out of touch with reality

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Shocking NDAs Revealed

Shocking NDAs Revealed

These Entitled Jerks Made Us Rage

These Entitled Jerks Made Us Rage

Incredibly Satisfying Revenge Stories

Incredibly Satisfying Revenge Stories

New York, New York

New York, New York

People Share Incredibly Useful Websites Few People Know About

People Share Incredibly Useful Websites Few People Know About

A dilapidated shack is ablaze at night

Minor Decisions That Had A Major Impact On People's Lives

People Share The Most Widely Accepted Facts They Know To Be Wrong

People Share The Most Widely Accepted Facts They Know To Be Wrong

People Share Hard Truths That Everyone Needs To Hear

People Share Hard Truths That Everyone Needs To Hear

The Worst Cases Of 'Rich Kid Syndrome' People Have Ever Seen

A Redditor asked: 'What’s the worst case of “rich kid syndrome” that you’ve ever seen?'

Aloof teen with high-end clothes and bottle of Chanel
Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

We are now aware that the distribution of wealth is severely skewed to the top one percent of the population, and rich people have a completely different perception of how the world works and what's "hard" than middle- and lower-class people do.

But what's so disheartening is how their beliefs and limited understanding of hardship trickle down to their children, and how those children are interacting in society is honestly shocking.

Redditor WaterWire asked:

"What's the worst case of 'rich kid syndrome' that you've ever seen?"

The Jet Doesn't Count

"I used to work with someone who proclaimed to be an environmentalist. She was very preachy."

"Once I had a can of Coke on my desk. She said, 'You're going to recycle that, right?'"

"She used her father's personal jet all the time. Once, just to fly from NYC to Boston to see a baseball game."

- LiterallyOutToLunch

Disposable Cars

"A girl I went to school with crashed and totaled six cars in three years and her parents continued buying her better newer cars because every accident 'wasn’t her fault' and if she had stuff like a backup camera and sensors they 'wouldn’t have happened.'"

"She got into a fender bender in the school parking lot and her dad showed up with a wad of cash and paid the other student off."

- nosenseofpermanence

A Simple Grade Change

"When I was in college for my grad degree and I was working as a T.A. (teacher's assistant), during a specific term I was helping my professor with some admin duties for one of his post-grad courses he taught for a different field than mine, and we had this one student who was arguing that she wanted a higher final grade than the one she had gotten."

"We listened to her explanation to see if there was any merit to her request and there was something that needed to be changed, but it basically boiled down to, 'I think my grade is too low and I deserve a higher grade because I say so,' and we simply told her that after reviewing her performance we could confirm that her final grade was correct and there was nothing to be done about it."

"She completely lost it and transformed into a Super Karen and after arguing for a bit, she stormed off and started emailing me and the professor and copying everybody in the email chain: her program director, the department head, the head of our registry office, Will Hunting, the security guard, the librarian, etc., and every email she sent was progressively ruder and more entitled than its predecessor because everybody kept telling her that she was unfortunately in the wrong and there was nothing to be done about it."

"Eventually, she sent a really smug email where she said something to the effect that since everybody was a dumba** and incompetent at our jobs, we had forced her to copy her father who was really close friends with the dean to the email, so we were f**ked and we had to do as she said or daddy would get us all fired. Keep in mind, this was a grad student in her mid-twenties."

"The highest ranking person in the email chain replied, reiterating that we were all very sorry, but she was in the wrong, her grade was correct, and it would not be changed."

"Then her father replied to the email chain and just said, 'There you go, dear. I hope you learn from this.'"

"She didn't reply anymore after her daddy's email, and the matter was closed. To this day, I like to imagine that dear old dad tore her a new one for dragging him into her bulls**t and making him look bad in front of a bunch of professors from a well-known university where his BFF was the dean because she, his grown-a** daughter, chose to behave like a spoiled brat."

- Tough_Stretch

First. World. Problems.

"I'll never forget a former friend stamping her foot and crying because 'Dad sold the jet and I have to take a commercial flight to our raaaaanch.'"

- tnrivergirl

The Cost of Priorities

"An 'Influencer' wondering why other people in their home country don't spend their life traveling like them."

