Wealthy People are, for the most part, mean

[Biblereader]

I'm going to try to say this as Christian like as I can.
Pray for me, if I sound worldly or like a bad Christian, after you read this.

I work in a store that mostly sells to wealthy people,mostly women.
On a consistent basis, these women behave badly, like spoiled children
throwing temper tantrums. They also talk down to sales people, (not just me,
I hear and see it almost every day I work there), they have snippy tones to
their voice, haughty looks in their eyes, and will argue with you about a penny.

They are rarely happy, rarely have a peaceful look. They look agitated, hungry, (most of
them are proud of their thin bodies, and sneer at anyone who can;'t fit into a size
7 pair of jeans), and angry. Angry is a good word, to describe these
wealthy, haughty women. Oh, and patronizing! Oh goodness, such an attitude of looking down
their noses. Snippy and snide.

God has a lot to say about rich people, and hardly any of it is complimentary, or good.

I'm getting to where I just shut the doors of my mind and heart, when I hear
one of these hateful customers start her whining, arguing, and confrontational crap.
They act like everyone who works at the store, is a high school dropout. Most of the people
who work behind the cutting counter with me, are either in college, have degrees, or are
pretty well off, and just working there to make some spare change. NONE of us
are dirt.

Well, that's my steam vent. Do you deal with wealthy people who act spoiled and hateful?

 

[Biblereader]

James 2

Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

In Amos: God also had many things to say about the rich people. The rich people had too much. God did not like that. We can see these ideas in much of Amos’s book. He also speaks about that fact that people sold other people as slaves (2:6). Some people became rich in this way. In Samaria, many people used money to get an advantage over other people. They wanted to make sure that other people stayed poor (3:9, 10). Some farmers had big debts. So the leaders took their property away.

Verse 8 Rich people were robbing the poor people! God hates this.
4Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,

5Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

6That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
Poor people often needed money. They gave their clothes to rich people, who gave them a loan for the clothes. The rich people sat on these clothes while they *worshipped God. God’s *law did not allow a person to keep another person’s coat at night (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:12-13). The night was cold in Israel. The poor people needed these clothes then. Amos also suggests that the rich people made the poor people pay large fines. A fine is a sum of money that a person must pay as a punishment. This was when they could not pay the debt. Then these rich people used the money to drink too much wine. Nehemiah later protected the poor people against these things (Nehemiah 5:1-12).

WHY are wealthy people so wicked??

 

[Veritas]

WHY are wealthy people so wicked??

I think partly because many think their possessions are theirs. Really it is not theirs, it is God's. When we know it is God's I think we can actually relax. God knows what is best to do with it. And so we just listen to Him. Otherwise we are left idolizing it and/or ourselves with it... and we all know things (and ourselves) can let us down.

You and I are also actually wealthy. Both of us have a computer or access to one. That's incredibly more wealthy than someone in places of Africa, Central or South America, or other third world countries.

So... maybe we should look at ourselves and our wealth and how it affects us as well. God knows the best place for our possessions and money.

Are we willing to give it all away if God asks us too?

Tough question I think... for myself that is...

 

[Gabbylittleangel]

Wealth has nothing to do with it. Take that word out of your post so that it simply says 'people'. That would be closer to reality.

 

[VaultZero4Me]

I think the American public treats service people badly in general. They are typically impatient, and almost act like it is a slave/owner relation. Servers get it the worst I think. My gf was a server and she always came home with a few stories of how a few tables treated her like a peon. Sometimes from her stories I get the feeling that if I had been her at those moments, there would be a few people getting a plate of food dumped in their laps by "accident".

Also, per her experiences, wealthy people generally tip badly.

I'll stick this one in here as well, Sundays were the worse day for tips and rude customers. People fight in restaurants in order to get out of after church lunch duty :o

 

[Biblereader]

Isn't that sad? It's aggravating, that people act that way.
I NEVER thought I'd be a sales person, or customer server, because, I can't stand people for the most part.
Thanks for the story about your girlfriend. I tell my hubby my stories, and he is sympathetic.

 

[geekgirlkelli]

I think the American public treats service people badly in general. They are typically impatient, and almost act like it is a slave/owner relation.

I would agree with this. I've had plenty of opportunities to be impatient, but I have been complimented many times by service workers who thanked me for not getting mad about this or that, such as a long wait or a messed up order. I often thought to myself "why would people get so upset about that..." Don't get me wrong, I've been upset plenty of times, but by and large I try to be very patient and understanding with people and treat them how I'd want to be treated.

I agree that it's not limited to wealthy people. I know many generous, kind wealthy people and I know many nasty poor and middle class people too.

~Kelli

 

[Vic C.]

Wealth has nothing to do with it. Take that word out of your post so that it simply says 'people'. That would be closer to reality.

Gabby and I have had our disagreements over wealth and prosperity, but we certainly agree on this!

