TV Stress

I know I'm not the only one that has this problem because one of my classmates and friend and I have discussed how stressed we get when watching TV, particularly about the shows I'm going to mention.  This isn't the same stress that comes from getting attached to a fictional character, this is the stress that comes from reality TV and just how uneducated and lack of accountability there is.

I'm talking about hospitality based shows like Hotel Impossible (Travel channel), Restaurant Impossible (Food channel), Bar Rescue (Spike channel) and several others that I have not gotten to watch in depth yet.

I'm generally making this face between
covering my face with my hands and shaking my head.
photo source

As someone who is actually studying what it takes to run an efficient hotel, the components it takes to make a restaurant successful and about the leadership qualities needed to run a business in general, I get stressed out pretty quickly in the opening of one of these shows. The last episode of Hotel Impossible took me five minutes before I was stressed out.

Don't worry, the stress that I'm feeling from these shows isn't going to kill me if it does then clearly we have a problem on our hands.. Yesterday as my Ma and I watched an episode of Hotel Impossible and then Restaurant Impossible I ranted about everything that was wrong and how it could be improved and specifically how the lack of leadership and encouragement was ruining EVERYTHING we discussed a variety of things like empowering employees.  The stress I get from these shows has been a learning tool because I'm actively applying what I'm learning in class to each of these cases and actively thinking of approaches to help better the business.

I actually went to memegenerator to make this.
EMPOWER YOUR EMPLOYEES,
it'll do wonderful things for everyone.

In many ways it makes so much sense to do things a certain way but the biggest stress I've had with these shows is the lack of education people have when they start their own business (restaurants in particular) or take one over as an owner.  It takes so much more than just having your name on the deed and appropriate paperwork to make a business successful.  There is time that is devoted to figuring out what your guests want on a menu and making sure that your staff can perfectly execute it to keep those same guests returning time and time again.  There's thought behind setting up a dining room to create a pleasant environment and good flow in the room.  Beyond this there are many many more things that need to be taken into consideration.

I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that not everyone realizes how much work these things require and that there are other ways to make it in these businesses without studying in the hospitality industry.  I'm also reminded that shows like these, though they do have a strong tendency to over exaggerate certain elements, provide these clients with the education, tools and means to help better their establishment.
At the end of the day, the stress I go through watching just a single episode of these shows helps me tremendously because I'm staying engaged and taking note on things that I want to avoid in the future.  I haven't pulled too much hair out, yet.