- OrderIntegration

"I love the 'I’d rather have a passport full of stamps than a house full of expensive things!' schtick."

"Most of my furniture is from the free section of Craigslist and I would be thrilled if I ever get to a point where I can afford an international trip every few years."

- TogarSucks

No Help At All

​"Not me, but a friend of mine was an assistant trainer at a Panera store. They hired a teenager who was only working there to meet people, and one day had a group leave a huge mess in the dining room."

"Apparently the teen turned to my friend and said, 'Should we get the help to clean that?'"

"My friend had to explain that they were the help. He quit not long after."

- SailorVenus23

Garage Entitlement

"I was complaining about having to clear off my car from the foot of snow we'd gotten. A guy at work told me there was no way I had to clean off my car. I definitely did and it took a long time."

"Him: Well then, it's your own fault for not parking in the garage."

"Me: I don't have a garage."

"Him: Everyone has a garage."

"I'm like, look out the window next time you are driving?"

- Okay-Cheetah-9125

The Intrusive Thoughts Won

"A senior rich kid in my HS was driving his dad's Jaguar when his buddy asked him what would happen if he threw into reverse at 60 miles per hour. So they tried it and essentially blew the transmission and the motor up."

"A few months later, he got a Porsche for Christmas."

- New_Section_9374

Humbling Experiences

"I had a guy work for me in the military. He thought he didn’t have to do anything because his parents would just 'call their friends.' He ended up getting kicked out for LSD and cocaine use."

- ElfLordSpoon

"I did my mandatory military service when I turned 18, seven years ago. I cleaned s**t more than once, and my father had prepared me for it by saying, 'In the military, it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re still going to clean toilets.'"

"Only a few of my mates from back then knew who my family was and that was after a lengthy, alcohol involving, conversation/interrogation, lol (laughing out loud). You don’t wanna be standing out."

- RolexWearInGray

Unrealistic Shopping

"A therapist once asked me how much money I spent on clothes each year."

"I told her about 100 to 200 dollars, depending on the year and what was needed."

"Her response was, 'You can’t even get one dress for 100 dollars' and then proceeded to tell me that maybe I didn’t value myself enough."

"All I was thinking was, 'This b***h has never been to TJ Maxx?!'"

- FortunaLady

Very Different Backyards

"When I was in elementary school, this kid lived in the only gated community in the area, and the houses were all mansions. He was telling me a story about his tennis court in his courtyard."

"I said, 'Wait, you have a tennis court at your house?'"

"He looked genuinely shocked, and responded with, '…you don’t?'"

"It blew my mind as a little kid who had to share a room with my single mom, lol (laughing out loud)."

- Spare_Invite_8191

College Tuition

"Some girl in my college classes was genuinely shocked there were students who had to take out loans because their parents couldn’t afford to pay the 65 thousand dollars a year for tuition."

"I have a lot of extended family out in California who I’ve never met, but I sometimes hear stories from my parents who keep in touch with a few relatives out there."

"One of my distant cousins, who was like 17 at the time, intentionally totaled the new BMW his parents bought him because he wanted a Mercedes instead. Can’t remember if they ended up buying him that Mercedes or not, but they probably did. Sadly."

- Scortor

Exam Buyouts

"Rich Dude in my high school chemistry class flat out asked how big of a check his dad could write to get him out of taking a major test. He was serious. Nothing happened to him."

- GrayBox1313

Poor Packing Skills

"I had a friend who worked as a counselor at an American summer camp somewhere in Pennsylvania. He said that these kids would leave so much of their belongings because they couldn’t be bothered packing them up and they would just expect their parents to replace what they had left."

"He came away with Beats headphones, brand new shoes (although a few sizes too small), and gaming equipment."

"He also said that one day they were playing a game of flag football and one of the kids fell and grazed his cheek. This kid was some child model, so his parents had him HELICOPTERED OUT OF THE CAMP so he could get plastic surgery over the injury."

- amerika0210

Messy Kitchen Dilemma

"I had a roommate who would cook huge meals and destroy the kitchen. She would eat her meal and head to her room."

