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Simply Shameful: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie from “The Simple Life”by Betsy Wasser -- 01/26/2004
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie told the world that they were going to live on a farm in Arkansas to prove to the world that there was more to them than the spoiled party girls they appeared to be. In the first episode, Paris told us, “Listen. Everyone thinks Nicole and I are these two girls who never worked a day in their life and can’t do anything. And we’re doing this to prove them wrong.” Nicole agreed, triumphantly saying, “We’re gonna rock.” One of the challenges Paris and Nicole faced on The Simple Life was that they were required to actually work for a living. Sure, they’d never had jobs before, but how hard could it be, right? Apparently very. Through every job they worked, Paris and Nicole showed incredibly shameful behavior. Let’s take a look at what they did – and didn’t – do at work. Paris and Nicole showed up for their very first job at a dairy farm one hour late and didn’t offer any explanations or excuses for their tardiness. Later, Paris continued her unprofessional behavior by making a long-distance phone call to her mother while she was supposed to be working. She talked on and on until her boss Danny threatened to disconnect the phone. Forced to get back to work, they spent the day complaining about the smell, whining about how dirty they were, and griping that they hated cows. Danny next gave the girls what should have been a simple task: fill some bottles with milk. Even this job proved too much for Paris and Nicole to handle. They spilled milk all over the ground, and then diluted the bottled milk with water so that the bottles would look fuller. They knew that people would be buying and drinking the tainted milk, but they didn’t care. Finally, after a grueling morning of whining and avoiding work, Paris and Nicole – still on the clock – changed into bikinis and got in their boss’s hot tub. Still exhausted, they moved inside and took a nap on the sofa. When Danny suggested that they get back to work, Paris thought he was rude and mean.At the end of the day, Danny fired the girls. Frankly, it’s astonishing that he kept them around for as long as he did. Paris and Nicole showed up late, complained all day, ruined several bottles of milk, and then spent the rest of the day lounging around. Their behavior was shameful. Did Paris and Nicole feel any shame? Did they decide that they’d try harder next time? Their job working at Sonic showed that they learned absolutely nothing from their experience. Once again, the girls showed up late. Once again, the girls proved incompetent at just about every task. Paris, working the drive-thru, greeted customers with, “Thanks, bitch.” Nicole jammed the onion ring machine because she was bored. But together, they were even worse. Instead of putting “Half Price Burgers All Day” on the marquee outside, the girls put “Anal Salty Weiner Bugers” in huge letters for all of Altus to see. That’s funny – if you’re about ten years old. But it’s not so funny if you’re trying to run a business. Desperate for a task the girls could handle, their manager had them dress as giant Sonic drinks, stand at the curb, and wave at customers. Anyone could do that, right? Wrong. Paris and Nicole, dressed in their drink costumers, gave passing cars the finger, and then wandered across the street to the grocery store. Two Sonic managers had to physically drag Paris and Nicole back to work. Paris and Nicole didn’t care that their behavior would offend customers and drive away business. All that mattered to them was that they thought they were being funny. Paris and Nicole’s next job was working for an auctioneer. Their boss Kent asked the girls to go to the farm co-op to get him some feed. As soon as Paris and Nicole found out that he had a charge account there, they decided to go on a shopping spree – on his dime. Since the Franklin County Farm Co-op isn’t exactly Rodeo Drive, they were limited in what they could steal, so they settled on a full-length mirror for themselves and a birdhouse to give Janet Leding as a Mother’s Day gift. Using your boss’s charge card to buy things for yourself isn’t exactly an ethical gray area. It’s stealing, and it’s wrong. When they girls gave Janet the ill-gotten birdhouse, Janet was truly touched. She thought about how hard Paris and Nicole had to work at their jobs, so the fact that they’d spend their own money on her meant a lot. Imagine how sick she must have felt when she found out from the girls’ boss that her Mother’s Day gift was stolen. Kent came to the house to confront the girls about the stolen items. It could have been a chance for Paris and Nicole to come clean and to accept responsibility for what they did. Instead, Paris ran and hid, while Nicole spun an elaborate web of lies and excuses. Paris and Nicole stole from their employer, hurt Janet, who’d been nothing but kind to them, and then lied when confronted about it. It was enough to earn them a Hall of Shame Moment on its own. But that wasn’t nearly enough for them. Paris and Nicole did have one job that they didn’t get fired from. Buffalo Leding, their boss at the gas station, never saw fit to send them packing. But even Buffalo didn’t find them to be good workers; the girls still showed up late and didn’t do much while they were there. But they were attractive and scantily clad, so they attracted customers. The fact that Paris and Nicole were successfully able to stand around and look pretty does not exactly dispel the notion that they weren’t able to do hard work. Paris and Nicole’s many forays into the working world were marked by shameful behavior. They showed up late, they whined and complained, they snuck off