9 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:That's fine, nobody is trying to convince you that you should like Bobby Flay or his management style. But if being an unpleasant person was a crime, especially with the subjectivity involved in deciding if a person is unpleasant, most of us would be a criminal by somebody's standards.
In my opinion, this is the crux of the matter. Its not that these are 2 different behaviors (Flay, Batali) on the same scale, its that one of them did things that our society deems injurious enough to others to pass laws against &/or not condone as acceptable human behavior. Flay's "style" may well be counter-productive (or not) or assholic; however, it doesn't rise (to my knowledge or anything written here or elsewhere so far) over any commonly defined line and, therefore, doesn't belong in the same category. Perhaps a Restaurant Life thread discussing the merits of various kitchen management styles or even one on chefs who are obnoxious. But to even combine the two men and their "issues" is to minimize one and unfairly taint the other. We should keep focused on discrimination and assault and not divert to other kitchen sink issues (do I get credit for half a pun?).