"A couple of hours later, she’d come out and be fully p**sed off that the kitchen was still a mess."

"She’d had servants most of her life and was now on her own."

- msjammies73

Though we know that the rich are often incredibly out-of-touch, these examples were still really surprising. Not only is their perception of money so different, but the disposable nature of big purchases, like vehicles, is just wild to think about.

It's easy to take our lives for granted and to forget how lucky we are in our own scenarios, but perhaps the rich experience this even more so.

rich kids

The Most Poorly Designed Products Of All-Time

Reddit user Stay-Thirsty asked: 'What product was so poorly designed that you suspect the team that made it, never used the product?'

Empty white pedestals for displaying products in advertising
Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash

As consumers, we all know that we're going to buy something at some point that doesn't turn out to be as pretty or be as functional and reliable as the advertisements, supposed testimonials, and commercials lead us to think they will be.

But some products prove to be such a letdown, we might even wonder what this thing was made for in the first place, or who bothered to approve its production.

Redditor Stay-Thirsty asked:

"What product was so poorly designed that you suspect the team that made it never even used the product?"

The Seal on the Baby Wipes

"Baby wipes."

"Hey, you know when a good time to struggle with opening a package that says it has perforations but really doesn't? When you're dealing with poop."

"You want one? Here's a chunk of 20."

"You want a bunch? Here's a tiny ripped corner."

"You have 10 left on a trip and need to conserve? Too bad motherf**ker, here's the rest of the pack. Get your tired a** to CVS."

- Miklay83

Hard-to-Navigate Intersections

"Some road intersections make me wonder if the engineers have actually ever driven a vehicle."

- imdstuf

Not as Easy as Making Mac and Cheese

"The perforated corner of a Kraft Mac and cheese box."

- thebeast1022

"I want to start a guerrilla journalism YouTube that ambushes CEOs and makes them open one of their company’s products, and then asks them, 'Is that the first impression you want your company to make?'"

- Ferrous_Patella

Scheduling in Laundry

"The Bluetooth app connectivity for my washing machine (I didn't really want that feature, but it was a last-minute substitution)."

"If the wash cycle takes longer than the initial estimate, the start time changes rather than the time remaining estimate, so it's never clear how much longer the cycle needs to go."

"Now, I just don't bother with the app."

- dragon2611

Just Trying to Do the Laundry

"My clothes dryer. It has touch controls that are designed in such a way that you pretty much have to guess what you're supposed to touch (nothing visibly looks like a button), and when turned on has an inexplicable 10-or-more-second delay before the touch controls work."

"So then you have to basically poke it all over the place without even knowing if it's the right place to poke or if you simply need to wait for nothing to happen. I mean, that's what I think, at least, but can't be sure since there seriously is no visual indication of anything."

"There's also a numerical display which I assumed was related to the time left until it's done, but I've been using it for almost two years now and I still have no clue what those numbers are meant to indicate. They certainly don't correlate with any time units I'm aware of."

- malsomnus

Feminine Hygiene, Galling Design

"Sanitary pads."

"Especially ones advertised as 'zero bunching,' they most certainly do bunch up! They will go straight up your bum crack. They can only have been designed by someone who doesn't use them to have made that claim."

- ArcadiaRivea

"They’re also so short and not wide enough and never stay. If I wear one and I’m planning to sit, I have to layer two lengthwise and make sure both have wings to fold over the underside. And even then it will somehow shift by one millimeter giving the blood a direct escape route."

- 0techsavvy

No Commitment to Their Own Product

"I’m reminded of this book, 'Disrupted,' I once read by a former tech reporter who claims most of the industry is bulls**t."

"In one of the chapters, he talked about going to the Google headquarters for an event shortly after Google Glass came out. The event was centered around the product and lots of attendees were wearing their pair, but the author noted that not a single Google employee who was hosting the event was wearing Google Glass."

"That’s when he said he knew the product was doomed."

- srstone71

So Appropriate

"All iterations of Skype after Microsoft bought it."

- JoeS830

"Skype for Business."

"Never has a product been less appropriate or ready for business use."

