Essay: Power by John Scott

Power has arguably been a part of our daily lives since the beginning of mankind.
In his book Power, Scott (2001, pp. 12-16) explores the different forms of power and how it reveals itself. He begins by dividing the elementary forms of social power into two categories: Corrective influence and persuasive influence. The resources that these forms of power is what distinguishes the one from the other as well as how they use their resources. That brings us to the ‘animal farm’ that Scott describes: the lion, the fox, the bear and the owl. The lion and the fox are categorized as having corrective influence as the lion uses force as a resource of power whilst the fox uses manipulation. The lions are also aided by coercion as a developed form of power and the foxes use inducement. On the other hand, persuasive influence benefit from the signification and expertise of the owl and the legitimation and command of the bears as a source of power and a developed form of power. But in this essay, I will take a closer look at the bear and how it managed to manifest itself in a woman who simply wanted almond milk in her coffee.
Before we dive into the almond milk, we must establish a better understanding og the bear as a structure of domination. We see the bear portrayed by our parents, presidents and other elected officials. Their primary idea of the bear is that they have legitimate power as and it is the subordinates duty to accept their power position. The legitimacy of their power is gained usually through some sort of valid operation, e.g. presidents are elected leaders. (Scott, 2001, pp. 20)
“A double shot latte. Almond milk.One pump white chocolate, one pump sugar-free vanilla. Extra hot.” It was a busy afternoon at the café and the woman was clearly in a hurry. I took down her order, but explained to her that we do not sell almond milk in our cafés and the only non-dairy options we had were oat milk and soya milk.
The woman took a long look at me, sizing me up, seeing if I – the nineteen year old girl – was worth the trouble. Apparently I was: “I’d like to see your manager.” The words that every employee dreads to hear. I looked at the people in the line behind the woman and gave them an apologetic look and went to get my manager. When he approached the woman, she did not look impressed. My manager was a lanky looking dude, only a few years older than me. He gave her a bright smile and asked what the problem was. She asked about the almond milk. He gave her the same answer that I did. The woman was still astounded that we did not use almond milk. My manager apologized for the inconvenience and promised to inform his superiors about her concern regarding almond milk.
I would categorize this woman as a self-declared bear. As she came into the cafe as a customer, her complaints are legitimate because she believes they are right, justified and valid. To her, we are not equals; we are in a vertical power relationship, she is in a legitimate superior position while I am the clear subordinate. The woman believes she has a right to give me orders as she is the customer as well as the superior and that I am obligated to obey her commands. But I am not innocent, as I feed the bear by following her command and getting my manager.
her commands are justified because she is doing me a favour by doing business with this company.
When the woman’s order was called up, she made sure to make eye contact with me as she took her drink. She took one small sip and grimaced. “This latte is to hot.” I again apologized and offered her to make her order again. “No, I’m in a hurry,” she said with a bitter tone. At that moment, I realized that she was not a real bear, but merely a stuffed teddy bear with no respect towards people working in the service industry.