VIP Class Notes (Li)

Today we focused on:

Video discussion + article

Vocabulary

service is terrible/appalling

people are easy to influence/manipulate

book in advance/make a reservation in advance

skeptical: doubting that something is true

eg. These days people are not skeptical and easily fooled.

eg. He has always been skeptical about alternative therapies.

fusion food – combining eastern and western cuisine

Reading

Once upon a time, long before I began selling my face for features on VICE.com, I worked other jobs. There was one in particular that really had an impact on me: writing fake reviews on TripAdvisor. Restaurant owners would pay me $13, and I’d write a positive review of their place, despite never eating there. Over time, I became obsessed with monitoring the ratings of these businesses. Their fortunes would genuinely turn, and I was the catalyst.

This convinced me that TripAdvisor was a false reality—that the meals never took place, that other people like me wrote all the reviews. However, they’re not, of course—they’re almost all completely genuine. And there was one other factor that seemed impossible to fake: the restaurants themselves. So I moved on.

And then, one day, sitting in the shed I live in, I had a revelation: Within the current climate of misinformation and society’s willingness to believe absolute bullshit, maybe a fake restaurant is possible? Maybe it’s the kind of place that could be a hit?