DURHAM, NC – In the mad dash to grab food from the hospital cafeteria, neurologist Adrianna Phelps completely forgot to grab a fork for her chicken Caesar salad. A quick search through her office turned up no other utensils. Not having the energy to go all the way back downstairs, this hungry neurologist has decided to give this tuning fork a go.
“A fork’s a fork, right?” Phelps said, washing the tuning fork she used all morning on patients with a healthy dose of soap and water. “What else am I going to do? Using my bare hands is just gross.”
Unlike the traditional fork that features three prongs, a tuning fork is a U-shaped instrument made of steel and contains only two prongs. It was invented in England back in 1711 as an acoustic resonator. These days its most common non-medical use is to help tune musical instruments while its most common medical use is to keep neurologists entertained.
The tuning fork has never before been used for food consumption until now. Either that or people who have used it did it with embarrassment and in secrecy.
“Yeah, this thing works better as neurologic instrument,” Phelps narrated towards us, struggling to lift or spear romaine leaves. “Who knew the third prong was so essential? Seriously, the third prong might be mankind’s greatest achievement.”
Gomerblog asked her if she has ever used a regular fork to perform the Weber and Rinne tests.
“Of course not!” Phelps exclaimed, licking salad dressing off of the steel instrument. “Now that’s just completely silly!”
