I do. It's a reality show (not trashy, I promise) that pits a group of accomplished chefs against each other, with someone being kicked off each week as they progress through various cooking challenges. This week, one of the chefs used her bout with breast cancer as inspiration for her dish in one of the challenges. She ended up winning the challenge, much to the other chefs' surprise and frustration as they mostly felt she was annoying and not a very good chef. After the surprise upset, one of the other chefs commented something along the lines of, "Way to win a quickfire; tell them you had ****ing cancer [for sympathy], I mean, weak."
Obviously, this did not sit well with me. Yes, I know he's just being a sore loser. I know he was probably just in the heat of the moment. I know I can rationalize it, but it still really bothered me. Because that's exactly what I'm afraid of. When pulling the cancer card does not work in my favor. When it's seen as being used for the wrong reason, like some sort of a crutch, or a way to manipulate others' and gain an unfair advantage.
It's not like that at all. There is no advantage to cancer. It's not something I advertise, or flaunt in anyway. It's a fact of life. Of MY life. This guy on 'Top Chef' accusing the woman of pulling the cancer card for sympathy is just outrageously immature. She was drawing inspiration from experience, no different than what any other chef would do. She made comfort food from when she was sick; that's like using lime in something because it reminds you of your trip to Mexico.
Anyway, I don't think I have any overriding moral to the story. It was just an interesting observation for me as it's obviously a pretty unique thing that I'm now able to relate to. Ah post-leukemia life, how you keep me on my toes....
No comments:
Post a Comment