On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 13:18:53 -0500, Dave Smith
wrote:
The behavior of *any* reviewer other than S. Irene Virbila is
irrelevant to this story. And, of course, if you looked around and
read about Virbila, you'd see that she is regarded as tough, but quite
fair and that Ellis' statement about her was overblown.
No one can defend every single live and walking food critic - that
would be an untenable position as it would be to defend ever single
restauranteur, but to say that there some of each who are not
professional has no bearing on this story. We have Ellis and we have
Virbila involved in this. No one else. No generalizations about them
or beyond them have bearing.
Anyone who has ever logged onto Amazon knows there are lunatics who
lurk in the star fields. Anyone who has ever read Usenet knows the
same. That is why having professionals handle such feedback and
evaluation is preferable. It keeps the background static to a minimum.
I do not defend online reviews as anything other than toys or hints.
Interactive is really cute on American Idol and DWTS, but in real life
it does not work too well.. There is no statistical dependability to
these public online rating systems.
No, she was a customer. She has stated that she was not there to
review. And even if she were, she is still a customer, as are those
with her.
I am as lefty as they come, but darlin', this is capitalism, and if
you take offense at anyone doing a job because profit might be made
somewhere along the line, you have no where on God's Green Earth to
go...even Cuba will start to stink to you.
I have clients who say that WalMart accounts for 40% of their sales
and Target another huge chunk. I assure you, they don't go about
badmouthing either one in public. What they say in meetings or over
lunch is different, but this being a food group, we all know on which
side our bread is buttered.
Ellis had every right not to serve Virbila. He had no right to take
her picture and publish it all over and cause a stink. There is a very
big difference.
Wacko, I believe is the more correct spelling.
Frankly, I do not care what opinions you hold about anything
whatsoever, but the minute you state something as fact and there is no
supporting evidence, you cross a line into deep bullshit.
Boron