*People*

I know and know of wealthy people who are a pleasure to be around and know some who are low income who have big chips on their shoulders. I'm not wealthy in a material sense, but I'm always nice! :-D (unless I haven't eaten in a while, lol) ;-)

 

[Dunamite]

Read James if you want a scathing review of the rich. James 2 has to do with favoritism, but James 5 pulls no punches.

It isn't unChristian to talk negatively about the rich in general terms. It is unChristian to make judgments about specific people. We cannot know their motives nor what they do with their money.

We live in a society where excess abounds. I wonder about the need to drive a $50000 vehicle when a $25000 one would do. I think about what good that extra $25000 would do in our world. Such extravagance seems to fulfill a need that perhaps could be met in other ways. I think that a Christian would be hard pressed to justify it in their own life. It might be a sign of deeper spiritual problems, i.e. lack of purpose and fulfillment.

People can justify just about any excess, at least in their own mind. It probably would be a waste of time trying to have a dialog with such a person, even if they were open to it. God convicts people of sin, not us. When we speak out, it only widens the gulf between us.

People who rub us the wrong way, for what ever reason, are a blessing in disguise. They give us an opportunity to re-examine our own lives. In this case, we can ask ourselves if we are ever like that. We can ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us and reveal areas that we can improve on. We can also give thanks that we treat people better than they treat us. When we are tempted to lash out at them we can ask God to grant us patience and teach us how to act.

The actions of others often are triggers for us to act out of character. We can train ourselves to stop before we re-act. This gives the Holy Spirit time to show us a better way. Otherwise, we just feel guilty later and that is wasted effort when if we had only been more patient we could avoid the embarrassment.

Brother Lawrence in the Practice of the Presence of God talks about every moment and thing that happens is a moment to serve God and give blessing to us and others. We just don't always see them this way. It can certainly allow us to leave in peace and harmony if we simplify things.

Blessings,
Dunamite

 

[Biblereader]

I think the American public treats service people badly in general. They are typically impatient, and almost act like it is a slave/owner relation.

I would agree with this. I've had plenty of opportunities to be impatient, but I have been complimented many times by service workers who thanked me for not getting mad about this or that, such as a long wait or a messed up order. I often thought to myself "why would people get so upset about that..." Don't get me wrong, I've been upset plenty of times, but by and large I try to be very patient and understanding with people and treat them how I'd want to be treated.

I agree that it's not limited to wealthy people. I know many generous, kind wealthy people and I know many nasty poor and middle class people too.

~Kelli

Well, thank you, Kelli. Let me tell you, the reason service employees get so jaded is because they run into angry, rude customers every day. Today I had an incident. Yesterday, TWO of the employees in my area said they were yelled at for TEN minutes, by a "crazy woman" who said we were making fun of her, and laughing at her with our eyes. It just never seems to let up.
Thank you for being patient. We are doing the BEST we can, ( I work hard, and have a decent work ethic), and when some nit-picker sashays up and throws a grown-up temper tantrum, you just have to let your eyes glaze over, and wait for the storm to pass, all the while, holding your OWN tongue.

 

[Biblereader]

Read James if you want a scathing review of the rich. James 2 has to do with favoritism, but James 5 pulls no punches.

It isn't unChristian to talk negatively about the rich in general terms. It is unChristian to make judgments about specific people. We cannot know their motives nor what they do with their money.
I AGREE! AMEN
We live in a society where excess abounds. I wonder about the need to drive a $50000 vehicle when a $25000 one would do. I think about what good that extra $25000 would do in our world. Such extravagance seems to fulfill a need that perhaps could be met in other ways. I think that a Christian would be hard pressed to justify it in their own life. It might be a sign of deeper spiritual problems, i.e. lack of purpose and fulfillment.
AMEN
People can justify just about any excess, at least in their own mind. It probably would be a waste of time trying to have a dialog with such a person, even if they were open to it. God convicts people of sin, not us. When we speak out, it only widens the gulf between us.

People who rub us the wrong way, for what ever reason, are a blessing in disguise. They give us an opportunity to re-examine our own lives. In this case, we can ask ourselves if we are ever like that. We can ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us and reveal areas that we can improve on. We can also give thanks that we treat people better than they treat us. When we are tempted to lash out at them we can ask God to grant us patience and teach us how to act.
AMEN, I HAVE BEEN EVALUATING MY OWN REACTIONS LATELY. TODAY, THOUGH, SEEMED TO BRING THE MEAN DEVILS OUT OF THE WOODWORK. AND, YESTERDAY.

The actions of others often are triggers for us to act out of character. We can train ourselves to stop before we re-act. This gives the Holy Spirit time to show us a better way. Otherwise, we just feel guilty later and that is wasted effort when if we had only been more patient we could avoid the embarrassment.

Brother Lawrence in the Practice of the Presence of God talks about every moment and thing that happens is a moment to serve God and give blessing to us and others. We just don't always see them this way. It can certainly allow us to leave in peace and harmony if we simplify things.

Blessings,
Dunamite