I never had any brothers or sisters, so I’m always fascinated when my father talks about inter-sibling rivalry in his larval form. When I was home visiting him recently, he told me about the elaborate ritual that had been established around pie-cutting… a Solomon-like affair, in which my wise grandfather pronounced that whatever brother cut the pie for dessert must pick his slice last. The result? Equality in pie-division at a sub-atomic scale. Apparently, the only thing that beats a small child’s greed is his eagerness to screw over his brother.
This metrically measured cake plate aims to bring the absolute precision of two greedy children bickering over the biggest slice to everyone with $45 CAD to spare. I have a hard time believing adults could be so petty, but I can see this saving a kid called upon by his father to cut his brother’s piece some hand-wringing and brow-mopping.
It would be better if it was a unit circle.
“How much would you like?”
“pi over six please”
My 63 year old kansan father instituted the same rule in our household, just as his pappy did before him. He nonetheless still needed to use his fork and knife simultaneously as instruments of siege warfare and eating to defend his plate from his older brother, or so he tells me.
This little device inspires me to force my hypothetical progeny to make their own millimeter-precise cake dial if fairness is such an issue.. because no self-respecting parent should waste 45 loonies when there are valuable lessons in precision craftsmanship to be learned.
He He… I’m one of five sibling… Diner time were a race to try to be first for seconds… with five kids, if you’re any good, you can discretly get third while they’re fiunishing dishing seconds (being first and last for seconds)…
And at my grand parents, we were 10 cousins between the age of 5 and 13… Meals were never dull… My grand ma always use to threaten to bring out the chips balance as everybody was always complaining that dishing wasn’t fair…
great memories all this…
The hard part is making sure you’re cutting from the center; otherwise, the degrees are useless.
I believe the markings are degrees. Hard to make out, but it looks like both sides are approaching 90 in the middle.
“Apparently, the only thing that beats a small child’s greed is his eagerness to screw over his brother.”
Oh that is so true.
“Are you hungry?”
“That depends – how much did HE have? ”
i’m going to stick with my lazer cake kutter
“But for 3 (or more), the procedures for a true fair division become impractical.”
Or an opportunity for a post-grad mathematics thesis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_division
$45 CAD for a plate with markings around a circle!
How about 5 cents?
Print that circle on a piece of large paper. Put that in a clear plastic bag, then put it under the cake.
“Apparently, the only thing that beats a small child’s greed is his eagerness to screw over his brother.”
No no no! Entirely the opposite!
For dividing between 2 people, having one cut and the other choose guarantees a fair division; neither party can reasonably claim to have gotten a bad deal.
But for 3 (or more), the procedures for a true fair division become impractical. You wise grandfathers procedure, where he who cuts chooses last, will work fine as long as the cutter doesn’t conspire to favor the first chooser over the second. It depends entirely on the small child’s greed beating his eagerness to screw over his brother.
The cake is a lie!