Hail the spoon, most righteous of all silver and table wear. The spoon, piously accepting his place at the right side of the plate alone with only a brother spoon to keep company with. Condemned to but two, at most a third appearance during a desert course, but usually two courses of a meal.

There it sits through salads, entrees and vegetables, untouched, unaccepted while the knife gets credited with things like cutting the meat and spreading butter on bread. All the while the spoon waits silently to be used exclusively for courses such as soup (most predominantly) and deserts such as ice-cream or a sweet sorbet.

Ah, what a pleasure it is to carry those succulent morsels to the directors mouth warming and soothing with broths and stews, enemy of the abdomen by way of transporting ice-cream laden with sauces and sugary toppings. Yes, nutritious or not, the spoon performs her task unquestioningly. Valiantly scooping and holding whereas the fork can but stab or balance meats, potatoes and other semi-solid foods. Oh sure the fork could put a good dent in a bowl of stew, but as the carrots and chunks of beef disappear, so does the usefulness of said utensil. Enter the spoon. Yes, the spoon with its curvatious head and angled handle is able to dance in the hands of a master, into the tight corners and crevasses of any china or plastic tableware. And the bowl of the spoon - what other utensil boasts such a uniquely simple mode of transport from the plate to the mouth? Certianly the fork with its long straight tines and pointed ends isn't so perfectly formed as our hero, the spoon.

What then can the spoon be called but righteous? Can its adulation's ever be unsung? Can we survive sans spoon?