Kitchen (not kitten) Nightmares

The other night we were watching Kitchen Nightmares, a show that we started watching on the BBC (because they just have better programming) but is now also in the US.  Gordon Ramsay is a world-renowned chef who goes into family-owned, trainwrecked restaurants (who generally don't believe they're running a shit show) and whips them into shape.  Each episode is pretty much the same:

1. Ramsay comes in, orders enough food for 4 (off of their 20 page menu,) hates everything, cusses, sends it back.  Wait staff is sympathetic because they know it tastes like poo.
2. Overly confident owner/chef doesn't understand what he could have possibly found wrong and usually tries to say Ramsay doesn't know crap.  Ramsay cusses.
3. Words are had, owner concedes to some help after Ramsay cusses.
4. Ramsay observes the shit show, finds rotting meat in the kitchen drawers, cusses a LOT
5. Owner postures and/or acts surprised and blames someone else.
6. Ramsay has a Coming To Jesus talk, appealing to the (insert values of individual restaurant here) history and emotional side of owner, sometimes cussing. 
7. Ramsay rebuilds their menu, usually offering a simple twist on one "specialty" and infuses the staff with hope, good cheer, and personal unicorns.
8. The restaurant gets a facelift over night, the staff comes in, cries, and reopens....they falter...but they pull it out.
9. They hug Ramsay and he walks away, usually still cussing.   

This is clearly a show that I think I probably watch for very different reasons than my Love does.  I think she watches for the cussing, the drama, and the crazy before and dramatic after.  She worked in the service industry for a while and no doubt has worked for "that owner."

I watch it because I'm a therapy and communications nerd.  I'm fascinated with interpersonal dynamics, the visibly changing personal landscapes during conflict, and the way Ramsay engages in debate and persuasion...classic rational emotive therapy stuff.   I cover my eyes at the mold and the ick, and choke through the awkward producing...but I'm right there in that a-ha moment, when you see it click and they figure out what's going on. 

I realized the other night when we were watching...that I can see parts of my JOB in Kitchen Nightmares. Sometimes we get the really big, nasty, shit show....we figure out what we're dealing with...look in the nooks and crannies for what one side has overlooked or tried to shove out of the picture...we cuss a little (okay that's usually just me)...fill the kid in on what their responsibility is...we call on the good relationships we have with others and ask for help to rebuild.  

The currency I deal in....is changing landscapes, made muddy by the fears of adulthood and the posturing of childhood.  I try to let them roll out their map....show me where they are on it....point out pit falls on the path they've traveled and inconsistencies in the terrain ahead.  Sometimes I tug their ears, sometimes I box them. I'll spar with a student to help them see how they're impacting their positioning...and offer suggestions at how to change that.  Sometimes I even cuss!

 ....I realize that I really could work on that unicorns part, though.  Truth.