May 13

Although Gulliver may have had difficulty in deciding which end of an egg should be broken when involved in his dispute with the Lilliputians and the Blefescutions, I am not sure that his answer that they should be opened in the middle, was a satisfactory answer to the question. Although the end of the egg that is chosen may not be so important, there is a lot that can be told from the way that a person goes about opening a boiled egg.

I had a friend, a quiet retiring type who used to attack the egg with a truly amazing verve. With one clean swipe he would lift off the top half inch of shell and scrape out the intact severed section. There is another method which is much in favour which involves a careful and thorough tapping of the top of the shell with a spoon, and then lifting the whole lot off. Others pick the fractured shell off carefully piece by piece leaving the flesh of the egg intact.

This is a subject which Emily Post seems to have carefully avoided, perhaps for good reason. I am sure that in the hands of a psychologist much could be made of this variation in practice. It would be interesting, for instance, to know how Hitler used to open his eggs. Maybe it is by studying these little things that we can learn more of how man's character is developed. My own practice is to drop the egg onto the floor and see whether it bounces. It never has yet, but I am still hopeful.