If the saleswoman flat out said the bag is too expensive (so she wouldn't show it to her) that is discrimination as far as I am concerned. It's also rude and unprofessional. I'm pretty sure that some rich people do not get all dressed up with lots of expensive jewels and other accessories to go along with their expensive designer clothes before they go shopping.
Oprah
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I don't know if this is a racist situation or not but I do know there are alot of lazy SA out there because I've had this happen to me quite a few times and I'm as WASPy as it gets
The first time I wanted to buy a purse over $3k I was told the same thing, the SA didn't want to get it for me as it was expensive. She even asked me if I knew the price and when I told her I did she relented and got me the bag.
Sadly, I've had this happen a few times now. I bought a purse this year that was around $1200 and the SA asked me if I was serious about the bag as she had to go to the basement to get it out of the stock room as they didn't have it in the store, lazy girl didn't want to walk downstairs to get it unless she knew I was serious I guess
The first time I can remember this happening to me was in New York trying to buy some shoes and the male SA asked me straight out " are you serious about these shoes because the are expensive and I don't want to get them unless you really want them " I did the same thing as Oprah and told him that he was right, that was too much to spend on shoes and left
Some people really shouldn't be in sales
The first time I wanted to buy a purse over $3k I was told the same thing, the SA didn't want to get it for me as it was expensive. She even asked me if I knew the price and when I told her I did she relented and got me the bag.
Sadly, I've had this happen a few times now. I bought a purse this year that was around $1200 and the SA asked me if I was serious about the bag as she had to go to the basement to get it out of the stock room as they didn't have it in the store, lazy girl didn't want to walk downstairs to get it unless she knew I was serious I guess
The first time I can remember this happening to me was in New York trying to buy some shoes and the male SA asked me straight out " are you serious about these shoes because the are expensive and I don't want to get them unless you really want them " I did the same thing as Oprah and told him that he was right, that was too much to spend on shoes and left
Some people really shouldn't be in sales
'I needed to pull back': Oprah Winfrey opens up about her near nervous breakdown... and how fiance Stedman helped her through it
She is the queen of television and one of the most powerful women in the world.
But things arent always so easy for Oprah Winfrey.
The former talk show host has opened up about having a near nervous breakdown in a candid interview, as the tables have been turned on her.
The 59-year-old recalled a time last year when she was grilling Jason Russell and became aware of her own predicament.
He was talking about having a nervous breakdown, and I was thinking, I have those symptoms, she told People magazine.
A few days later, Oprah hit breaking point while recording voiceovers for shows on her OWN network.
I remember closing my eyes while I was reading. I thought, I cannot have another thing enter my brain, she said. I needed to pull back.
Oprah famously quit her talk show two years ago and was struggling while first launching her network.
After 25 years of being No. 1, I had become accustomed to success. I didnt expect failure, she admitted. I was tested and I had to dig deep.
People were counting me out. The schadenfreude was very painful for me, because I had never experienced it. I thought, Do I not get credit for the 25 years? What have I gotten myself into?
But Oprah said the tough time only helped her to realise that she needed to take action to better her situation.
This forced me not to just talk the talk, Oprah said. Failure is a great teacher I knew this intellectually. But its another thing if youre living it.
Oprah admits that her fiancé Stedman Graham was the one who really helped her through it by giving her some words of wisdom.
He was amazing, she gushed. He said, You cant even think about quitting. You have been in cruise control. Its gonna turn around, but youve gotta do the work.
The pair have been engaged for 21 years but Oprah is perhaps more in love with her other half than ever before.
Were like an old married couple, she said. Ive seen people crawl over him, push him aside. Hes learned how to navigate that.
Oprah added: That takes a confident man. That embodies who he is.
The star is returning to the big screen and can be seen in Lee Daniels The Butler opposite Forest Whitaker, and mused: I didnt embarrass myself! I was so worried I would.
Oprah misses some aspects of her talk show but is enjoying not having to be at the studio at 6:30am.
Now the most exciting thing is being able to wake up when my body naturally wakes up, Oprah said. Lately thats 7:24am.
While Oprah has turned her OWN network around and is seeing lots of success with the venture, she believes she will always want to leave while on a high.
I never want to be less than passionate, she explained. I never want to go to work going, Do I have to show up? I want to leave while I feel, Wow, I cant believe I have this.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2393671/Oprah-Winfrey-opens-near-nervous-breakdown--fiance-Stedman-helped-it.html#ixzz2byMjjIKP
She is the queen of television and one of the most powerful women in the world.
But things arent always so easy for Oprah Winfrey.
The former talk show host has opened up about having a near nervous breakdown in a candid interview, as the tables have been turned on her.