- suivethefirst

Wheelchair Accessibility

"My mom's had three wheelchairs."

"They all suck. The brake lever mechanism invariably interferes with the footrests. On her current one, the brake lever mechanism is curved, so it's pretty good. I think it could still be better."

"I'm surprised they're not better. I definitely feel like given my experience I could design a much better wheelchair than anything on the market under $1,000.00."

- stevejust

Searching for Movies

"Streaming services search engines? You can literally have 10k to 50k things to watch, but there is absolutely no way to do an in-depth search."

"It doesn’t have to be through a mobile app, maybe an online connection through a website. But if I want to find a show that was running in the late 90s and I know it was science fiction, why can’t I do that?"

"So much content I might want to watch but can’t find it."

- Stay-Thirsty

"I can actually answer this one. They don't want you to watch all those old shows you love. They want you to watch one of the hundred new shows in the 'trending now' section that makes them the most money and best supports their interests."

- bird_man_73

Something as Simple as a Trash Can

"My kitchen trash can. It is one sold by Glad specifically for their bigger, extra-strong 20-gallon trash bags. It is not particularly cheap."

"It looks good, but the design of it is what you might expect if you told aliens what a trash can is and they designed one without ever seeing it. How it holds the bag basically causes you to lose four gallons of capacity and have to risk tearing the bag or spilling its contents every time you go to remove it."

"It also has a trash bag holder that is so narrow, you have to feed it trash bags one at a time, completely defeating the point. And if you try to compact the trash a bit, you're almost guaranteed to tear the 'tear-resistant' bag."

"Such a poor design."

- samanime

False Sense of Safety

"My new iron. Has a restart if you tip it over after it’s timed out. So if you accidentally leave it plugged in and it gets knocked over by accident (pet or child bumps the board, the wind knocks something over knocking the iron over) it starts up while face down."

- tangcameo

"That literally defeats the entire purpose of the time-out safety feature..."

- DrSchmolls

"It's a time-in unsafety feature."

- hockey_metal_signal

Needlessly Complicated Software

"Software drivers for basically any HP printer made in the last three decades."

- ThadisJones

"Holy crap, YES! I work in IT and I hate how bloated those stupid drivers are. No, I don't want 'HP Device Experience' or whatever the h**l that is, and I don't want to have to download a 300MB bloated pile of steaming crap when all I need is for Joe Q. Employee to send documents through to the printer on his desk."

"God, I miss the days of those LaserJet 2500s with their universal PCL drivers. So simple. And those were like the Volvo 240 of printers. Freaking TANKS."

- marcfonline

Excellent Waterproofing

"I just bought a waterproof cargo bag for the roof of my car that was fairly expensive."

"The Velcro that keeps the zipper protected was just GLUED ON, not stitched and sealed."

"The very first time I opened the bag all the Velcro came off because the attraction to itself was stronger than the adhesive bond to the vinyl bag."

"It’s like there was absolutely zero product testing, but I’m sure it was 5 cents cheaper to make it glued rather than stitched. How could something like this have ever been allowed to leave the factory?"

- Dustmopper

More Testing Time

"My vacuum cleaner. The hose is mounted at a downward angle and it's impossible to pull it along as you go; it keeps going to the side or even flipping over instead."

"It takes one minute of use to notice this, but I guess they only tested it for 30 seconds."

- DaoNight23

We've all experienced a flop of a product from time to time that was supposed to be really good, but some are so bad, we have to wonder how they were approved in the first place.

It's clear why these Redditors were so upset by the products they shared. From impractical use to unreliability, there's no wonder these consumers were questioning the product's quality check.

poorly designed product

People Reveal The Most Out Of Touch Thing A Rich Person Has Ever Said To Them

Guy holding up a fan of $100 US dollars
Photo by Shane on Unsplash

Though our definitions of "making it" vary, we can all agree that we would at least like to have enough disposable income to live comfortably and debt-free, while some dream of living more luxuriously.

For those who have already "made it" and live among the elite, it's incredible how clueless they can be about how the average person lives day-to-day.

