Have You Been Eating Cereal Wrong All This Time? 

How do you eat your cereal? In fact, you don’t need to answer that. We know how you eat your cereal. We know how everyone eats their cereal. With a spoon. A spoon, a bowl, some milk, and you’re good to go. 

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Well, apparently, that’s the wrong way to do it. This is all according to British etiquette expert Willian Hanson, who has, for some reason, decided to proclaim that breakfast cereal should be eaten with a spoon…and a fork. As you might expect, people are angry. Here’s how it’s all shaken out.

A Spoon and a Fork? Really?

Yes, really. Over on his Instagram, Hanson – who frequently posts videos explaining classic etiquette to his four million followers, and who’s never far away from our TV screens here in the UK, because apparently we as a nation can’t get enough of learning how to do things politely – showed us how to do it. After adding your milk, Hanson then explains that you should hold a spoon in your dominant hand and a fork in your non-dominant hand, the tines facing downward. You scoop the cereal by moving the spoon toward you, and use the fork to push the cereal onto the spoon. And then, sit back in the smug knowledge that you’ve done it all very properly.

Predictably, Hanson’s comment section exploded almost immediately after he posted this video. “I can’t tell if this is rage bait or not,” said one prominent comment, which to date has gained over 18,000 likes. “Ok but where do you stand on drinking milk from the bowl?” came a comment from Premier Inn, one of the most prominent hotel chains here in the UK. 

For his own part, Hanson has reacted with good humor to the stir that he’s caused online. “I can never tell when filming what will capture people’s attention and what may go a little undetected,” he said in a statement to PEOPLE. “I’m glad that I’ve been helping improve people’s breakfasts this month.” That, or he’s making us overthink everything. 

So… Is This How People Eat Cereal In The UK?

No! As a Brit, I can safely say that I’ve never met anyone who eats their cereal with a fork in this way. It must be said, though, that Hanson and I move in very different circles. He’s an etiquette expert who has worked in no fewer than six royal households and has spent his life around the very rich and very privileged. I…am not either of those things, and the only royal households I’ve been to are ones you can visit on day trips. So, who knows how the other half really lives? 

Regardless, if you do want to eat your breakfast like the posh folk do (who make up about 0.0001% of the UK), then grab your fork and get to work. There is logic to what he’s saying, after all — no more chasing those corn flakes around your bowl. You’ll just have to do a little more washing up.