The 59-year-old recalled a time last year when she was grilling Jason Russell and became aware of her own predicament.
He was talking about having a nervous breakdown, and I was thinking, I have those symptoms, she told People magazine.
A few days later, Oprah hit breaking point while recording voiceovers for shows on her OWN network.
I remember closing my eyes while I was reading. I thought, I cannot have another thing enter my brain, she said. I needed to pull back.
Oprah famously quit her talk show two years ago and was struggling while first launching her network.
After 25 years of being No. 1, I had become accustomed to success. I didnt expect failure, she admitted. I was tested and I had to dig deep.
People were counting me out. The schadenfreude was very painful for me, because I had never experienced it. I thought, Do I not get credit for the 25 years? What have I gotten myself into?
But Oprah said the tough time only helped her to realise that she needed to take action to better her situation.
This forced me not to just talk the talk, Oprah said. Failure is a great teacher I knew this intellectually. But its another thing if youre living it.
Oprah admits that her fiancé Stedman Graham was the one who really helped her through it by giving her some words of wisdom.
He was amazing, she gushed. He said, You cant even think about quitting. You have been in cruise control. Its gonna turn around, but youve gotta do the work.
The pair have been engaged for 21 years but Oprah is perhaps more in love with her other half than ever before.
Were like an old married couple, she said. Ive seen people crawl over him, push him aside. Hes learned how to navigate that.
Oprah added: That takes a confident man. That embodies who he is.
The star is returning to the big screen and can be seen in Lee Daniels The Butler opposite Forest Whitaker, and mused: I didnt embarrass myself! I was so worried I would.
Oprah misses some aspects of her talk show but is enjoying not having to be at the studio at 6:30am.
Now the most exciting thing is being able to wake up when my body naturally wakes up, Oprah said. Lately thats 7:24am.
While Oprah has turned her OWN network around and is seeing lots of success with the venture, she believes she will always want to leave while on a high.
I never want to be less than passionate, she explained. I never want to go to work going, Do I have to show up? I want to leave while I feel, Wow, I cant believe I have this.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2393671/Oprah-Winfrey-opens-near-nervous-breakdown--fiance-Stedman-helped-it.html#ixzz2byMjjIKP
I know quite a few people that found shopping in the US annoying at times, because the SAs are so "friendly", like they actually know you (which is sometimes considered "fake" where I'm from). American SAs are generally also more involved with what you are doing, even when you just want to browse around on your own.
As for me, I don't really mind either treatment. It's a cultural thing really! I like experiencing the differences.
Oprah has previously made false accusations of racism which conveniently coincide with the release of racist movies.
She did it in 2005 with the Hermes store before the release of the movie Crash. She showed up 15 minutes after the store was closed and said they wouldn't let her in because Hermes has a problem with North Africans. Read the entire story below.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/22/oprah.apology/
Luxury store apologizes to Oprah
Hermes' Paris store had rebuffed talk show host
Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Posted: 2348 GMT (0748 HKT)
A spokeswoman says Oprah Winfrey will discuss the incident on air when her show resumes production.
(CNN) -- Luxury store Hermes on Wednesday apologized to Oprah Winfrey for turning her away last week, saying that its Paris store was closed to set up for a public relations event when the talk show host stopped by.
"Hermes regrets not having been able to accommodate Ms. Winfrey and her team and to provide her with the service and care that Hermes strives to provide to each and every one of its customers worldwide," the store said in a statement.
"Hermes apologizes for any offense taken due to such circumstances."
The store said the incident occurred on June 14 around 6:45 p.m., about 15 minutes after the store closed. It said Winfrey and her team arrived at a time when "a private PR event was being set up inside."
Harpo Productions spokeswoman Michelle McIntyre said Winfrey "will discuss her 'crash moment' when her show returns from hiatus in September."
"Crash" is a film dealing with race relations. The phrase "crash moment" refers to situations where a party feels discriminated against on the basis of skin color.
The New York Daily News cited sources close to Winfrey as saying the talk show host was first rebuffed by a clerk and then a store manager. The Daily News reported Winfrey had gone to the store to buy a watch for singer Tina Turner, her dining partner that night.
McIntyre confirmed that account for CNN.
The New York Post, in its Monday Page Six gossip column, reported she was turned away because the store had been "having a problem with North Africans lately."
In comments to CNN, an Hermes spokeswoman categorically denied that allegation.
"There was never any discussion of North Africans," she said. "The story is not true."
The spokeswoman said Winfrey came to the store 15 minutes after closing and a security guard informed her the store was closed and gave her a card, telling her she could come back the next day.
Surveillance videotape of the encounter supports the store's account, according to the spokeswoman.
She said the CEO of Hermes has called Winfrey's people to explain "the situation" and invited her to come back to shop in the store.
