Letters to the Editor
sansho1
Published Letters: 230 Editor's Choice: 38
-
Having spent 10 years in restaurant kitchens...
[Read the article: In memory of Gordon Ramsay]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...I can say that the time pressure you're under is enormous -- especially at lunch, when the customers all show up at the same time and have to be back at work in an hour or less. And one or two things going wrong at the wrong time is all it takes to cascade into a failed service and a bunch of customers who are less likely to return.
So when somebody screws up something basic, it hurts, and even the best-intentioned managers or chefs can resort to yelling. And you learn who can handle it and who can't. The internally motivated people pick up the pace and brush off the criticism. Others shut down or get dewy eyed. My first manager had a great line when confronted with the second type, and it's something I could hear Ramsay say: "Look, I'll apologize later, but right now just get this done!"
-
Don't sweat it too much
[Read the article: I'm a college student with no natural social skills]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, there is an undeniable benefit to sociability. And the advice to step out of your comfort zone is well-meaning and potentially useful. But you'll probably never be a gadfly, and someday you'll probably realize you'll never want to be.
So the question is -- what does introversion offer that extroversion doesn't? One misconception I've run across is that people confuse the self-consciousness of an introvert with self-absorption. Nothing could be further from the truth! That misconception is merely a function of our being witnessed primarily in social settings. We are in fact easily absorbed -- a trait that may begin as self-defense, but grows into genuine interest in matters outside ourselves.
From this grows empathy, and an ability to connect singularly with a few (hopefully well-chosen) individuals. Everyone has friends -- we have confidants. Everyone likes to banter -- we can take someone aside and converse. We are cautious, and so our actions more often reflect good and thorough judgment. These are great traits to possess. Carry them with you, and don't worry too much.
-
Davidson making the Final Four
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]would have been like winning Risk by starting in Europe.
I like spring, but it's awful Nantzy.
-
Favre was better than Marino
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What's wrong with using longetivity to break records that were set due to...longetivity? Marino stuck around three years too long too, you know. They were cut of the same cloth -- both were enamored of their arms to the extent that it became a detriment late in their careers. Their passer ratings were about the same. Marino just had a better offensive line than Favre, which helped mask his biggest weakness, his immobility. Favre could make a play with his legs in his younger days -- Marino never could. Favre leads in MVPs 3 to 1, and Super Bowl rings 1 to 0. I'll take him over Marino any old day.
-
asdf
[Read the article: The decline and fall of the American empire of debt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Regarding this statement:
"Phillips' two other preoccupations over the past decade are the rise of the
religious right and increasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Previously, he has argued
provocatively that Pentecostal-style belief in the imminence of the Rapture nurtures a
get-rich-now, who-cares-about-the-future mentality in regions of the U.S. where hard
times once bred economic populism and skepticism of men who wear top hats and
monocles."
It's my belief that people who believe in the Rapture are among the most enormously ego-driven people on the planet -- because once you accept that construct as a central tenet of your religion, it isn't enough to believe that the Rapture will happen at some indeterminate point in the future. The desire to see it happen while you're around to witness it is too great, so that it may validate your beliefs and justify your self-appointed stature, couched in false humility, as second only to Jesus. Get enough of these types in power, and they will work to bring the "great reckoning" about. Maybe unconsciously, maybe not.
-
You lost me at "Al Pacino tries hard"
[Read the article: "88 Minutes"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, he has been a great actor. So were Brando and Kinski -- didn't stop them from chewing the scenery in second-rate projects....
-
Ads
[Read the article: The new format]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All I see is ads. Ads everywhere, pushing down on the words, squeezing them together. I might have to throw future columns into Notepad....
-
My guess
[Read the article: NBA refs: One Mississippi, two Mississippi ... ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is that they knew they couldn't overturn the basket without definitive proof (proof which existed, but anyway), so the fairest solution was to count it and give Orlando enough time for a catch-and-shoot. They may have made a pretense of attempting to count seconds, but nobody can do that.
-
My poll result said Powell
[Read the article: Obama Veepstakes]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]but...no. For all the reasons previously stated.
Also, no to another Senatorial tag team -- it provides too much grist for the media mill, as we've seen time and time again. I don't think Hillary can embrace her status as official runner-up (I mean that somewhat admiringly), and the focus would be on the Obama/Clinton relationship to the overall detriment of the campaign.
I'm fully behind Wes Clark. He stumbled campaigning for the top spot last time around, but he impressed me as an enlightened military man. He shores up Obama's foreign policy bonafides, and his military experience also provides a rationale for voters who are disillusioned former supporters of the Iraq war, but who are wary of going Dem, to do so. There are millions of these voters.
His endorsement of Clinton could also be a plus on the campaign trail, as someone who can bridge the gap between her supporters and Obamas. I'm afraid this has gone on so long that many in the pro-Hillary camp has calcified in their disapproval of Obama. Somebody in a high-profile role needs to start chipping away at that stone.