ThinkingNectar

It was a good dinner in the company of good friends. Lots of catching up and some alcohol to go along.

A pair of chopsticks

Till a almost mathematically perfect piece of honeydew was presented on my plate. It was shaped like a pyramid. Not those with a square base that housed mummies. The pyramid shaped honeydew had a triangular base, and almost have three rotational symmetries.

In my right hand I held a pair of chopsticks. Not the perfect or standard method of hold that will make my ancestors proud, but sufficiently good enough to feed myself since chopstick wielding age of 10.

Then it strikes me that a triangular based pyramid could possibly be the only 3D shaped object that a pair of chopsticks cannot effective lift or hold without resorting to piercing damage to the object.

With the honeydew as the only object of interest, I tried to lift it with my chopsticks only for it to slide around the plate.

Mentally I cannot visualize a straight line across a triangular based pyramid where I cannot apply a perpendicular clamping along to offer a good grip and lift it up.

What if it is a square based pyramid? Once can effectively flip it to rest on one of its triangular face and lift it up as an inverted pyramid. I was suppose to be engaging my friends in meaningful conversation, but my mind was much more interested in defining the perfect chopsticks nemesis.

The chopsticks may be a very useful eating utensils. But I am convinced that with one hand and using a pair of chopsticks, it is not possible to lift up a triangular based pyramid shaped object without resorting to piercing damage to the object.