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She wanted to turn it into a race thing... a public case. She could have whipped out that sainted credit card, saying, "Look, I'm Oprah Winfrey. I'm a billionaire. Show me the bag." And left whatever it was in the store, with or without the mother fucking obscenely-priced bag.
But no.
We're trying to foment a race war. We need apocalyptically-threatening tensions between the people or the psychopaths can't win.
My question is why would blacks of any socio-economic status be down with that idea?
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Update three days later:
The Trois Pommes sales assistant said over the weekend that she felt 'powerless' and in the grip of a 'cyclone' after Winfrey went on TV in America to make the claim.This sounds a lot more like what would actually happen in a chic boutique... I mean, not that I frequent them, but I've been in a lot of them. I think, yes, that if a woman obviously a street walker came in, depending on how many customers were in the store, there might be a little trouble, but short of that, and maybe not even then, it is a fact that they treat everyone with the utmost deference.
'I wasn't sure what I should present to her when she came in on the afternoon of Saturday, July 20, so I showed her some bags from the Jennifer Aniston collection.
'I explained to her the bags came in different sizes and materials, like I always do.
'She looked at a frame behind me. Far above there was the 35,000 Swiss franc crocodile leather bag.
'I simply told her that it was like the one I held in my hand, only much more expensive, and that I could show her similar bags.
'It is absolutely not true that I declined to show her the bag on racist grounds. I even asked her if she wanted to look at the bag.
'She looked around the store again but didn't say anything else. Then she went with her companion to the lower floor. My colleague saw them to the door. They were not even in the store for five minutes.'
She emphatically denied ever saying to Winfrey: 'You don't want to see this bag. It is too expensive. You cannot afford it.'
The saleslady went on: 'This is not true. This is absurd. I would never say something like that to a customer. Really never. Good manners and politeness are the Alpha and the Omega in this business.
'I don't know why she is making these accusations. She is so powerful and I am just a shop girl.
'I didn't hurt anyone. I don't know why someone as great as her must cannibalize me on TV.
'If it had all taken place as she claimed, why has she not complained the next day at the wedding of Tina Turner with Trudie Goetz, my boss? She was there also at the Turner wedding as a guest. I don't understand it.
'I spoke to Oprah Winfrey in English. My English is okay but not excellent, unfortunately.
'I didn't know who she was when she came into the store. That wouldn't have made any difference if I had.
'We work really hard to greet all the people who come into the store with the same level of respect and treat them all equally.
'If someone asks me whether he or she can see an article, I always present these. Because that person is a potential buyer. And my job is to sell it.
'I'm glad if I can sell an article. It is a reward for me, if I can sell a nice piece. This means that I'm good at my job.'
She has worked in the store for five years, says 50 per cent of the clientele come from abroad and that a bag costing nearly £25,000 is sold 'only a few times a year.'
Asked what she would say to Oprah now she added: 'I would apologize and say it was all a misunderstanding. I surely did not intentionally want to insult Ms. Winfrey. I hope this nightmare ends soon.'
I once had to return my boss's wife's dress to the couture floor at I. MAGNIN because she wouldn't have let him take the car to work if he didn't do that for her. He didn't want to be caught dead in there. The shop girl who was handling the return did treat me like a peon, but that was because I was coming to her in that capacity. I finally said to her, "Yes, this dress would cost me a month's salary, but at least I could buy it, which is more than we can say for you, now isn't it?" I'm actually kind of sorry I did that because those people do have to eat so much shit that it was probably her relief to see her chance to treat somebody else like that.
Anyway, I have entered high end retail stores a thousand times, dressed like a damn hippie, and been treated like a queen. A couple of those times I was with a tall handsome black man and they treated him like a king. It's true that if they hear you kvetching about the prices they pretty quickly press on to other customers or simply leave you to browse, but no matter what you look like before you've pretty much declared yourself as a no sale, they do every little thing they can to make your visit completely enjoyable.
There was a rather famous case back around 1973 of a car salesman who blew a sale to an old scruffy millionaire rancher who had the cash for it in his pocket because the guy was dressed like an old scruffy rancher. Every store in the world took that to heart. The hippie era taught all of retail a big lesson. It was no longer possible to judge a customer by his cover.
I think Oprah was reaching for it. I think she wants to make race a big deal again.
What I want to know is why?
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