KEY POINTS:
Hollywood loves a comeback kid. Deeply flawed individual triumphs over bad behaviour, fashion crimes and pharmaceutical mishaps to lunch again.
Here in New Zealand? Not so much. It's simple: we prefer to write people off for good.
"Fraudster hired to drive education policy" was the sharp intake of
breath when news broke that Donna Awatere Huata had been hired on a contract basis by the Waipareira Trust to work on an education plan.
Outrageous. How dare the former MP - who is a respected educational psychologist - get a job and become a functioning member of society, even a job where she would be denied access to chequebooks or bleach bottles.
"I went out and sought her services because she is very good. No one in academia can debate her commitment and skills," Waipareira Trust CEO John Tamihere said.
He is possibly someone who understands the power of second chances. Hey, most slightly talented people have their ups and downs.
"I think one of the greatest things we lack in our society is the chance for people to redeem themselves," Tamihere said.
He is right. The weird thing is, the media bear-hugged David Bain - someone who may have murdered his entire family.
But find a person who has been exposed for their wrongdoing or moral failure and, like Awatere Huata, paid the price for it, and they are considered to be down and out forever.
This mean-spiritedness applies particularly to disgraced professionals or businesspeople. We would be better off to learn from the American narrative, forever optimistic, which writes in a potential for redemption.
It certainly makes a more compelling screenplay. Expect a Britney Spears revival any day now. And closer to home: Christopher Harder back in the courtroom?
* * *
A coffee-loving economist could probably come up with a simple freakonomics-style explanation. Why do some of Auckland's most expensive suburbs have such disappointingly sub-standard cafes?
It seems counterintuitive. Remuera is full of punters lousy with disposable income but it is a cafe and wine bar dead zone.
Parnell unjustifiably enjoys a reputation for its cafe culture but is trading off past glories and is now only a destination for tourists who don't know better.
I love living in Devonport but its cafes do tend to be the sort which serve muffins the size of dinner plates and it is almost impossible to find somewhere to order a wine with a view of the sea.
But cheaper hoods like Kingsland, Pt Chevalier and Westmere are chocka with gourmet coffee houses and bars.
The most plausible explanation, as always, comes down to money. Rents for retail space in Remuera and Parnell are calibrated to reflect the land's underlying value and are too high for the sort of risk-taking restaurateurs who no longer think nachos are the height of sophistication.
Perhaps the often-predicted property market collapse wouldn't be all bad, then.
* deborah@coneandco.com
