I don't know, maybe I'm getting old. Maybe I'm not who I used to be. Maybe I'm just getting a little too soft for my own good.
I was watching Kitchen Nightmares last night and the owner of the restaurant in question, Billy, was clearly way out of his depth running the place. I'm pretty sure he didn't have any experience as a restaurateur (he used to work construction) and he was running the place into the ground. Well, he says it was better when Gordon Ramsay showed up than it had been before he took it over, but who knows if that's the case. Whatever the case, the place was a disaster and Billy wouldn't take any responsibility for the issues. Much to my surprise - and dismay - I felt bad for the man. I did. I felt bad that he was so clearly in over his head, there may even have been a part of me that felt bad that he could lose everything including his house. That's not a reaction I would normally have watching such a program.
Normally I would think to myself "well, you made your bed, now you have to lie in it" or "what kind of fool were you for buying a restaurant when you didn't know the first thing about running one?" I may even, at one time, have though "you moron, you deserve to lose everything. I don't think you're smart enough to learn from this mistake even if you do, but you still deserve to walk away from the place with nothing".
What's wrong with me? Why the change of heart? Was it a tinge of homesickness for the NY tri-state area? I tend to think not because the show took place on Long Island and I've never been a fan. Was it Billy's mustache? He did have a pretty rockin' one and I am envious of people who can grow mustaches, but I don't imagine that was the case either. Was it Dee Snider's appearance at the restaurant? Nope, never been a Twisted Sister fan. Was it that I thought Gordon was too hard on Billy? No, that can't be it, Gordon was actually too easy on him. Maybe that's what did it. Maybe I felt bad for him because Gordon went easy on him.
Article comments
1 - Lisa Solod Warren
Well, everyone thinks they can run a restaurant, don't they? People have no idea how hard it is to do it well. I realize that every time I eat in a mediocre place. That's why I love Gordon Ramsay. And he does have a nice big heart; he wants people to succeed even if they really can't. But I suspect he knows the truth when he sees it. Some people just don't have the stuff...