# What would you have done in Oprah's place (racism in Switzerland)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 9, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821 "2013-08-09T18:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/81 "2013-08-10T17:55:36Z")
She can certainly spend her money any way she wants, but when she recounts a story of wanting to buy a $35,000 purse, she’s indulging in a little bit of stealth bragging. Not that that’s pertinent to the story. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/82 "2013-08-10T18:01:17Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > 1: Buy _everything_ in the store. > 2: Immediately return it all. If I may, step 1.5 would be to wait about 5 weeks. Then enjoy step 3 from afar… Step 3: Commission’s taken back from employee’s paycheck after they already spent it, leaving them penniless or owing the store for years to come. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/83 "2013-08-10T18:28:39Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > She can certainly spend her money any way she wants, but when she recounts a story of wanting to buy a $35,000 purse, she’s indulging in a little bit of stealth bragging. Not that that’s pertinent to the story. I don’t look at it so much from the stealth bragging angle as I do as an example of “do as I say not as I do.” It’s jarring considering her message is more about the heart than it is material possessions. She certainly is aware of what a little splurge buying on her part could do for a small village anywhere in the world. The news got a disappointed snort from me. Here’s a learning experience, Oprah: This is what poor Black, White, Hispanic and Asian people feel like all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/84 "2013-08-10T18:53:06Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > So, in my opinion? Yeah, the clerk at the shop was being 100% Swiss. How dare a non-Swiss, non-white Untermensch even _ **dare** _ to entertain the thought that they might try to buy something for that price? Cleaning ladies have no access to that sort of money! > > Sorry if I sound harsh, but my observations regarding the average Swiss and my experiences in the place have convinced me that Switzerland is populated by generally horrid people. There are exceptions, but unfortunately they are few. The clerk was Italian. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Right, so when someone comes in the store to buy an ungodly expensive item, they should default to assuming the customer can’t afford them. Why even carry them if whenever someone asks to look at one, the cashier should just assume the customer can’t afford it? > > At my BMW, Lexus, and Maserati dealership, I don’t even let people look at the Maseratis. I just tell them they can’t afford it. Straight up. Don’t ask me why I even have them on the lot. I’m under the impression that people who can afford the ludicrously priced items used to make the ridiculously priced items seem reasonable schedule private shopping audiences. The same goes for exotic cars. People don’t just walk in off the street kick the tires and ask to take one for a test drive. From what I understand, they make an appointment. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/85 "2013-08-10T21:46:45Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > It’s obvious. Switzerland is incredibly racist and Oprah is black. If this is the extent of your evidence - and it seems as it is - you’ll have to forgive me for my lack of outrage. Just because racism exists doesn’t mean it we should presume it in a given situation until its absence is proven. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/86 "2013-08-10T22:33:04Z")
The only thing obscene in this little story is that Winfrey was considering spending $38K on a fucking purse. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/87 "2013-08-10T22:46:06Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > The car biz is full of anecdotes where someone scruffy was turned away or treated poorly, only to have the salesman discover they were wealthy. Happened to me a while back. A buddy of mine and I stopped in our local RR dealer to see a new car. We were told we could not even speak to anyone without an appointment and a credit check. We come back 3 weeks later in my Corniche (1970 hardtop) and are welcomed like old college buddies. They had a new (to me) 1993 Corniche IV with the glass rear window for under 40k, and let us drive it around with no salesman bothering us. Two days later, my wife told me she was with child, and my new toy would have to wait. I’m still waiting. We can’t know the true details, but I suspect if I had asked to see the purse in my broken German, I wouldn’t have gotten to see it either. I suspect more class-ism than racism. No racism in Pretty Woman or Rolls-Royce Atlanta. Just good old-fashioned snobbery. NOKD. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/88 "2013-08-10T22:49:33Z")
Couldn’t an incredibly rich person in such a situation simply pull out the Black/Gold/Coated with fairy dust credit card, that i’m told the seriously rich get access to? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/89 "2013-08-10T22:53:40Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Happened to me a while back. A buddy of mine and I stopped in our local RR dealer to see a new car. We were told we could not even speak to anyone without an appointment and a credit check. > > We come back 3 weeks later in my Corniche (1970 hardtop) and are welcomed like old college buddies. They had a new (to me) 1993 Corniche IV with the glass rear window for under 40k, and let us drive it around with no salesman bothering us. > > Two days later, my wife told me she was with child, and my new toy would have to wait. > I’m still waiting. > > We can’t know the true details, but I suspect if I had asked to see the purse in my broken German, I wouldn’t have gotten to see it either. I suspect more class-ism than racism. No racism in Pretty Woman or Rolls-Royce Atlanta. Just good old-fashioned snobbery. NOKD. Yes, that’s my guess too. Could be racism, could be snobbery vs Americans, but most likely is class snobbery. I want to know: do other customers get to fondle the purse? If so, how was Oprah dressed? I am not ruling out racism, but… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/90 "2013-08-10T22:59:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The only thing obscene in this little story is that Winfrey was considering spending $38K on a fucking purse. I don’t see anything in the linked story or video (it wouldn’t work for me from the BBC site, but [here’s the interview on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Cq7bI4d70)) to indicate that Oprah even knew how much the purse cost. She says it was up on a shelf, and while I don’t frequent fancy handbag shops I imagine they don’t have huge price tags on their goods. In Oprah’s account the saleswoman doesn’t say the actual price of the purse either, she just kept saying that it was too expensive for Oprah. