which makes good sense<br class="">and shouldn’t<br class="">bamboozle any bambino<br class=""><br class="">with a lick of sense,<br class="">a lick of taste,<br class="">and elders demonstrating<br class=""><br class="">the social, logical value<br class="">of a world not to waste,<br class="">slash, stab at random,<br class=""><br class="">not to just scoop around<br class="">like so many grains<br class="">of surplus and plenty.<br class=""><br class="">Moreover, sticks<br class="">are never alone --<br class="">as in “sticks together,”<br class=""><br class="">they are paired<br class="">like the very stereo<br class="">parts of the body --<br class=""><br class="">arms, hands, legs, feet,<br class="">ears, eyes, molars,<br class="">nostrils of the nose,<br class=""><br class="">with all of those<br class="">working together ricely,<br class="">in sync, as we eat. . .<br class=""><br class="">But wait -- what’s missing?<br class="">Right -- a whole person<br class="">does not a society make. . .<br class=""><br class="">Thus, as any unshaven sage<br class="">in a mountain hermitage<br class="">will instruct you,<br class=""><br class="">“You need a bowl, baby!”<br class="">Which is to say,<br class="">“You can’t go it alone!”<br class=""><br class="">And even a hermit<br class="">wouldn’t be here<br class="">if it weren’t for<br class=""><br class="">sticks and bowls,<br class="">the whole enchilada<br class="">of Yin and Yang,<br class=""><br class="">of boys and girls,<br class="">of what makes the world<br class="">worth sitting down with,<br class=""><br class="">wherever you are,<br class="">blessing the bowl<br class="">of food, community,<br class=""><br class="">collective memory,<br class="">creative heritage,<br class="">the grains, the noodles<br class=""><br class="">that wouldn’t have it<br class="">any other way:<br class="">“Eat us with STICKS!”</div></div></div></blockquote><br><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> - Lawson Fusao Inada </span></div></body></html>