June 10, 2022, 11:27 AM
Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg
This week's edition of what has captured the internet's attention? Two bowls stuck together.
On Jun. 7, Twitter user Chi Nguyen sought the social media platform's collective wisdom.
Twitter, I need your help. I stacked a ceramic bowl into another one while doing dishes and now they are stuck. How do you remove the smaller bowl without breaking both of them?
— Chi Nguyễn (@whatchidid) June 6, 2022
Why am I so invested? I’ve tried to fix this for 2 days, and I cannot give up now. pic.twitter.com/ONfuw7L9dH
"I stacked a ceramic bowl into another one while doing dishes and now they are stuck," she wrote, adding that she'd been working to separate the bowls for two days.
"How do you remove the smaller bowl without breaking both?"
And just like that, the internet sprung into action, offering all kinds of solutions to a problem that Nguyen had been wrestling with prior to her tweet.
At the time of writing, her post has received more than 142,000 likes, 32,00 retweets, and close to 20,000 replies.
Helpful and unhelpful solutions
The solutions thrown up by fellow Twitter users ranged from scientifically informed tricks to humorous quips.
Many suggestions involved some form of heating the larger bowl to expand it, and chilling the smaller bowl to shrink it.
Others advised Nguyen to utilise some form of lubricant — warm soapy water or WD-40 for example.
Some even attached relatively elaborate diagrams with their tweets.
"Have you tried leading the small one into an existential crisis, so that it shrinks from the dread and anxiety?" asked Twitter user @grumpylibtxvet.
"Have you tried leading the small one into an existential crisis, so that it shrinks from the dread and anxiety?"
In the same vein of thought, here's another witty tip:
"Have you tried politely asking the smaller bowl to leave?"
And of course who could forget the following classic home remedy:
"Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?" wrote @Skinnyjax.
"Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?"
"Still stuck"
Thankfully for all invested in seeing two ceramic bowls separated, Nguyen provided updates on which suggestions she'd tried.
Things I've tried so far and no dice:
— Chi Nguyễn (@whatchidid) June 6, 2022
-warm soapy water
-hot water on outer bowl, cold water + ice on inner bowl
-oil on edges
-microwave
-aggressive shaking
-WD-40
Will try next:
-hair dryer
-freezer then running hot water
Thank you for being as invested in this as I am.
Over the course of three days, Nguyen tried at least 20 different solutions — some more seriously than others.
"Compassionately, but firmly threw the bowls onto pillows," she wrote on Jun. 8.
"No easy way to say this: smaller bowl has a chip now. Still stuck."
To aid those following along, a website was created to track Nguyen's progress.
"UNSTUCK!!!!"
Finally, on Jun. 9, Nguyen provided the update that the world had been waiting on the edge of their seats for:
OMG WE DID IT!
— Chi Nguyễn (@whatchidid) June 8, 2022
Last 20 hours:
- upside down, on a towel, undisturbed
- gave to toddler (clear mandate that bowls must stay together)
- suction cup
- small bowl asks to not give up on it now
- banged on carpet
UNSTUCK!!!! pic.twitter.com/zllvidh07H
The solution?
Giving the bowls to a toddler, with a clear mandate not to unstuck them, using a suction cup, and then banging them on the carpet.
What a ride.
Who would have thought that user @thelovelysarah's humble suggestion would've turned out to be the clincher?
Top image from Chi Nguyen's Twitter account
If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.