Undergraduate /
'Teaspoons are Excellent' UT on an issue of importance [5]
This is my first draft, so it's probably not going to be all that great. The exact prompt is "Choose an issue of importance to you-the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation."
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A (Tea)Spoonful of Sugar
The slender sister of the tablespoon, the teaspoon, is 1/3 the size of her older sibling with a more oblong bowl and a shorter handle. She is used primarily to stir sugar into coffee and measure the little ingredients with big mouths, like cinnamon and chili powder. I, however, use her to eat poblano soup, ice cream sundaes, and everything in between. This habit can be a hassle, especially when attempting to maneuver chunky potatoes and stew meat onto my utensil of choice. While the teaspoon's smaller surface area seems to put her at a disadvantage to the tablespoon, her size is actually quite beneficial when it comes to addressing the serious issues of medicine dosage and obesity.
As a small child, I hated being sick. Not because I had to miss school and eat ice cream all day, but because of the medicine I had to take to get better. That stuff was an unnatural pink color with a saccharine smell, and the foulest flavor I've ever been subjected to. The very sight of that unassuming brown bottle was enough to send me running behind the nearest large object, howling that I already felt better. Inevitably, however, my mother would pry my mouth open and, holding my nose, I would gulp down the vile drink. Luckily for me, my mother understood the dosage instructions for medicine and never gave me the wrong amount. Unfortunately, many parents do not know the difference between TSP (teaspoon) and TBSP (tablespoon), and accidentally cause their children to overdose. This was one of the leading causes of calls to the Poison Control Center in 2010, and one of the most easily preventable. If everyone just did a way with their tablespoons, there would be fewer troubles for kids everywhere.
The likelihood of teaspoons preserving America's health would be much higher if they could tackle obesity. How is that possible? Well, having extensive TSP experience with a variety of mediums (ranging from easily vanquished puddings to tricky grapefruits and trickier still lasagnas), I am sure eliminating the tablespoon from common cutlery will have an impact on the American waistline. The reason I believe this is simple math-the tablespoon is three times larger than the teaspoon, and can thus hold way more grub. So, when someone spoons up some delicious mashed potatoes, he is spooning up three times more than he could with a teaspoon. This enables "shoveling," an activity in which a person eats so quickly he doesn't even taste it. The result often include overeating, because the stomach doesn't have time to tell the brain its full before the person moves on to their next target. To keep up this volume of intake with a teaspoon, a person would have to eat very rapidly, which would make him look ridiculous. Most people don't like to look ridiculous, so if forced to use the teaspoon, they will eat slower and more carefully, giving the stomach more time to say, "Hey! I'm done now!"
For these reasons, the tablespoon should be retired for all but the mixing bowl, and the teaspoon should be given her dues next to the fork and knife. If these thoughts are taken into consideration before setting the table each night, many Americans will have a higher quality of life.