"Can someone who uses chopsticks please help me understand this?"

Assuming that's a mildly serious request, I'll throw in another $0.02...

"Why, why why do people insist on using chopsticks? Is it more efficient? No. Is it easier? No."

As I said, *I* personally DO find many asian dishes easier to eat (not to mention cook) with chopsticks (which is not to say I refuse to eat them with a fork if that's all that's on hand). But I myself am half chinese, and grew up using chopsticks at home almost as much as I used a fork. Had I used a fork exclusively in my formative years I might agree that a fork is easier to use across the board. As it is, both are so normal to me that I'm occasionally not entirely aware of which I'm using. I remember once I was eating a salad and my mother asked why I was eating it with chopsticks, I was rather surprised to look down and see that I in fact WAS using chopsticks (but a green salad is yet another pre-sliced dish that lends itself to the sticks), something I hadn't specifically planned to do.

"Is a a way for useless people to feel pretentious and skilled? Probably. "Hey look at me! I can use two sticks to pick things up! Weeee!""

When I lived in Japan I did actually take my own chopsticks with me a lot of the time, but that's mainly because I felt bad endlessly wasting the disposable ones. Also, I don't particularly like the Japanese style chopsticks which taper to an almost sharp point. Chinese style sticks are usually much more blunt. That's what I grew up with, so that's what I like.

As for why people do so in the US or other traditionally fork using places...sure, I'll bet some people do it for pretentious reasons. But hey, maybe some people simply ENJOY using chopsticks, and don't give a hoot who sees or doesn't see them doing it. I don't see why people should feel bound to a tradition (like using a fork) just because they were born to it. Especially if they find something they like better. Do you tsk-tsk at Asians in the US when you see THEM use FORKS? Because I can assure you, in the 3 asian countries I've been to ( Japan, Korea, Taiwan) the indigs had no compunctions about using forks if they were eating western style food. Heck, I saw them eat local cuisine with forks on occasion...

Just some things to consider... :)