On Critics, Dinner Plans, and Not Knowing a Damn Thing!
I just got back from dinner with my good friend Alison. We went to a place that does the best burgers in Cape Town and had starters, mains, wine, desserts and coffee and it was very reasonably priced.
But dinner isn’t really about any of those things, is it? A good evening out has nothing to do with service or cost or the delectability of the food. A good evening out has everything to do with the conversation.
I wonder if food critics even realise this. I wonder if they know that their evening had everything to do with the people they chose and nothing to do with the restaurant they chose.
What makes a good critic? Take anything that magazines or newspapers or websites pay other people to give their opinions on. Now tell me what qualities or qualifications does this person have to have? I think most people think that a critic is someone who criticises something – some are better at criticising than others! The saying, “everyone’s a critic”, is incorrect – everyone can criticise, but not everyone can be critical… if that makes any sense to you.
Alison is turning thirty-one tomorrow! This wasn’t the reason we went out, but it had a bearing on quite a bit of our conversation. As one does when one gets older, we talked about being an adult. Alison said, “It sucks being big… I want to be a children!” and I fully concurred.
She also said that she didn’t feel like a grown-up; I replied that that’s a very grown-up thing to think! When you’re in your twenties you go through a stage of thinking, “I’m an adult!”, and do the things you think adults do. That’s why so many young people get married and have kids! In this day doing something like that is madness – you’re still a kid yourself! What the hell do you know about raising one? It has nothing to do with income and everything to do with psychological stability and maturity!
The author Mike Gayle says that turning thirty means not wanting to go down to the pub unless you know there’ll be somewhere to sit! When you get to thirty you stop trying to be an adult and just get on with being whatever you are. There’ll be times when you do feel grown up – like when you’re paying your medical aid or car insurance or bond – but there’ll be times when you feel like you’re dropping the ball and buggering this whole “adult” thing up! Would my parents be doing this? Is this responsible enough? Aren’t I supposed to know what I want and where I’m going?
But this is all completely subjective! My greatest fear is that I’m the only one who feels like this and everyone else is sorted and has a handle on things! In fact, if you’re reading this and cannot relate at all to what I’m going through please just keep it to yourself and let me think that I’m not totally hopeless and freakishly abnormal!
Thanks!
But dinner isn’t really about any of those things, is it? A good evening out has nothing to do with service or cost or the delectability of the food. A good evening out has everything to do with the conversation.
I wonder if food critics even realise this. I wonder if they know that their evening had everything to do with the people they chose and nothing to do with the restaurant they chose.
What makes a good critic? Take anything that magazines or newspapers or websites pay other people to give their opinions on. Now tell me what qualities or qualifications does this person have to have? I think most people think that a critic is someone who criticises something – some are better at criticising than others! The saying, “everyone’s a critic”, is incorrect – everyone can criticise, but not everyone can be critical… if that makes any sense to you.
Alison is turning thirty-one tomorrow! This wasn’t the reason we went out, but it had a bearing on quite a bit of our conversation. As one does when one gets older, we talked about being an adult. Alison said, “It sucks being big… I want to be a children!” and I fully concurred.
She also said that she didn’t feel like a grown-up; I replied that that’s a very grown-up thing to think! When you’re in your twenties you go through a stage of thinking, “I’m an adult!”, and do the things you think adults do. That’s why so many young people get married and have kids! In this day doing something like that is madness – you’re still a kid yourself! What the hell do you know about raising one? It has nothing to do with income and everything to do with psychological stability and maturity!
The author Mike Gayle says that turning thirty means not wanting to go down to the pub unless you know there’ll be somewhere to sit! When you get to thirty you stop trying to be an adult and just get on with being whatever you are. There’ll be times when you do feel grown up – like when you’re paying your medical aid or car insurance or bond – but there’ll be times when you feel like you’re dropping the ball and buggering this whole “adult” thing up! Would my parents be doing this? Is this responsible enough? Aren’t I supposed to know what I want and where I’m going?
But this is all completely subjective! My greatest fear is that I’m the only one who feels like this and everyone else is sorted and has a handle on things! In fact, if you’re reading this and cannot relate at all to what I’m going through please just keep it to yourself and let me think that I’m not totally hopeless and freakishly abnormal!
Thanks!
