Kindness matters

I like cooking shows and I have written about my enjoyment in other columns. They provide a welcome respite from the significant issues of the world and I often learn something new and different.

A treat for me is indulging in the U.S. “Top Chef’’ series. The challenges are often fun, the eliminations frequently sad and the creativity inspiring.

I sometimes find the drama manufactured, but tolerable. It’s interesting to learn the backstory of each contestant. Over the years, the makeup of the show has evolved. In the beginning, the chefs were mostly male, and to no one’s surprise, so were the winners.

But in recent years, the show has become increasingly diverse and this season is perhaps the most diverse of all — gender, sexual identity, ethnic background and race.

Set in Portland (the show moves from city to city) this season was also most complicated logistically.

PANDEMIC DISRUPTION

The shooting schedule came half way through 2020 while the world grappled with the pandemic resulting in significant isolation and increased protocols; it was also a couple of months after the death of George Floyd and demonstrations were understandably frequent and the city and its people’s emotions quite charged. There were also forest fires.

You would understand emotions running high and hot. And yet, this season is exceptional for its tone, its supportive culture and its delight in all the beautiful ways we humans are different and alike.

Contestants are naturally proud of their work. They alternate between feeling quite confident and also quite insecure. All of them express a connection to their community and their family, however they define or experience them.

In one recent episode, a contestant injured herself seriously. There was lots of blood and calls for a medic. It happens. A knife slips and everything has to stop per sanitation protocols. Nothing unusual and it has happened on other seasons.

This time though, instead of sympathetic murmurs, the remaining contestants jumped in to help her out so she could finish. One got new plates, another helped dish up and so on.

It was the most obvious act of kindness, but it was preceded all season by an absence of ego. It wouldn’t be a cooking competition without some, but the lack of backbiting, snarky comments and rolling eyes has been refreshing.

DIVERSITY LENS AND COUNCIL

The last couple of weeks quite a number of people have stepped forward to announce they are running for election or re-election in the fall for St. John’s city council.

In previous years, while the blood might have been metaphorical, running as a candidate in any election is a feat in which candidates must don flame-proof suits. It’s a competition for sure, and we need to know where people stand. More and more we are seeing our city chambers evolve from an institutional focus to a community focus.

That is, we are moving from looking at municipal politics as a project management activity to one where we are looking at how people interact with other people delivering services, setting policy and managing needs.

I hope the diversity we are seeing in the candidate field — more women, more community leaders — will lead to kinder, friendlier competition for votes.

We need it for sure. Institutions reflect and perpetuate biases and systemic barriers. If we don’t start applying a gender and diversity lens along with an inclusion and accessibility focus to the process by which we elect our municipal leaders, we will fail to implement the necessary changes we need for the city to grow and thrive.

If we don’t do better and behave better when it comes to politics, we will fail to reflect the diversity of the community we have and the needs and wants that go with all of us being at the table instead of a select few.