Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Gordon Ramsey - irrelevant

I have a problem! It must be me, because I don’t understand why Gordon Ramsey has a following. We run a restaurant and watch the show spasmodically because we need to keep abreast of trends. the program is an absolute blight on all of us because we accept that dysfunctional drivel.
Have we devolved to such a point where we believe Ramsey is entertainment? What sort of people watch this crap and believe it’s a normal way to deal with life and people? What happened to respect and empathy for others? Does anyone still believe that change is brought about by ‘offensively’ swearing and berating people?
I could go on about Ramsey’s attitude but I believe it is best left ignored. The watching audience attitudes, which make this so called ‘show’ a success, are far more worrying. It seems to me that we are inexorably heading towards a society based on ‘me me me’ without consideration for the other person.
Ramsey makes money by parading himself at the expense of others, politicians try and create a power base by parading themselves as well as denigrating any and everything the opposition does, boxers try and actually hurt others so they can win, drivers believe they own the road and everyone else is there to be abused and they ignore red lights, pedestrians walk in front of traffic expecting cars to stop, people seem to believe others are there just to sustain their own existence and so called current affairs programs have really bottomed out by focusing on the same people that believe this paragraph is rubbish.
The swearing by Ramsey is indicative. Not necessarily because of the swearing but because it was aimed at the person and not their behaviour. I am a Chef, do not swear [unless I cut another chunk of a finger], do not get stressed and try to support others to succeed. I don’t yell and don’t panic. I am exactly the same as every other reasonable Chef. Stressed people do not perform! [Remember ‘Chef’ translates as ‘Chief’ – how many CEO’s do you see acting like Ramsey?] Normally I do not replace adjectives with swearwords because I prefer to use English to discuss a point. Obviously there are exceptions, the other day two girls ran off without paying the bill – as I tried to find them I did indeed mutter a few obscenities. [if anyone sees two slightly dumpy and loud mid 20’s girls, one of whom is French, let me know]
Beware the person who speaks loudly with passion because someone somewhere may actually believe their message. Ramsey is not the only one – what about the brain dead politician who believes that teenagers behaviour will change by limiting the number of passengers in their cars. What drivel. Speed does not kill – inexperienced and/or bad drivers do! But it’s much easier for politicians to pontificate on an abstract issue ‘speed’ than to focus on the real cause ‘people’.
There is a certain part of our society that is loud and replaces adjectives with expletives. Why? I believe because they have trouble identifying who they really are. If you don’t know who you are then you cannot interact with others without trying to force your opinion through being the loudest and the most vulgar. A gross generalisation? But worthy of discussion.
Enjoy other people, don’t judge, have an attitude of gratitude, respect everyone and everything and take personal responsibility. Next time you walk down a narrow and crowded footpath, look at how people challenge ‘right of way’. People who are not comfortable with themselves demand ‘their’ space because they would feel inferior if they allowed a person walking the other way a bit more space. ‘Mine mine mine!’ I have great pleasure in giving way to the weak, the disaffected and the stupid. The day people believe inappropriate behaviour such as the footpath challenge or Ramsey’s method of dealing with people is the norm we are all in trouble.

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