Redditor Always_Wandering_ asked:

"What's the most out-of-touch thing a rich person has said to you?"

But First, Wine

"Long ago when I was a server in a Country Club."

"I was very new to properly opening wine bottles, as I was using my key to take off the foil and gashed the webbing on my hand badly."

"There was a husband and wife at the table. I put down the bottle and was about to leave when he said, 'Who told you to stop pouring?!'"

"I picked it up, poured the wine while dribbling blood all over the white tablecloth, and then went outside, had a smoke, and thought about my life."

- SleepyCountingSheep

Seriously, SO Funny

"He said, 'Isn't it funny we are the same age, but my dad bought me a condo and you have to work two jobs?'"

- BopbopHereWeGo

Living On a Whim

"I worked for a small company that was owned by two wealthy individuals. They were very kind and generous but completely out of touch."

"One day I was at my desk and my then-boss came to me and said he was leaving early for the day to go waterskiing because the weather was nice. It was early summer and the weather was no nicer than it had been the rest of the week."

"I inquired where they were going, thinking it was somewhere near where we were, and he said he was going to his friend’s house in Florida. He’d just booked his private flight, around a three or three-and-a-half hour flight, lol (laughing out loud)."

"Then there was the time he left early to fly to his friend’s house to go quail hunting…"

"The other owner, also wealthy, would jet around the world on a whim to go surfing. Like everywhere. During a conversation about what we were doing for the holidays one year, he said he rented a big house in Canada and hired a helicopter so he, his family, and friends could go heli-skiing. It was totally normal thing to him."

"On the other side, they would give great gifts like good wine, dinners, sometimes small trips, and stuff like that. They were very nice people and I sometimes miss working for them and seeing them, but they both basically semi-retired during the pandemic."

- GratefulGuitar2022

What Daydreams Are Made Of

"I was between jobs and a bunch of my friends told me that I should take the time to go travel the world."

"Like, just because someone doesn't have a job doesn't mean they can just up and travel the world (in fact, the opposite is more likely) but also, you motherf**kers thought the reason I wasn't traveling the world because I hadn't thought of it?"

- Annual-Intern5669

...Wow, Thanks

"He just offhand was like, 'Oh yeah, you can keep all of this since I'm moving out. I'll buy new stuff for my next place.'"

"Some dude I knew who was taking classes at a prestigious university in a very nice studio apartment, whose father had just flown in from Indonesia just to help him pack his clothes."

"I got a full mattress set that was about 3000 dollars, multiple leather rugs for carpeting, expensive looking paintings, way too much IKEA stuff, and a Dyson vacuum."

- Wallow_Whispen

Such a Small Price to Pay

"She said, 'I have no hair on my body! You should have your husband take you to get laser hair removal! It only cost me $10,000!'"

"…Maybe in my dreams."

"She was the Mayor's daughter, and I was catering her dog's birthday party."

- Open-Ad-189

The Reality Check Job

"Had some kid in his early 20s start working at the restaurant I was at. He was a total trust fund baby but his parents made him get a job or they would cut him off (Phone, car, apartment, school, credit card, everything)."

"We were talking about plans for the summer, I mentioned I was gonna take a weekend to head north and visit my mom, someone else was going camping, and another guy was taking a long weekend to help his brother move."

"Holy f**k. He goes, You guys have no idea what vacation means, do you? I'm taking my GF to Spain for two weeks and then spending a few days in Italy before we come back.'"

"He got really upset when I asked him where he was gonna work when he came back. Apparently, he didn't understand that taking three weeks vacation not even two months into a job isn't a thing, especially when part of that was during our busiest season of the year."

"Even better when we all looked at him and told him we couldn't even afford a week off, let alone in Spain."

"He didn't last long."

- subtxtcan

Reality Show Worthy

​"In college, I made most of my money cleaning and tutoring for rich families. Here are the highlights:"

"'It's so much more convenient to have a sauna in your house.'"

"'We ordered our wallpaper from Europe. It's the only way to go.'"

"'I just bought the empty lot next to ours so we won't have neighbors.'"

"And my personal favorite:"

"Rich person's kid: 'Gosh, I can't find any babysitting jobs. They've been taken by the one percent.'"

