Life is a mere summation of your experiences; what you've seen and what you've done. Obviously, your mileage may vary, as people living in different parts of the world. or going through different upbringings, have a difference of opinion on certain matters. For example: Walking out onto a private beach with personal showers would definitely give you a different mindset about how public beaches are run and operated
Not everyone is rich, and if you grew up in the upper-middle-class to the wealthy class, then it probably showed without you even realizing it.
Reddit user, u/bassistmuzikman, wanted to know when the veil lifted as they asked:
"People who grew up rich, when did you realize you were living in a bubble and not like everyone else?"
Just Pay Cash. What's The Problem?
"When I went to college and had friends who were complaining about student loans."
JoeyJUULS
"Same here, I remember when I started seeing a girl at uni and she said she had loans. I asked her why she didn't just ask her parents for money... Grew up a lot that day."
MrNob
Not Everyone Has The Same Pockets
Giphy"I'm not super rich, but things really hit home when I was with a friend and his mother started to panic because she couldn't afford milk for her toddler son (my friends little brother). I was just walking around with $40 in my pocket for no real reason so I gave her $20. She was embarrassed to be taking money from a 13 year old, but swallowed her pride for the sake of her children."
"I knew my friend wasn't as well off, but it never fully hit me what that meant before then. To me, being poor just meant someone couldn't afford nice things. What it meant to struggle with basic necessities like milk never really struck me before then."
Dubanx
All It Takes Is One Meeting
"Whilst not "rich" rich, I'm certainly solidly middle class - detached house, a holiday every year, new clothes on the reg, private schools from the age of 3 to when I left school at 18, a hefty allowance from my parents during uni... I was the least well off amongst all my friends so I just assumed I wasn't poor but I wasn't rich."
"Until I met a girl at uni who lived the first 6 months of her life in a homeless shelter and talked fondly of the council house her and her mum got to stay in for a whole year before they realised it was too big for a family of 2 (it was a 2 bed house)"
smidgit
At Least You're Thankful For That
"I didn't grow up rich but definitely wealthier than the people around me. I realized we lived in a bigger house than most but I assumed that was just because it was 5 of us (three siblings and my parents) + pets. Anyway, I became aware of my situation in high school. I would message my friends to hang out but they said they couldn't because they didn't have spare money. Not even for pizza. That's when it hit me."
"I've never been in a position where I couldn't do something because money was tight."
"I thank my parents for that."
pocketgo
Yeah...Just Don't Think About It
"I didn't realize that not everybody had allowances in college. Especially not when your weekly allowance is more than most people make in a month."
"It still weirds me out, but I just try not to think about it or bring it up. Saves me a bit of guilt and a lot of sideways glances."
vanillarice24
Count The Rooms. Then, Do it Again.
"The day I realised that we are a family of three and my parents bought a five bedroom house. (I later found out that was because they wanted more kids, but unfortunately that never happened). Meanwhile most of my friends had 2 bedroom houses, and quite a few shared with siblings."
maxthefrenchone
When You What You Had Isn't What You Have
"I wouldn't say "rich" but well off or upper middle class in the 80's and 90's. I realized when we lost it all during the early 90's recession and we went from a big 5 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment in a not so great part of town. Definite wake-up call."
ragingduck
Both Ends Of The Spectrum
"For me it was when I went to college and met my best friend. Here I am with my college being completely paid for by my father and my brand new apartment (being paid by my dad) and I figured that's normal. Anyways my best friend had to drop out because he couldn't afford it anymore and he actually lives in a section 8 apartment complex with his family of five. It really hit me seeing how much his family struggles just for the basics in life. It opened my eyes and humbled me. My family isn't rich but definitely upper middle class."
"Then I met my boyfriend who is from a more upper class family and I saw how for him it was normal to go in lavish cruises every break with his family and how nice and big his house is."
haananyy
Not Just One, But Two
"I thought it was normal to have a second home until 3rd grade"
[usernamedeleted]
Some People Have To Make It On Their Own
"When I was a kid, I thought everyone's parents had money saved up for them to go to college. Or at least, everyone who wasn't "poor". It was a shock to my whole world-view in high school when I realized I was in a small minority and very very lucky. And especially in college when I realized how many people were working full-time on top of a full-time courseload to pull it off."
A--Blaster_69
"We Took A Plane To Our Cruise."
"When I was like 11 my friends asked me what I did over 2 weeks we had off and I claimed I went on a cruise and then came back home and flew in a plane to and from the ship. They were shocked because they didn't go anywhere, kids always pointed out my luxurious lunch it was weird. Then I had party at my house and now to this day everyone calls my house a massive massion and I get teased being called rich."
ThatOneGayWitch
Very Different Definitions Of What "Acceptable Gifts" Are
"When the mother of a friend of mine had to sit me down and explain to me that, no it’s in fact not normal to receive a boat as an elementary school graduation gift from your father... I had no idea that most people didn’t give their children things like that at that age. Was a real culture shock for me"
f-ckehead
"How did that conversation start? Did you ask your friend why they didn’t get s boat and their mom told you other kids don’t get boats? What kind of boat? I’m so intrigued by this story..."
dberna243
"Lol ok so my dad compensates loving his kids by buying us whatever we want since he’s never around. So when I was in 8th grade I, for some reason I can’t remember now, I became obsessed with speed boats. So naturally, my dad bought me a speedboat for graduating (because I could definitely drive a boat at that age???). I had a friend that didn’t go to swanky private schools, and didn’t live the same kinda lifestyle I grew up with. My dad didn’t really approve of us being friends but he wasn’t around enough to stop it and our maids always encouraged it so we hung out a lot during summertime."