to take breaks, they were rude to customers, and they even ruined a supply of milk. They had absolutely no work ethic – they didn’t care if they were the worst workers in the world. All they cared about was having a good time, and to hell with anyone else. If that’s not shameful, I don’t know what is. Paris and Nicole exhibited an array of shameful behavior on the job, but their bad attitudes didn’t stop there. They were also incredibly disrespectful to the Leding family. The Ledings were kind enough to invite Paris and Nicole into their home, and they were repaid for their kindness with nothing but disrespect. On Paris and Nicole’s very first night on the farm, Curly Leding asked them to help her pluck chickens for the family’s dinner. Paris and Nicole flatly refused, saying that they didn’t like dead animals. Well, who does like dead animals? It’s not like Curly was having a grand old time plucking the chickens. She knew that if they were going to eat dinner that night, it needed to be done. The two girls refused to even try, and made it very clear to their gracious hosts that such work was beneath them – Paris said that she would vomit if she had to touch the chicken. Even after Curly very nicely offered to help and promised it wouldn’t be that bad, the girls refused. One thing they didn’t refuse, though, was that night’s fried chicken dinner. Paris and Nicole may have been too good to help pluck chickens, but they weren’t too good to help eat it. On the very first night, the two girls came across as snobby, ungracious, and unwilling to help the family they were staying with. Albert Leding told Paris and Nicole from the beginning that he intended to treat them like family. As such, they would be expected to do chores and to follow his midnight curfew. They did neither. Janet found herself taking on more work than usual picking up after Paris and Nicole around the house. And Albert had to stay up late several times waiting for Paris and Nicole to return home. He waited up for so many nights that Justin commented that his dad hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since Paris and Nicole arrived. Things got even worse when the girls took up with local boys Chops and Anthony. The girls wanted to spend all of their time with the boys instead of with the Leding family. Albert asked them to talk to him or to Janet before making plans with anyone else, and the girls ignored him. They also ignored his curfews, choosing instead to sneak out to be with the boys. Paris and Nicole would tell you that because they’re 22 years old, they shouldn’t have to adhere to a curfew and should be allowed to go out whenever they wish and with whomever they want. If they were living in the real world, they’d have a good point. But in this situation, Paris and Nicole are staying with another family, under their roof, rent free, and using their truck. The polite, proper, and respectful thing to do would be to honor the wishes of their hosts. But instead, Paris and Nicole selfishly decided to do whatever they wanted. Several times during the course of The Simple Life, the staff of this website contemplated giving Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie an induction into the Reality TV Hall of Shame. When they stole the birdhouse from their employer, we gave them a Hall of Shame moment, but held off on a full induction. We kept thinking that the two girls would learn their lesson, that they’d somehow redeem themselves in the end. All of us watched the final two episodes with interest to see if that would happen. It didn’t. Paris and Nicole went to Alligator Ray’s, a local bar. They were having a fine time, drinking, flirting, and dancing, until Nicole realized that she couldn’t find her purse. Did she look around for it? Did she ask others if they’d seen it? No, instead Nicole threw a total temper tantrum and threw a bottle of bleach onto the pool table. She and Paris were quickly booted out of the bar. The next day, Albert had a talk with Nicole about what she did and told her he was disappointed in her. She said she was sorry, and Albert pointed out that she constantly apologizes, but then doesn’t hesitate to do the same thing again. She looked remorseful… until Paris joined her again. The two of them then giggled and cackled about how mean Albert was and how he was overreacting. At Janet’s behest, Nicole went back to the bar later that day and apologized to Shannon, the manager of the bar. But that apology was too little, too late. Just saying the word “sorry” to someone doesn’t prove that you regret your actions, and Nicole did not seem at all ashamed of the incident when she was asked about it at the reunion show. She had the opportunity to learn her lesson, and it just didn’t happen. I don’t think Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are bad people. They are both very funny, can be polite, and are certainly very charming. They obviously care about each other a great deal, and were occasionally quite kind to the Leding family. But if you look at all of their behavior on The Simple Life, there is no doubt that they deserve a full induction here. Paris and Nicole set out to prove that they weren’t just spoiled brats. Instead of impressing us with their maturity and selflessness, they showed us instead that they were also rude, disrespectful, lazy, and selfish. For that, they belong in the Reality TV Hall of Shame. Betsy can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/Reality TV Hall of Shame e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on these sites! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of the shows in the Hall of Shame listed here, all of the people who have been inducted can be found here, and click here for the Hall of Shame Moments. 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