Well,
yesterday's blog entry was a little bit personal. It was something
that I have always wanted to get off of my chest for quite some time,
but wasn't exactly sure how I would do it, or how it would come
across. But, once I got into the frame of mind similar to “like a
Band-Aid, you have to peel it off quickly so it doesn't sting as
much”, it became a lot easier to speak my mind. I ended up getting
a lot off of my chest, and I feel a little bit better for it.
And,
I think that I plan on making every Thursday like that, if you guys
don't mind. After all, I suppose that my ramblings and addiction to
pop culture would make a lot more sense if you find out who I am
behind the Sunday Jukeboxes and Saturday Morning Cartoons, right?
I
guess if you want to look at it a different way, my upbringing and
childhood hasn't exactly been a bed of roses. But, that's the
thing...hardly anybody has that upbringing...well, unless you happen
to be a member of the Brady Bunch! So, I think that by sharing the
good and the bad, the bond between blogger and reader can (hopefully)
strengthen, and maybe people will read the blog and identify and
relate to what I went through.
Or,
you may just think that I'm bat guano crazy. Either way, I'll take
it with a grain of salt!
Anyway,
we're going to move away from the serious and get right back into the
fun. And, on that note, I have a question for all of you.
How
fun is your job?
Okay,
so I see some of you maybe half-heartedly raising your hands, and
some of you giving me a death stare. It's true that for a lot of us,
a job is just that. A job. Now, as far as doing this blog goes, I
don't consider this to be work. I take pride and joy in being able
to express my thoughts and feelings every day for almost two years.
And, though I've been doing this for well over 500 days now, I still
manage to find the time to do it because I love it.
If
only I could actually use my writing skills to land a similar job,
that would be a life's dream come true. Ah well...as long as I'm
still breathing in the oxygen and expelling the carbon dioxide, I
still have time to make that a reality.
(SIDE
NOTE: I'm listening to my iPod as I type this and the Beatles
“Paperback Writer” just appeared on the Playlist. That's
freaky.)
As
far as the job that I have that actually does pay the bills
go...well, I have admittedly a love/hate relationship with it. There
are some days in which I am motivated and energized to do the job at
hand, and then there are others in which I wish I had stayed in bed.
Again,
this seems to be true with a lot of people.
But
I also have the strong belief that people who are passionate about
their jobs are also people who seemingly have the most happiness in
their positions. And, I also believe that passion comes from a sense
of caring about not only doing a job, but doing a job right.
I'll
be the first to admit that as someone who wants to make a career out
of writing one day, I cringe whenever I see any sort of spelling or
grammatical error within any sort of publication (be it a major
newspaper, or a local newsletter). And, I will also be the first to
admit that the label of “Grammar Nazi” gets slapped square on my
forehead at least once a day. But here's the thing. I wear it like
a badge of honour. Why? Because I am absolutely passionate about
writing, and I love the English language, and I hate seeing it get
butchered.
(Well,
okay, if English isn't your mother tongue, you get a pass. I'm not
that strict.)
Luckily
for me, I am not the only one who is passionate about their job
(albeit in my case it's more my non-paying job than my paying job,
although the paying job has its perks as well). It seems that the
world of reality television is filled with dozens of reality shows
that feature people who are incredibly passionate about their career
choices. So passionate that they have decided to travel to other
places and businesses in order to help other people reignite their
spark for their career choices.
In
a lot of cases, the people who learn from the experts end up getting
a second wind and they find the joy that they thought was gone
forever. And, in some other cases, the people ignore everything that
the experts say, they give up on their business, and the whole thing
folds within a matter of months.
This
is the story of three of these shows, and the experts who host them.
In
two of the three cases, I am a regular viewer. The third one, I
spent hours watching a marathon of shows during Christmas break to
prepare for this blog entry. In all three, you'll meet people who
are passionate about their industry, and aren't afraid to show
it...even if the audience does get a little bit frightened of them.
Why
don't we start with Gordon Ramsay, shall we?
I
already did a blog entry on Chef Ramsay almost two years ago, but in
that entry, I only scratched the surface of what seemingly sounds
like eight hundred million television programs that he has his name
linked to. “Hell's Kitchen”, “MasterChef”, “The F Word”.
Believe me, there's a lot.
Perhaps
the one that I enjoy watching the most is the show entitled “Kitchen
Nightmares”. The show originally began airing in the United
Kingdom in 2004 as “Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares”, but began
airing the American version known as “Kitchen Nightmares” in 2007
on FOX. The whole premise of the show is simple. Gordon travels all
across the country to struggling restaurants in desperate need of
help, and it is his job to find out why the restaurant is failing.
After all, with over thirty restaurants to his name, and several
honours to his credit (which include twelve Michelin stars), he's one
person who you really want to have in your corner.
Unfortunately,
he also has a really short fuse...especially when he notices the
state of disarray and the chaos that he witnesses within each
restaurant he tries to fix. But then again, if you saw cockroaches
crawling around the kitchen and serving area, staff members throwing
each other under the bus, and customers walking out of the restaurant
in a huff because they haven't been served in two hours, well...I
can't say I blame him for going off.
Some
may choose to call it Ramsay being a complete jerk. I see it as
tough love. And, sometimes, some of the owners really need a kick in
the pants to see that the way that they were running their business
was not the right way to go.
