‘The rich are different from you and me.’ ‘Yes, they have more money.’
Published by Kyso Kisaen July 29th, 2007 in HUH!?, My Brain Hurts, Shame on you for not being rich white and privileged, WankersVia Sadly, No!, Peggy Noonan is befuddled: the rich are getting richer, just like the olden days, but the poor (or at least, the not-rich) are failing to return to their natural state of tasteful obsequiousness. Also, the rich are kind of assholes, too.
The gap between rich and poor is great, and there is plenty of want, and also confusion. What the superrich do for a living now often seems utterly incomprehensible, and has for at least a generation. There is no word for it, only an image. There’s a big pile of coins on a table. The rich shove their hands in, raise them, and as the coins sift through their fingers it makes . . . a bigger pile of coins. Then they sift through it again and the pile gets bigger again.
It seems she’s largely OK with this since her moral compass was replaced with the icy vacuum of free space, which is the only possible reason a person would use this paragraph as part three in a four-paragraph introduction to bitching that the service at tony New York shops is not what it should be.
“Um, thanks.” What they are forcing you to do is engage. If you engage–”Um, thanks”–you have a relationship. If you have a relationship, it’s easier for them to turn you upside down and shake the coins from your pockets.
…There are strategies. You can do the full Garbo: “Leave me alone.” But they’ll think you’re a shoplifter and watch you. Or the strong lady with boundaries: “Thank you, if I need help I’ll ask.” But your reverie is broken. Or the acquiescent person: “Take me under your leadership, oh aggressively friendly salesperson.” But this is bowing to the pushiness of the Gilded Age.
Those bastard salesgirls, trying to get their commission out of you just because you came into their store to buy something. Many of us have worked the service jobs, and Peggy it seems is that customer who is going to complain no matter what you do. That fake perky your corporate office mandates? Too fake. Leaving her alone? You’re ignoring her. I never could handle those jobs - I get pissy when people who don’t know what they want expect me to figure it out. How do the people who make that complaint not realize that they are only the zillionth person who has walked through that door, each of them wanting to be serviced in a slightly different manner than the one before. They’re salesgirls, not mind readers. Give them an e’ffn break.
It’s funny. In a time of recession, you’d think salespeople would be more aggressive, because so much might hinge on the sale–a commission, a job. In a time of relative wealth, you’d think they might be less aggressive. But the opposite seems true.
Buhhh…uhh….whaaa? Let’s put these things together:
The gap between rich and poor is great, and there is plenty of want, and also confusion.
It’s funny. In a time of recession, you’d think salespeople would be more aggressive, because so much might hinge on the sale–a commission, a job. In a time of relative wealth, you’d think they might be less aggressive. But the opposite seems true.
I’m going to put this in all caps for Peggy, should she ever see this. I’ll even type it out very slowly so she can follow along:
D-E-A-R M-R-S. N-O-O-N-A-N: IF THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR IS GREAT, THAT MEANS THE RICH HAVE A LOT AND THE POOR DON’T HAVE ENOUGH. SALESPEOPLE WILL BE DRAWN MORE FROM THE LATTER CATEGORY THAN THE FORMER. THE PEOPLE SERVING YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCING THE JOYS OF THIS EXTREME WEALTH. THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO GET THEIR CRUMBS FROM YOUR SLICE OF THE PIE, BUT THERE ARE WAY MORE OF THEM THEN THERE ARE OF YOU SO THEY HAVE TO COMPETE WITH EACH OTHER TO LICK THE BOYSENBERRY THAT YOU CHOSE TO LEAVE ON YOUR PLATE. YOUR WIDE-EYED BEWILDERMENT OVER THIS OBVIOUS RESULT OF WEALTH INIQUITY IS THE SORT OF THING THAT EVENTUALLY MAKES THE PEASANTS REVOLT, SO PLEASE TROT YOURSELF DOWN TO DUANE READE’S AND PICK UP A CLUE.
Jesus f’n Christ, Peggy, if this is the pearl-clutching you do when the salesgirl at the exclusive store is too perky for your liking, imagine the vapors you’d get if you had to deal with an actual poor person who didn’t need your commission. They can be refreshingly blunt.
Let’s just make sure somebody in the proper income tax bracket helps her up.
I just can’t handle being led by an elite that isn’t classy enough to keep it’s whining about the help confined to the print edition, where it is less likely to be picked up by the unwashed masses. Even I know, from my many readings of Pride and Prejudice, of the importance of keeping your mouth shut when the servants can hear you.
It’s kind of getting really close to “let then eat cake” time.
I’m just saying.
Vive le revolucion!
The least thing they could do is legalize marijuana so we don’t start storming the castle.
I worked in retail for years, and the only time I was allowed to not be pushy was when I worked at a hardware store (it was the one place I worked where people generally needed something in particular, and the customers were more likely to approach staff for help). Otherwise, if you didn’t constantly make yourself busy and nag everyone who walked into the store until they caved to buying something they didn’t need, you’d hear it from the managers.
I’m surprised she didn’t complain about the rudeness of panhandlers while she was whining about the shopgirls and the canvassers.
I think I’ve also never been upsold at the greengrocer’s, the everything-grocery, the dance-shoe store, or any of the fabric stores I frequent.
Having worked at a fabric-and-notions store (and oh how I miss my staff discount!), I think they fall into the same category as hardware stores, with respect to customer service. Customers either know what they want, or don’t know, but can articulate what they need (”I need some way to keep these buttons on this coat.” “I need buttons to complement this dress.” “I need fabric to make this shirt, but I don’t know what kind … I want it to be purple, though.”) Doing customer service at a fabric-and-notions store is a lot like all the fun parts of sewing, with none of the re-threading the machine. You get to help other people plan their projects, and find nifty ways of making things work.
Someone should mention to Peggy the last person who said in the face of widespread famine “whay can they not just eat cake?” had her head gleefully separated from her neck by the great masses of the unwashed and underfed.
apparently, now doing your job is rude… i mean, how dare someone tell me they like my bag, offer me new products, or come back to the table in ‘exactly one minute’ when i ask for one in a restaurant? oh, and may i add i hate the term ’shopgirl.’ it’s demeaning.