She did it in 2005 with the Hermes store before the release of the movie Crash. She showed up 15 minutes after the store was closed and said they wouldn't let her in because Hermes has a problem with North Africans. Read the entire story below.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/22/oprah.apology/
Luxury store apologizes to Oprah
Hermes' Paris store had rebuffed talk show host
Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Posted: 2348 GMT (0748 HKT)
A spokeswoman says Oprah Winfrey will discuss the incident on air when her show resumes production.
(CNN) -- Luxury store Hermes on Wednesday apologized to Oprah Winfrey for turning her away last week, saying that its Paris store was closed to set up for a public relations event when the talk show host stopped by.
"Hermes regrets not having been able to accommodate Ms. Winfrey and her team and to provide her with the service and care that Hermes strives to provide to each and every one of its customers worldwide," the store said in a statement.
"Hermes apologizes for any offense taken due to such circumstances."
The store said the incident occurred on June 14 around 6:45 p.m., about 15 minutes after the store closed. It said Winfrey and her team arrived at a time when "a private PR event was being set up inside."
Harpo Productions spokeswoman Michelle McIntyre said Winfrey "will discuss her 'crash moment' when her show returns from hiatus in September."
"Crash" is a film dealing with race relations. The phrase "crash moment" refers to situations where a party feels discriminated against on the basis of skin color.
The New York Daily News cited sources close to Winfrey as saying the talk show host was first rebuffed by a clerk and then a store manager. The Daily News reported Winfrey had gone to the store to buy a watch for singer Tina Turner, her dining partner that night.
McIntyre confirmed that account for CNN.
The New York Post, in its Monday Page Six gossip column, reported she was turned away because the store had been "having a problem with North Africans lately."
In comments to CNN, an Hermes spokeswoman categorically denied that allegation.
"There was never any discussion of North Africans," she said. "The story is not true."
The spokeswoman said Winfrey came to the store 15 minutes after closing and a security guard informed her the store was closed and gave her a card, telling her she could come back the next day.
Surveillance videotape of the encounter supports the store's account, according to the spokeswoman.
She said the CEO of Hermes has called Winfrey's people to explain "the situation" and invited her to come back to shop in the store.
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Whether or not a video is ever released... I don't think there's any way that any of us can watch interviews... and read articles... and scrutinize quotes... and know the real story.
In the end, the experience of racism is inherently personal. Nor do I believe that it always requires visible proof observable by anyone other than the person on the receiving end of discrimination (based on one's race). When it happens to you... white, brown, or whatever... you know it.
It's not surprising that there are people rushing to the defense of the person being accused of racisim. There will always be a camp of people who dismiss claims of racism as "oversensitivity". Regardless, since defenders are not the ones experiencing the discrimination (based on race) in question, their contributions serve only to invalidate the real experience of the person who did experience mistreatment.
Ultimately such a way of perceiving racism - by individuals, societies, institutions, etc. - permits the acceptance of insidious discriminatory behaviors based on race to continue unchecked. As long as it is a problem not acknowledged or addressed, it is a problem that will continue to devalue an entire group of people - based solely on race (and often, also, of nationality).
Whether this was a ploy - or not - to create buzz around Oprah's new movie - does not in any way diminish Oprah's experiences. I applaud her for continuing a conversation that so many people would rather avoid: that racism and discrimination based on race - still exists.
In the end, the experience of racism is inherently personal. Nor do I believe that it always requires visible proof observable by anyone other than the person on the receiving end of discrimination (based on one's race). When it happens to you... white, brown, or whatever... you know it.
It's not surprising that there are people rushing to the defense of the person being accused of racisim. There will always be a camp of people who dismiss claims of racism as "oversensitivity". Regardless, since defenders are not the ones experiencing the discrimination (based on race) in question, their contributions serve only to invalidate the real experience of the person who did experience mistreatment.
Ultimately such a way of perceiving racism - by individuals, societies, institutions, etc. - permits the acceptance of insidious discriminatory behaviors based on race to continue unchecked. As long as it is a problem not acknowledged or addressed, it is a problem that will continue to devalue an entire group of people - based solely on race (and often, also, of nationality).
Whether this was a ploy - or not - to create buzz around Oprah's new movie - does not in any way diminish Oprah's experiences. I applaud her for continuing a conversation that so many people would rather avoid: that racism and discrimination based on race - still exists.
I totally agree, just recently I was in Hawaii and I had to leave a few stores as it drove me insane.
I don't mean to be rude but I don't want to know your name and I don't want to be your friend, if I say I am browsing stop following me around and talking to me, just leave me alone, if I want help I will ask for it!
Either this article is poorly translated or made up, it just doesn't even sound how Oprah speaks.