[lowbridge]

I know that rich people kinda come to expect favored treatment, but I wonder why the civil servants who run the place gives it to them when they are in a position not to.

[omnivore]

My impression is that most people reflexively (or instinctively) give deference to those perceived to be above them in the social hierarchy. Rich people are among those that are tagged somehow in our perceptions as being "above us" in the hierarchy. It's like being more polite to a guy in a suit compared to a guy who's dressed like a slob. Just another social status thing. It's probably wired pretty deeply in our brains.