The Oprah faux pas

By Robert Rosenblatt
Welcome fellow partisan poets to the newest web site to expound on current events from the “mainstream” media. This week’s uproar over Oprah Winfrey in Switzerland has all the networks desperate to save the “O” channel’s sagging ratings.
Seems the most powerful businesswoman in television history went to inquire about a $38,000 black alligator purse in a tony boutique in Zurich.
The sales agent claims she tried to show madame Oprah an equally beautiful version of the Jennifer Anniston design line in order to give the potential customer an option to save a few thousand dollars.
Oprah expressed outrage that racism was involved as she felt snubbed at being not recognized as the wealthy superstar who could easily afford to buy the entire inventory of the establishment.
Looking back on a long sales career, I’ve never met a sales clerk who worked on commission who did not want to sell a customer the highest-end inventory.
Small chinks in the story appeared on closer examination. Oprah first said she was alone, yet the sales agent said she left with a companion. Fellow poets no doubt wept over their morning caffe lattes at this astounding fashion faux pas.
I’ll see you all next time after I return from back-to-school shopping at Kmart and Ross …
Robert Rosenblatt is a longtime Whittier resident and staff writer at 411whittier.com. Write to him at rrosenblatt@411whittier.com