There is some Foolishness in every Human, we are all Managing Ours; do Manage Yours

I give people the benefit of the doubt. In fact, when everyone wants to give up based on suspicion on reasonable grounds, I still hold on to the one percent. I was hoping all this cookathon brouhaha was a matter of Chef Smith getting scammed.

Well, I was wrong. He himself let it all out yesterday, so yes, that’s it. He fooled us and ended up fooling himself even more.

He has apologized. You can either forgive him or do nothing because there’s nothing really you can do.

Maybe Nana Boro can ask him to wash his plate until it makes up for the rest of the 300,000 he said went into the support. After all, Chef himself said it could have been more.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we cannot ask questions and do some analysis.

In recent times, we have found a way to attribute a lot of things to bipolar. It’s not a justifier, but it makes people who got out of line more forgivable. Chef doesn’t have that grace; he is a sane man who set out to achieve fame through the worst back door possible. It’s like having money in a bank and, in your quest to withdraw all your money, you tell yourself, “I’m going to rob this bank and take the exact money I have there; I won’t go there again.” Aside from ignoring the security at the bank, all you needed to do was walk in with the right documentation and clear all your funds.

One must be foolish at a premium level to do that.

This scam by Chef Smith was needless and makes no sense. Sorry for the words, but I can’t think of a better way to describe it. The very thought process appears to have emanated from a head that is not right. Like, how?

You stood on your feet for many days to set this record, you did all the work that was required to be able to beat it, and then you go ahead to print a fake certificate.

How foolish can you be in this era when, with just a phone call or an email, you could be found out?

What in the world prevented him from applying and attempting it genuinely, knowing very well that the capacity was there and all that was needed was clearance from Guinness to do it?

Why not the right way when there is a way?

Scam must make sense, and it can only make a bit of sense if there is no guaranteed way to achieve the same legitimately. This one is an open system where everyone can apply. You set out to triple the time for the existing record; no one would have attempted yours in the short to medium term. Why not do it the right way?

This is where I am very confused. If you analyze it carefully, what he did was needless, senseless, and completely uncalled for.

There is a record. You have to apply to break it, get the all-clear to break it, and it’s yours to attempt. How is this so difficult that one has to fake it?

We are all capable of some foolishness, even the smartest person alive. But when one crosses the threshold in this manner, many questions are left unanswered.

Chef Smith is such an unwise man that it is even baffling. How did he expect to get away with it? You must be such a terrible thinker to plot this and hope to get away with it in the internet age.

And you see, people invested in it, put their money behind the dream in a country where getting helpers is such a difficult thing. Nana Boro and his partners pumped thousands, individuals did the same. It’s so unfair. It cannot be erased with a sorry face and some image redemption TV appearance.

The problem with the scam is the extent to which it takes opportunity away from those who genuinely seek help.

At the end of the day, he has apologized and might potentially get away with it. How that affects the other person who needs help won’t be documented. How that affects the finances of the investors won’t be discussed.

At the end of the day, after dragging innocent people into this foolish adventure, after getting them to invest time, energy and emotions into it, he shows up to cry and say, I’m sorry.

We shouldn’t encourage such behaviors by advocating that it should be it, Nana Boro has the right to pursue justice. For a young man trying to find an alternative means of livelihood, wasting this much money is a huge set back, I’m sorry cannot bring him back on track.

The problem with fooling beyond the limit is, it goes a long way to affect those who have managed to out their own fooling in check.

Just think about the lady who stood by him, who risked her life and invested so much time during the exercise, it’s so wrong.

Sometimes, apology is not enough a clossure, depending on how those directly affect feel, this could be one of those times.

When it happens, we shouldn’t view them as evil, they were good people who helped a bad person.

Justice is always fair.

By Kofi Kyei