Some of you may recall me talking about living in Taiwan when I was a child. One of the necessary skills that I learned, that I can still recall, was how to eat with chopsticks. This has come in quite handy as an adult, because I’ve grown very fond of eating sushi.

Those who haven’t mastered fashioning two pointy sticks into their fork and spoon – whether because they don’t have the patience or they don’t have the dexterity – will understandably get a huge kick out of the Clothespin Chopsticks from Useful Things.

They look a lot like clothespins, don’t they?

Much more refined than the old standby of folding the wrapper from a restaurant’s disposable pair of chopsticks, placing it in between the sticks and creating tension with a rubber band, these reusable 9″ long tongs will get that delicious morsel off your plate and into your mouth without bringing attention to your method.

There are four Clothespin Chopsticks to a package, and they are kept tightly shut with a clear reusable band. And when the band is removed…

…the chopsticks spring open and are ready to go!

You can keep the little band back on the chopsticks so they can wait inside a bag or pocket. When you know that Asian food is on the agenda, and you don’t want to be the one person using a fork, bringing along the Clothespin Chopsticks is a clever move.

Useful Things mentions that these are good for children, but they are also a neat idea for anyone who suffers from arthritis, is elderly, or who simply can’t make their chopsticks “work”. Clothespin Chopsticks are cute, simple, and they do exactly what you want them to do – get your Asian dish to your mouth without embarrassment or accidents.

The Clothespin Chopsticks are available from Useful Things.

MSRP: $9.95

What I Like: Extremely easy to use; portable – can be brought along; allow everyone to eat with chopsticks – even if they don’t have the necessary dexterity

What Needs Improvement: Nothing