Outrageous outrage

Recently, a retail wear designer going by the name of Boyet Fajardo (never heard of him) has come under fire for insulting a Duty Free cashier and bullying him to kneel down and ask for forgiveness. Apparently, the cashier committed the unforgivable “sin” of not recognizing the designer who probably thinks he’s already so famous that people ought to know who he is the minute they see his shadow. Fajardo was trying to purchase items using an unsigned credit card, and probably felt insulted when the cashier had the “temerity” to ask him for signed identification papers to verify his ownership of the credit card.

For being diligent and trying to do his job, the poor cashier had to swallow invectives and insult, had a passport thrown at his face and was made to choose between getting slapped or falling down on his knees in a bid to appease the designer who was threatening to get the employee fired.

Unfortunately for Fajardo, the entire incident was caught in the store’s closed circuit television camera and ultimately found its way on YouTube — that powerful and popular medium — and news quickly spread like wildfire across cyberspace, faster than gossip being passed on by word-of-mouth.

The backlash was immediate: condemnation against the designer and his blatant display of arrogance circulated through text messages and e-mails, and a signature campaign to boycott his brands (whatever they may be) and have him delisted from the association of fashion designers in the country was launched.

Naturally, the designer’s publicist tried to downplay the incident, excusing his client’s boorish and obnoxious behavior as simply a matter of “creative outburst,” and the invectives as mere “figures of speech.” Good Lord, if that outrageous display of outrage is the extent of Fajardo’s creativity, then we shudder to think what his creations must look like. And besides, this is the first time people have ever heard of invectives being passed off as metaphors.

Fajardo belatedly issued a public apology, claiming he couldn’t remember what he said and did because he was suffering from the effects of a long-haul flight, was tired, feverish and hungry — all of which may have prompted him to act in such an arrogant manner. But apparently, he wasn’t too sick, too tired or too hungry to go shopping first.

The half-hearted apology and the lame excuse issued by the designer only made things worse because people are now even more convinced of his insincerity and are hell-bent to punish him. The union of Duty Free employees is filing criminal charges against him and will also lodge a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights.

This incident brought to my mind several instances of arrogance and abuse displayed by some people. A couple of years ago, a rich society matron who used to have regular lunches at the plush restaurant of a major hotel in Makati always maltreated the waiters, subjecting them to her acerbic tongue. Pardon my French but, this matron was such a bitch that the waiters got back at her by spitting on her food.

When PAL was still under government control, a powerful politician who used to travel on non-revenue tickets was so demanding during flights, constantly asking for so many things and occasionally insulting the stewardesses and making nasty passes at them. He became such a royal pain that the cabin attendants took every opportunity to get back at him. In fact, one cabin attendant told me that he became so nasty during one flight that they served him brewed coffee laced with urine, and mixed it with the heel of their shoe. The irony of it all was that this powerful politician even thought the coffee was really special and tasted good!

I’m one of those who believe that when you are truly famous, wealthy or powerful, you don’t go around trumpeting it — because when you do, then you really are not. You must let it radiate and come naturally. One shouldn’t go around maltreating and demeaning people. Those who have less in life are especially sensitive when it comes to how they are treated — and more often than not, the only thing they really ask is to be treated with a little dignity. It’s bad enough that they need to work for a living and don’t have as much, but to rub it in by treating them with arrogant condescension is the worst thing one can do.

People with so-called names, reputations and high positions should always remember that in this day and age when news travel so fast, any unkind action can easily create a negative impression that can totally destroy everything they built up over the years with just one click of a computer.

This incident with Fajardo should serve as a wake-up call for those who are so filled with self-importance that they are forgetting karma — the law of consequences, the principle of cause and effect and payback — and that it can come back to you tenfold. Those with power and influence but display humility will be appreciated and respected more.

Those who step on people who have less should always remember that as they go higher, the ones they pass by on their way up will be the people they will meet on their way down. As they say, what goes around comes around. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. In this world, nothing is permanent. But one thing is certain: the sun will always go down, and so will you if get consumed by the arrogance of power.

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