"Her, her mom, and I were all out one day and I was kind of not subtly bragging about this top of the line speed boat I got and her mom had to take me aside and tell me that wasn’t normal and I shouldn’t brag about things like that because not everyone was as well off as my family was. Real eye opener for me."
f-ckehead
You Realize Your Mistake And Try To Make Up For It
"When I was in high school and I lent my friend a few bucks and she had trouble paying it back. I knew that there were "poor people" around, but I was going to an extremely expensive private school and it didn't hit me till then that some of my classmates were on scholarships and not everyone could afford to buy the school lunch every day."
"It was a really sobering experience and I started trying to pay for as many things as possible after that for my friends (ex. Buying us all pizza, insisting on paying for peoples' lunches, etc.). Also, I stopped keeping track of who I was lending money to and simply gave it out. My parents wouldn't miss the money and my friends didn't deserve to worry about it. Unfortunately it caused me to earn a reputation in the friend group as "the loaded friend" and I started getting treated badly because I "just didn't understand." Just had to deal with it till I graduated. I try really hard to keep it on the DL now."
anonymous_1128
Not Everyone Has A House?
"I did not grow up rich. But my husband did."
"His sister once said "I didn't know everyone didn't live in big houses until I went off to college." Apparently she led a VERY sheltered life."
awhq
"I said this in another thread similar to this, but when I was younger I didn't know families lived in apartments. I thought everyone had a house and apartments were only for students."
Johnnie_Karate
The Magic Kingdom Tends To Be On The Pricey Side
"When I started talking in school about the pros and cons of Disney World vs Disney Land, and people were like 'YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION?! LUCKYY'"
jonahvsthewhale
All The Best Games, All The Best Systems
"I was about 12, I think. When friends would come over they would go on and on about how big the house was and how I had more games and computers and sh-t than them (they especially seemed freaked out about the maid) and I just started to realize that I didn't have the same circumstances as most."
"They wouldn't all say it if it weren't true, I assume. I did have other friends with money, especially when I started attending private school, but I didn't realize they were well off either."
LoveAndDynamite
"...shame that it was at the expense of a person I loved so very much."
"The first time I went to my best friend's house. His circumstances were the exact opposite. His parents tried their best, but his dad often didn't have much work during the winter, and his mom didn't work outside of the home. They had 6 kids, and usually had things like pancakes for dinner. I'm in an upper class part of DC, with every toy and electronic imaginable, and he had none. It was a good lesson for me to learn, but it was a shame that it was at the expense of a person I loved so very much."
hestianvirgin
"I always had taken it for granted."
"I was talking to a friend about going to the town's public beach and they were saying how horribly crowded it gets in summer, and I suddenly realized (I was well into my 20s) that I had never had to go to a public beach because I always had at least two private family beaches to go to, one with cabanas, outdoor showers and space for cooking."
"I always had taken it for granted."
GorditoCat
The Sky's Not For Everyone
"I have a family member that grew up with a private jet. The first time she flew commercial she turned to her family and asked "who are all these people on our plane." On flying- I'm no way rich but I was reading that the majority of the worlds population, over 90% didn't take one flight last year. I'm not sure if that's true, I'll look for the post, but that hit me pretty hard how fortunate I am to fly to see family sometimes."
Highplowp
The Friendships Don't Always Last
"Not rich, but upperish middle class. I went to a play date when I was 10 and his mom was single and they lived in a tiny apartment. I couldn't figure out why he didn't have a house or a dad. Sad to say I was so uncomfortable that we didn't stay friends much longer after that. Sorry Darren, you were a good dude and I was dumb."
somethngrandom2635
"My friend was like that, for a while she lived in a two-bedroom apartment and shared a room with her brother. It took me a while to realize that they just didn't have a lot of money."
DuskofNight23
Life Hit You Early And Fast
"So this happened young. My dad worked in IT. International company, bunch of business trips to like every major country in the world and every major developing country. He got fired/company filed for bankruptcy. This happened whilst I was 8. Suddenly the only income we had was from my mum, working in the public sector for the state, helping mentally ill people. We went from expensive toys, Nutella for breakfast and expensive lunch items to buying birthday presents at basically dollar stores and hoping for hand me downs so that I could get clothes that fit me"
"Whenever we had a school trip, we had to save up 2 years in advance and ask relatives for help paying for those school trips, maybe not see relatives that lived far away for birthdays and other important things. My dad only got a job after 9 years of looking. My teen years consisted of hand me down clothes, worrying about social events and lunch. I still haven't grown out of the mentality despite my dad having a well paying job now. It's crazy what the 2008 crisis did."
CheapYoghurt
Ask The Kids. They'll Always Know.
Giphy"Define "Growing up rich". My dad didn't start making real money until I was at least 10 or 11. We were comfortably middle class before that."
"I guess it started when we moved to a new city and people in my school would openly ask/tease me about being rich. I think the first thing I started noticing was that we took a big annual family vacation, usually on a plane, while many of my friends have never flown before."
Yserbius
Taking What Could Be A Negative And Turning It Into A Positive
"When my dad bought me a house to live in rent free, no mortgage. And realising that most people dont holiday in the algarve twice a year."
"My house is now a hostel/safe space for anyone I'm friends with/close to who needs a place to stay."
thepurplehedgehog
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.