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/91 "2013-08-10T23:01:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I want to know: do other customers get to fondle the purse? > If so, how was Oprah dressed? From [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/09/world/oprah-winfrey-racism-switzerland/index.html?iref=allsearch): “She told [Entertainment Tonight](http://www.etonline.com/news/136849_Oprah_on_Being_a_Recent_Victim_of_Racism/index.html): ‘I was in Zurich the other day at a store whose name I will not mention. I didn’t have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan skirt and sandals, but obviously The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Zurich.’” I have no idea how fancy a “little Donna Karan skirt and sandals” looks. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/92 "2013-08-10T23:02:34Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The only thing obscene in this little story is that Winfrey was considering spending $38K on a fucking purse. That’s the only purse befitting a woman who started a magazine, named it after herself, and put herself on (almost) every cover. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/93 "2013-08-10T23:05:55Z")
BTW, the reports are that the handbag was from Tom Ford. If I were him, I’d be figuring out which one she was trying to look at and sending it to her as a gift. Even if she doesn’t want it any more, perhaps together they can auction it off, for the United Negro College Fund or another worthwhile charity. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/94 "2013-08-10T23:05:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, that’s my guess too. Could be racism, could be snobbery vs Americans, but most likely is class snobbery. > > I want to know: do other customers get to fondle the purse? > If so, how was Oprah dressed? > > I am not ruling out racism, but… On how she was [dressed](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/oprah-winfrey-victim-of-racism-in-switzerland-billionaire-told-she-cant-afford-expensive-handbag-at-exclusive-zurich-store-8753660.html); _“I didn’t have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan skirt and my little sandals.”_ Edit; Ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/95 "2013-08-10T23:45:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The only thing obscene in this little story is that Winfrey was considering spending $38K on a fucking purse. She tweeted the other day that when she learned how much it cost she realized she wouldn’t have bought it. Easy to say in hindsight of course, but still. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/96 "2013-08-10T23:51:15Z")
pay for a couple semesters on English lessons for the clerk. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/97 "2013-08-11T00:13:08Z")
> [@](#): > > She tweeted the other day that when she learned how much it cost she realized she wouldn’t have bought it. Easy to say in hindsight of course, but still. In other words, the clerk was right, and it really was too expensive for her? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/98 "2013-08-11T00:15:15Z")
If it’s too expensive for the three-billion-dollar woman, who _isn’t_ too expensive for? Perhaps the trophy wife of a Eurotrash billionaire? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/99 "2013-08-11T00:24:38Z")
I believe Oprah when she says she wouldn’t have bought it because of the price. Maybe she limits herself to $6,000 handbags or something. We all set our own limits for things in our minds. For example, I set my PC spending limit pretty high because I am a hardcore PC gamer and like having the best setup. Even though you might be able to afford a $2000 PC, you might set a limit of only $1000 because that’s your preference. So even though she could easily afford a $38k handbag, she might just not have a preference to spend that much on that bag. I believe her when she says she ultimately wouldn’t have bought it. But she should have been allowed to make that choice for herself, not by the salesperson. The fact is, Oprah was dressed well (not that this should even matter), and she asked 3 times to see the bag, and was refused THREE times and tried to be shown other purses. That’s just rude, jerkish behavior. And for those of you who think it was classism and not racism, what do you think that store person was basing their judgment of her class on? It wasn’t what she was wearing. It probably wasn’t the fact she sounded American, but maybe. I’m betting it was probably racism. Though I agree there is no smoking gun, its the easiest explanation. No one here is arguing that it was flat out racism in the sense that this person didn’t want to sell a purse to a black person. It was racism in the sense that the store person probably thought a black woman could not afford it, because all black people are poor, you know? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821/100 "2013-08-11T00:27:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In other words, the clerk was right, and it really was too expensive for her? I understood it as not being worth that much to her. You don’t stay rich by wasting your money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-have-done-in-oprahs-place-racism-in-switzerland/665821.md?page=6)