Apparently you don't work in the medical profession because if you did, you would have some idea of why the flu is a major health issue. It's not simply a mega-cold, but a virus that mutates quickly, transmits easily and has caused several severe pandemics that have killed millions. The most recent major influenza pandemic was in 1968 where an estimated .75-1 million people died worldwide from the Hong Kong influenza strain. Less than 10 years before that, as many as 1.5 million people died from the Asian Flu. Of course, the worst pandemic in modern history was the Spanish Flu pandemic that ran from 1918-1920 and killed between 40-100 million people worldwide. And you wonder why scientists take the flu virus very seriously?

I work in a hospital with patients who are severely immune-compromised. They are very sensative to infection so we strive to do everything possible to keep them from getting sick. All employees who are in contact with patients in any capacity (even if just passing them in the halls) need to take precautions, and for me that means an annual flu shot to decrease my chances of passing it on. For me, a case of the flu is generally an annoyance - I'm miserable for a few days but am usually completely recovered within a few weeks. For some of my patients, that same bug can be fatal. And the one year where I couldn't get a flu vaccine due to the shortage, I ended up with walking pnumonea.

The people most at risk for dying from the flu are small children, the elderly and patients with compromised immune systems. So you wonder at why you are urged to get a flu shot every year? At the very least, you are saving yourself from an inconvenience. At best, you are protecting the lives of some of our most vulnerable fellow human beings.

If you watch Ramsay on Hell's Kitchen (or any of his other shows), you might be taken aback by the yelling and the insults he levels at the wannabe chefs, but take a look at what he is actually yelling about. Sloppy work habits. Inconsistant and poor food. Slow service and an inability to run a kitchen staff effectively. In other words, all of the qualities that would doom a restaurant to failure in less than three months.

Anthony Bourdain (host of his own show "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel and the former excutive chef of Les Halles in NYC) described his experiences with Ramsay and has nothing but respect for Ramsay as a chef. The food in his restaurants is consistantly excellent. Ramsay will not allow something substandard to be served to his customers. Yes, he yells at his staff (in much the same way that he will on the show), but he yells to make sure that things are done right.

Bourdain points out that when Ramsay left the restaurant Aubergine where he had been head chef(and part-owner)after a business despute, nearly the entire kitchen staff defected with him. That is nearly unheard of in the restaurant industry. Many of those staff are still with Ramsay. If he was such an abusive bastard, why would they have stuck it out?

What is worse - a boss who yells because he cares about the service that is being provided to paying customers or one who shows up every day and just doesn't give a damn? As a diner who is paying top dollar at a restaurant, would you rather know that the chef is keeping an eye on everything that passes out of his kitchen or one where the food is just slopped on a plate? Ramsay cares - his name is on the restaurant and everything that is served from his kitchen is a reflection on him and his staff. He will not serve anything that he would be ashamed of, and he instills that same sense of pride in his staff.

The restaurant business is an unforgiving one. Hundreds of restaurants open and close within a few months. Ramsay is doing these chefs a major service by showing them how to run a kitchen successfully and to have respect for the diners that will keep them in business. Yes, you have to develop a thick skin when working with someone like Ramsay but you will learn an enormous amount from him.