"Why are you peeling it like that!?" said Christina, my colleague and recent Chinese immigrant, as I held my banana in my right hand, split the stalk with my left, and peeled back the skin from top to bottom in what I assumed to be the universally accepted tripartite manner.
"What?"
"You are opening the wrong end," she said.
Her explanation followed. Split the other end with a gentle squeeze just as if you are tweaking a baby’s nose, peel back the skin and there you have it. A banana. With two improvements.
Firstly, the top bit has not been mushed by the undue force used to split the stalk, and secondly, the stalk now provides a convenient handle with which to hold your newly peeled banana.