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Hot kitchens

If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen 

It's an interesting saying.

Heat is a feature of a kitchen.

Sometimes it gets hot.

You could say it's the price of playing.

This analogy of hot kitchens was originally quipped by a US political candidate, Harry Truman, who went on to be the US President.

The idea suggests that some environments have immutable qualities which must be accepted as 'the way that it is', and that if one was to enter into such an environment, one could not complain that such features were unfair.

However, what happens if the heat of the kitchen, which is implied to be an uncontrollable characteristic of the environment, is artificially altered? 

A nefarious type who was able to influence seemingly uncontrollable characteristics could change the environment, prepare in advance and use the knowledge to their advantage.

A nefarious type who had a bad temper and implied that said behaviour was an uncontrollable feature of personality and 'the way it is', suggesting that if others didn't like it, they were weak.

'If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen,' they would say. 

It's an effective argument used by a blustery bully to sidestep questions about their behaviour and their leadership. 

Every dog has his day, and of course, this argument is based on a false premise which no longer holds water.

No longer will people accept poor behaviour as immutable qualities of an environment. 

Now we seek personal accountability, and when we don't receive it, it is demanded.

The kitchen is changing.

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