Stanford Professor tells story of Rice deriding jeweler because she made less money than her

[ck4829]

Condoleezza Rice may be willing to compromise at a Middle East negotiating table - but not at a jewelry counter.

Coit Blacker, a Stanford professor who is one of the secretary of state's closest friends, recalls going into a shop where Rice asked to see earrings. The clerk showed her costume jewelry. Rice asked to see something nicer, prompting the clerk to whisper some sass under her breath.

Blacker remembers Rice tearing the woman to shreds.

"Let's get one thing straight," he recalls her saying. "You are behind the counter because you have to work for minimum wage. I'm on this side asking to see the good jewelry because I make considerably more."

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/r_m/2007/08/29/2007-08-29_when_condi_went_nuclear.html

[Lint Head]

1. They are all greedy jerks.

I guess Cunnilingus Slice thinks shes better than anyone else because she didn't live in a poor neighborhood in NOLA and die in a flood caused by Federal levee neglect. :dem:

[DrDan]

2. this is one of her closest friends relating this incident?

Something wrong with this.

[izzie]

3. Well I have been treated like that in stores and to say some

thing is so hard not to do. I have often wondered why some sales person would act so rude but so far I have always tried to hold my temper and just go to another store. Some times I just say things and then feel bad that my emotions could not be held in. I always hope I have good skills than one rude sale lady or man but one does drop to their level at times.

[MethuenProgressive]

4. Rice's friend sees this a *positive* example of Condi's personality?

egad...

[MethuenProgressive]

5. YIKES!! Did you see the photo of LaserEyes Condi??

That one won't be on the cover sheet of her resume!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. Hmm...

[pink-o]

6. She's a cold, reptillian bitch...

...but if she cut that clerk off at the knees because said clerk made a racist remark, then as far as I'm concerned she had every right.

I spent my childhood in San Mateo County (where Stanford / Palo Alto is) and anyone who thinks there's no racism here is either not black or not aware. I'm white and Jewish and I've seen it firsthand.

This, however doesn't negate all her heinous acts, her diva shoe shopping while other African Americans were drowning in NOLA, nor the fact that she plays the race card at her own convenience--even tho no poor black child from Alabama ever got piano or ice skating lessons. But I still believe when confronted by a racist, we all need to speak up and show that such treatment is unacceptable.

[REP]

10. Actually, Palo Alto is in Santa Clara County; *East* Palo Alto is in San Mateo

Stanford and Palo Alto are in Santa Clara County, as are Mountain View, Los Altos, etc.

[irislake]

12. If it was racist bully for her!

I don't blame her one bit! Condi can't be completely evil!

[KittyWampus]

7. Many clerks apparently assume just cause you're black you can't afford the top shelf

[REP]

11. With Rice, It May Not Have Been Her Race but Her Demeanor

Or maybe it was an inexperienced sales clerk, who when asked to show some earrings, showed some she thought were nice - and were costume. Or didn't want to start out showing high-priced items, because she did that with another customer and it wasn't well-recieved. The clerk could have been muttering, "You should have told me what you wanted to look at" - why assume it was racial, when it could have been a frustrated minimal wage clerk trying to deal with a difficult customer giving vague instructions?

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. In selling psychology, you don't pull out the good stuff to start with

because you have nowhere to go from there.

I wouldn't be surprised if the "costume" jewelry cost most of us a day's or even week's wages. Condi would not have gone shopping wearing jeans and a sweatshirt - it would be obvious she had money. So you start with something fairly basic to guage what the customer wants, build up expectation by presenting ever more expensive merchandise, and close at the highest possible level. That's how it's done at all levels, from personal service at a jewelry store to the way they line up TVs at Wal-Mart.

Also, there's no mention of what the clerk said - probably something more on the line of 'snooty bitch' than anything racial.

The clerk was just doing her job. And Condi IS a bitch.

[ThomWV]

9. It wasn't a "Jeweler", it was a Sales Clerk

[NashVegas]

13. If Condi Was Shopping at a Jewelers Where the Clerk Made Minimum Wage ...

She must've been at the Earring Tree.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Walmart.