The Private World of the Idle Rich

The rich, it's said, are different. Perhaps, but the reality of the idle rich is flat out useless. For one thing, they don't understand the word "no". For another, they demand and expect to receive instant attention and will create a scene if denied it. The woman on the telephone believed that she had been overcharged and was demanding to speak to the "girl who had waited on her". She refused to accept the fact that "the girl" was gone, that I didn't have a copy of her itemized receipt to go over with her (line by line), or that anything could be more important than her complaint. She was being whiny, petulant and obstinate. I apologized, I assured her that we would correct any mistake, I offered to have a manager return her call - all to no avail. Is there no one there who can talk to me about this? she asked repeatedly as if enough repetition would alter the facts. After ten minutes of this useless conversation, she finally agreed to let me call her back but rather than waiting, she returned to the store with a screaming infant in arms and shouldered her way through a line of customers to confront me. I was charged for these Vintage Montrachet glasses, she announced grimly, and I got Chardonnay. Are they the same price? The infant's howling was hurting my ears and other customers were glaring. And, she added with unmistakable contempt, you didn't return the glass I brought from home so you'd better start looking for it.

Having not the faintest idea what she was talking about, I stalled and explained that the manager was on her way back. She shifted the squirming, sobbing child to one hip and gave out a loud and arrogant sigh before asking again, Is there NO ONE here who can help me? I raised my voice to be heard over the infant and the grumblings of the waiting customers and told her clearly, The manager is on her way back. She'll be here any minute and I need you to wait. She actually stamped her foot at that and stubbornly insisted I start looking for her wine glass. The longer you wait, she informed me, the harder it will be to find. I left it right here on the counter. Beginning to feel like I was lost in a wilderness with dogs on my trail, my patience finally gave way. I spoke slowly, meeting her eyes and returning her tone. This is a wine shop and a restaurant that specializes in wines. We are in the middle of a sale on wine glasses and I don't have the first idea of where to begin looking for a single wine glass. I didn't wait on you and the person who did will be here any minute. I. NEED. YOU. TO. WAIT.

The manager returned and remembered that she had found a single wine glass on the counter and thinking it was part of a set that was on sale had re-boxed it. The glass was located, the customer pacified, the issue of price was resolved - no overcharge - and I got to leave, only mildly the worse for wear and gratified by the fact that there was no way I could've known any of that. In the private world of the idle rich, they don't teach manners, courtesy, respect for others or how to wait. Give me the unemployed impoverished anytime - if only because they have no one to look down upon.