Writing is Fighting

When Reality Shows Mirror Reality

This is a perfect example of how much network television I watch. It took me three months to find MTV Canada on the numerous channels my cable provider has - even though I have basic cable. First, I was excited, as I could watch all the reality shows that people talk about, until I watched My Super Sweet 16, which was horrific. Do teenage girls really act like that?

The episode I watched was based in Miami, where this Filipino / Cuban bitch,err, teenager was throwing a belly dancing - themed party. She basically threatened her father to buy her an expensive car - actually, I think she was 15 and then her dad gave her a diamond-encrusted Rolex, which I'm sure she will soon lose.

Anyhoo, bored out of my mind, I recently watched an episode of Hell's Kitchen with Chef Gordon Ramsay, and it brought back alot of bad, bad memories.

My mother, who I think is running out of suggestions as to how I can find employment, once suggested that I use my culinary background and go back to cooking. But after watching an episode, I remembered some things that I had pushed out of my mind for years.

Because it is TV, I know that the producers only show the racy parts, but in reality, there are people like Ramsay whom actually do exist. As an apprentice, I worked with several chefs whose personality traits reminded me of the verbally abusive, venom spewing asshole. One of the common things that cooks have to do when working in a high-end restaurant is basically being the slave to the person in charge. You always have to refer to the person in charge as Chef, as in "Yes, Chef" - you never used their first name when conversing with them. To me, it was similar as saying "Yes, Massa," which is one of the several reasons I got out of the industry. I don't like people speaking to me in a manner in which they feel entitled to treat me like shit.

And alot of male chefs treat women like shit. I worked for about four or five chefs who were European, from Germany and Switzerland, where it is common in fine-dining restaurants for men to dominate the kitchen. It's funny how in the domestic arena, women are supposed to be in charge of the kitchen but professionally, it is a male-dominated industry. When I was in cooking school, one of the instructors told me, point black - oh I mean Blank, that I should look for another profession because "women don't belong in the kitchen." He later drank himself to death, which was not entirely surprising, as there is a huge substance abuse problem among chefs. Years later, another instructor got his ass kicked by the son of a black woman whom he was fond of using racial epithets towards during class.

I remember being screamed at, things thrown at me, and the sexual harassment that occurred. In one of my first jobs in a restaurant when I had just moved to Toronto, one of the Sous-Chefs tried to sexually assault me. And I'm not exaggerating. I had to get my boyfriend at the time to come in and threaten him. Looking back, I should have called the police.

So after finishing my schooling, a three-year apprenticeship from hell, constantly fighting to get paid the same wage as my male counterparts, most of whom didn't have their papers (which I did) and 2-3 years of working as a pastry cook and being denied promotions that I felt were deserved, I was out. I was tired of fighting, and that's probably why I have (or so I have been told) an "attitude."

So when you watch Hell's Kitchen, are female and think that cooking all day seems like a cool thing to do, remember that there is a price - and more importantly, Ramsay is a great example of some of the people you might be working for.

Jackson "Beat It" In More Ways than one

Jackson "Beat it" - In More Ways Than One

As you all probably know by now, Michael Jackson was acquitted on all ten counts. Personally, I am shocked and disgusted. But that is just my opinion. I was not there, a juror, so what else can I say?

Well, lots actually. I think this crazy-hot weather has been rotting my brain. I’ve been more viscous than ever, lurking on blogs, posting irrational posts on Afropunk.com. So I will try and look at this situation through both eyes: the rational and the visceral reaction to the outcome.

The Rational Response:

I do believe that on the basis on the facts given at this particular trial, the jury had enough reasonable doubt to acquit. I was watching the jury being interviewed on CNN, and I don’t think there was any malicious intent in their decision. They seemed to really stress the fact that their personal opinions did not make an impact in their final decision (obviously), and seemed like rational, intelligent people.

One issue that arose during the CNN coverage was how much of the case was built around the mother of the alleged victim, rather than Jackson’s indiscretions. One juror who was a mother said that she had a hard time believing that anyone would let his or her child sleep with a grown, non-related adult. As of this morning (Tuesday), NBC commentators concluded that the defendant’s case was won based on the displayed incompetence of the victim’s family. The also concluded that the prosecution’s case was weak because there was too many indictments. So, with the emphasis on finding reasonable doubt within the arguments from the prosecution, the jury exonerated the defendant.

The Visceral Response:

I actually dropped my purse and groceries on the floor in shock when I heard the news. I was pretty sure that if not on all counts, they would at least find him guilty of a few. The evidence seemed pretty straightforward and disturbing: Getting young boys drunk, the porno magazines and the witnesses, employees at Neverland Ranch who had witnessed sexual abuse (but granted, never reported it at the time of the incidents), it seemed like Jackson was going to face some jail time.

What really pissed me of was watching the individual interviews with the jurors. The Foreman of the jury commented that while he believed that Jackson was a molester, they ‘picked the wrong kid.’ It seems like the real victim was the child in the case, a Cancer patient in remission, being pimped out by not only his mother, but also Jackson. If I thought that this man had a conscience then maybe I would feel some satisfaction, but no one really seems to care about the actual crime behind this charade. He is a child molester, someone who will never admit that he is and worse, millions of people will never admit it to themselves.

I think that the alcohol that was allegedly given to the children should have been investigated further. Personally I found that charge disgusting, but a common trait that pedophiles use to lure their victims If it was possible, they should ban kids from sleeping over in his residence. While the African-American ‘leaders’ Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton ran to CNN and while they ‘knew’ he was innocent, they also said that he needs (religious) counseling to help him with his incessant attraction to young boys. That’s like saying that you can become a heterosexual if you just go to church a little more often.

There is so much talk about how Jackson comes from a ‘loving family.’ I wonder though, how loving is it when you have to support all of them, except for Janet. Hold on…give her a couple of years and she will be needing some financial assistance, too. If my adult child were branded a child molester, would I rally up the troops and show up to court with him? No, I would be on a therapist’s couch or hiding under my bed in shame and embarrassment. Or trying to get him into therapy. What’s that saying? If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, well……..

OK. Now radio stations are back playing his songs, he is reportedly perusing a Las Vegas deal that could net him 100 million dollars and 1⁄2 the ticket sales. It must be nice, being rewarded for bad behaviour. But this is Celebrity Justice, where, like O.J Simpson and Robert Blake, if you have enough money you can basically talk yourself out of prison time.

As I said in a recent column on Afrotoronto.com, if he were a middle-class white man, his gray ass would have been in jail ten years ago.

Posted: Tuesday 14th June 2005, 4:49 PM