I'll
admit that I do like the UK version slightly better than the USA
version, only because the UK version seems more realistic, and
doesn't focus on the drama so much. But in both versions, you see
Ramsay's passion for cooking rise up to the top. Sure, he yells and
he screams and he gives the censors a headache trying to bleep out
every foul word he utters on any given episode...but answer me this
question. Do you think he would do this if he weren't passionate
about his job? I don't think he would.
EPISODES
WHERE RAMSAY'S ADVICE WORKED...FOR NOW (Finn McCool's, Chiarella's,
Cafe Hon)
EPISODES
WHERE RAMSAY'S ADVICE FAILED (Sebastian's, Black Pearl, Burger
Kitchen)
Coincidentally,
Ramsay debuted a kind of spin-off show entitled “Hotel Hell”
which debuted in the summer of 2012.
A
similar themed show to “Kitchen Nightmares” debuted on Spike-TV
in July 2011, “Bar Rescue”. The host of the program is a man by
the name of Jon Taffer, a restauranteur with over three decades of
experience (specifically with pubs and nightclubs). Just like Gordon
Ramsay's show, Taffer goes into bars that are failing and does his
best to try and find out what the problems are.
In
many cases, the problems are very similar to what is found in
“Kitchen Nightmares”. Cleanliness is an issue. Bartenders
stealing from the owners when they give customers free drinks is an
issue. Sometimes, even the name of the tavern is the issue (would
you want to go to a bar named “The Chicken Bone” or “Swanky
Bubbles”)?
And,
don't ever...ever...let Jon Taffer see you cross-contaminate raw food
with cooked food...or else this will happen.
You
see, unlike “Kitchen Nightmares”, where Ramsay actually witnesses
what happens in real time, Taffer often has decoys go inside with
hidden cameras to test the customer service (or lack thereof) to
determine the problems beforehand so that he can work out a plan to
fix it.
And,
yes, some may accuse Taffer of being a loudmouth, being an angry
bastard, or being a scary man who yells a lot. But I've watched
several episodes of “Bar Rescue”, and a lot of what he says makes
a lot of sense. In fact, if I were to open up my own bar (which
isn't very likely), I would be taking notes from him and the various
experts that he has with him on every show to help out with the
renovations and redesign of the various bars he visits. Because
Taffer is very passionate about his line of work and knows it inside
out.
EPISODES
WHERE TAFFER'S ADVICE WORKED...SO FAR: Champs, The Black Sheep, The
Olive Pit
EPISODES
WHERE TAFFER'S ADVICE DIDN'T WORK: Swanky Bubbles, Kilkenny's Irish
Pub, Piratz Tavern
The
final spotlight I want to focus on is the show that I watched several
episodes of during Christmas break. And, like “Bar Rescue”, a
lot of the information gathered before the show took place through
the use of hidden cameras, and the person showing the owners of the
establishment everything that went on while the cameras were rolling.
Have
any of you heard of famous hairstylist Tabatha Coffey? Me either
until recently. Apparently she was discovered on the reality series
“Shear Genius” which aired on the Bravo network (one reason why I
have never heard of her is because I NEVER watch Bravo), and her
personality really stood out. It stood out so much that Bravo
offered her a chance to have a show where she visited struggling hair
salons and took them over for a whole week. According to the opening
credits, she's tough, she's talented, and she's taking over.
The
show was originally called “Tabatha's Salon Takeover” when it
debuted in August 2008, and by 2012 the show was renamed “Tabatha
Takes Over” when she started to add frozen yogurt establishments,
beauty schools, and bars into the mix.
Either
way, after watching the secret footage, Tabatha meets the owners,
tells them her findings, and from there, the owners hand over their
keys to their business to Tabatha so she can take over. She then
conducts the inspection of the salon, which basically is an excuse to
show the viewer everything that is wrong with the place. This could
include a staff that doesn't know what they are doing, a salon that
is filled with filth and grime, and bosses who would rather let the
salon run itself rather than take the responsibility for it.
And,
I should also state that much like Gordon and Jon, Tabatha doesn't
mince words. Take a look.
But
Tabatha's also been in the hairstyling industry for a quarter of a
century. If anyone knows about hair, it's her. And, while I know
nothing about hairstyling, she did help some of the stylists improve
their mediocre skills (well, those who were willing to listen). She
does offer up a personality that some have deemed as bitchy...but
that's only because she cares about her industry and only wants to
see the best. You can't really fault her for that. I know I don't.
And,
here's the thing. She's had more success stories than failures on
her series thus far. So she must have some idea of what she's doing.
EPISODES
WHERE TABATHA'S ADVICE WORKED...SO FAR: Orbit, Tantrum, Avanti
EPISODES
WHERE TABATHA'S ADVICE WAS IGNORED: Images, Brownes & Co,
Christopher Hill
(Most
of the Kitchen Nightmares and Tabatha's Salon Takeover episodes can
currently be found on YouTube as of January 4, 2013, by the way.)
As
far as I'm concerned, I think that there's a big difference between
being a know-it-all and being a skilled expert. An expert shares
his/her secret to success and tries to help others succeed the best
way they can, even if it means a dose of tough love. A know-it-all
does the exact opposite.
To
me, Ramsay, Taffer, and Coffey are all success stories, and I would
gladly take advice from them in anything, even if it stings a bit.
Because
they all have passion for what they do. And, in my book, passion is
the glue that holds a career together.
Or,
so I would like to think anyway.
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