"Rich parent: 'Honey, you are the one percent.'"

- bombasticfox

Well, They DO Need Their Own Bedroom...

"They lived in Boston and we were talking about how small condos are there."

"They were lamenting that they had no space and, as a result, they had to buy another condo (this was Beacon Hill) because they ran out of space to store their Persian rugs."

- SsureBreC

Start Saving For That Honeymoon

"My boss's wife grew up wealthy and then married an "heir to the throne" for a multi-million dollar organization."

"She is meandering around our office bullpen one day and brings me into the conversation, 'How about you, where would you take your lady on a Honeymoon?'"

"Me: 'I dunno, go to the coast for a week and just enjoy the sun.'"

"She laughed out loud at me and said, 'Oh my god, no woman will ever marry you unless you're going to take her on a Hawaiian honeymoon.'"

"At the time I made 10 dollars an hour."

- Flailing_Aimlessly

The Math Ain't Mathin'

"I was working at a car dealership and saw the owner pull up in a $250k Porsche GT3. I told him how much I loved the car and dreamt of owning one someday."

"The owner looked at me confused and said, 'What do you mean? We sell them right here you know?'"

"It totally blew my mind that he didn't realize his employees couldn't afford the cars they were selling."

- tbh3900

The Disappearing Paycheck

​"I was talking to my manager about a mistake on a check."

"Me: 'This isn’t even enough to cover my daughter's daycare for the month.'"

"Her: 'Well, what did you do with the money you were just paid?'"

"Ma’am. Food, rent, electricity, and car payments. Boom, check gone."

- Lv69

Illusion Broken

"I dated a rich guy who loved my authenticity, and he would pick me up in one of his dad's cool collector cars and take me to record stores. When I went to visit him, I showed up in my grandpa's old Ford f150 truck."

"He asked me why I drove around in that thing."

"I shrugged and said, 'Because I'm poor.'"

"And he said, 'No, you're not...'"

"It was like I ruined his whole hipster aesthetic and he realized I wasn't grunge."

- char-le-magne

Yeah, I'll Just Go Do That

"Me: 'Yeah, I love flying. I have a nice flight simulation setup at home. Wish I could do it for real.'"

"Owner of the company: 'Yeah, the real thing is so much better. You should buy a plane. I love taking mine out for trips.'"

"Me: 'You sign my checks.'"

- Jefo_Bezos

Forgotten Expenses

"My boss is an attorney. A client who was filling out her financial statement for a divorce realized that she had forgotten to include her student loans on the report. Laughing somewhat ruefully, she said, 'I can’t believe I forgot to include that.'"

"And in a bright, sunny, voice, my boss laughed and said, 'I sometimes forget that I own a boat!'"

" The client and I quietly locked eyes with a shared understanding of how out of touch that was."

- headcase-and-a-half

Some of these examples are almost laughable, considering how far from reality these comments are for most people.

It's wild to think about how far away a luxurious life feels to the average person, and how equally far away that life feels to someone who has everything.

out of touch with reality

People Reveal The Most Out Of Touch Thing A Rich Person Has Ever Said To Them

Man with expensive glasses and money fanned out in front of his face
Shane on Unsplash

No matter how empathetic we are, or how hard we try, there are just some things we can't understand without walking in someone else's shoes.

That said, people who live with more privilege can say some especially out-of-touch things.

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privileged

People Break Down The Worst Example They've Ever Seen Of Someone Being Totally Out Of Touch With Reality

People Break Down The Worst Example They've Ever Seen Of Someone Being Totally Out Of Touch With Reality
Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

People are losing it all around us these days, heck we've all been losing it for awhile. It just seems like those teetering on the frays of reality are out in force lately. It is a scary thing to watch people lose their grip on on what is real, right before your eyes. It feels like they're not really wth us, though they're standing right before us. Mental health is a fragile thing, don't take it for granted.

Redditor u/mouldygoldie wanted people to share some of the times they've witnessed others on or over the brink by asking.... What is the most severe case of someone being completely out of touch with reality you've ever seen?
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out of touch with reality