The arrogance of power

At the coffee shop I often chat with a man who formerly managed a high-end men's clothing store (considering the casualness of fashion today, it's probably good he changed professions). Today he told me two stories, both representing the arrogance of power, and unfortunately, extremely poor Christian witness.

The first was the wife who came into the store and selected four or five $500 suits (they would probably be $1,500 today), take them home, and then return all but one or two in 10 days. She did this about twice a month. Because his sales staff were on commission and the returns would really mess this up, soon he was the only one who would wait on her. Finally, he suggested to her that her husband come to the store, select what he wanted, and they'd do the measuring, tailoring, alterations, etc. She insisted that her husband was "too busy," and this method worked fine--they had a tailor on their staff who would do the alterations. So he explained the problem. She would take everything in his size; the manager would need to reorder; then she would return them, and he'd have too much. Plus, if someone his size came in during that overlap, he had nothing to show them. She was adamant. Her husband, a high profile local pastor (she identified him as though that should explain it all), was simply too busy. But then she wrote to his regional manager, and complained about how she was treated, although he says he'd been very polite and tried to work out the problem. I've known him long enough to know he has excellent people skills. But I've dealt enough with the public to know that people with a sense of entitlement are not influenced by this. Only obsequiousness satisfies them.

The second incident (same store) involved a rising, popular, young gospel singer, in town for a concert in the mid-1980s. He came into the store with one of his "roadies." He complained about the selection and said he had much better choices in (southern city). But he did buy a sport coat. He was so whiny and arrogant, that the former manager remembers him to this day (I looked him up not being too familiar with this genre and he's been in a sex scandal, but has continued his career). The bright spot was that the roadie was a real nice guy.

The man I was talking to is a Christian. He said if he hadn't been, and those two were the only Christians he knew, it certainly would have turned him away from the faith.