At many times in life, we become tied, whether by our own ignorance or the constant pressure toward cultural conformity, to a certain way of doing things.

The way we hold our forks is an example of this mindless traditionalism. All of us hold our forks a certain way, like this:

This method of fork holding works fine… until you have to use the greatest of tableware, the shallow bowl.

Watch what happens when I use the traditional fork holding position with a shallow bowl:

Bump.

That’s strike one against the American fork holding position.

And then there’s the matter of wrist risk.

My wrist is running parallel to—or even away from—my mouth as I secure the food on the fork, so I have to pivot my wrist back toward my mouth to eat:

One of my most important joints is in danger!

I am sure that you are now deeply alarmed by this whole fork holding crisis.

So, what’s the solution?

BOOM!

With Henry’s Fork Holding Integrated Strategy 2.0 (patent pending), eating is no longer an ungainly, wrist heavy task. In fact, it’s a total breeze.

And because my hand is now fully above the fork handle, it’s ready for shallow bowls, deep bowls, and the flattest of plates:

This discovery is nothing short of a paradigm shift, an intellectual victory over our greatest utensil.

I have to stop writing now because these GIFs are giving me a headache.∎