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?'
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.
It's easy for children of all ages to envy friends and classmates who come from wealth and privilege.
However, their envy might subside substantially after spending a bit more time with them.
It doesn't take long for children, or anyone, to discover that being handed everything on a silver platter has a way of warping one's sense of reality and common sense.
As a result, children of privilege have a sense of entitlement which sees them behave in peculiar, if not outright offensive, manners.
Behavior which has come to be known as "rich kid syndrome."
"What is the craziest encounter of 'rich kid syndrome' that you have experienced?"
No Live-In Maid?
"I lived with 5 guys and I was the only one whose parents weren’t millionaires, not close at all."
"They never cleaned."
"About once a month I would deep clean the house but two days later there was garbage and food on the floor."
"I found out they all told their parents the poor kid made all the messes when one of their moms came by to scream at me."- clevermine2tine
You Don't All Have Pools Like This?... You Don't All Have Pools?
"I grew up attending a private school in a developing country so a lot of my classmates were in the 1% of the country."
"Whenever we'd be swimming in the school pool one friend of ours in particular would always remark that swimming is more fun if the pool has a current or waves."
"To which I had no idea what he was talking about and generally thought he was just being imaginative."
"One day he invited me over to his house for swimming and he had a 50 foot indoor pool that generated a current/waves."
"He wasn't lying."
"They are a lot more fun."- huazzy
More Than Some People Make In A Month!
"My college roommate's mom gave him f*cking $1400 'for the weekend' just randomly."
"He blew through the whole thing by Saturday asked his mom for more money and was screaming at her because 'she promised $1400 for the weekend' and he spent most of what she gave him on Friday which isn't a part of the weekend."- chuteboxhero
Don't Trust Her With Any Funds...
"Knew a trust fund girl whose dad gave her the money to start a company."
"She lost it when she went on vacation for 6 months and forgot she was supposed to pay her employees all the time."
"She assumed they would not get paid for 6 months and be there when she got back."
"I quizzed her on this for a few min and it was clear she had no idea what a job was."- Pencilowner
They're Everywhere!
"Look up Corona del Mar high school cheating scandal."
"Happened at my school."
"Parents payed around 50k a piece to have a tutor bug the school computers and change students grades."
"They all lawyered up big time when it came out and all the kids got off free and all made it into their top three schools."
"This made the news, and all the parents whined that their children were innocent and 'just had a bad tutor'."
"Had a girl I went to school with total four brand new cars."
"Think Range Rover, Escalade, etc."
"I was also in a class with this girl when the teacher handed out papers that needed to be signed by a parent, and she signed it herself and tried to turn it in the same period as it was handed out and freaked out when the teacher wouldn't accept it."
"Kids who would talk sh*t and pick fights and then turn around and say 'if you touch me my dad will sue'."
"There are a lot more."-- pipsdips
Who Needs Frequent Flier Miles?
"A friend I met at Uni flew from Auckland to London for a week to go shopping."
"Clothes were cheaper in London, so to him it made sense."
"His parents were from Singapore and had no idea just how much cheaper cars were in New Zealand."
"So when he said he needed $70k for a Toyota Corolla they gave him the money and he bought a used BMW M3."
"When he went home for the summer he asked if I could mind the car for him, given his Dad had pretty much cut him off at that point he just said I had to pay for insurance on it and I could treat it like my own."
'But as a 19yo sharing a flat and barely getting by there was no way I could cover the cost of insurance, let alone petrol."- Timinime
Seriously, What Did She Expect?
"I was in the waiting room with a very well dressed lady for our loaner cars."
"She left the waiting room to look at her loaner and came back crying."
"She said she drives a fully loaded qx80 and they gave her a qx60 with nothing in it."
"I said sorry that happened and asked how long she was going to have the loaner for."
"She said a couple of hours."
"I wanted to tell her to suck it up but instead I sat there quiet thinking how life must be easy for her to cry over a loaner car."- laughwidmee
Damaged Goods...
"A Saudi guy in the UK got in a crash, with light damage to one side of brand new Mercedes."
"He called for one of his assistants to come get him, even though the car was fully drivable."
"My friend rolled up on call with his tow truck and asked the guy where he wanted the MErc towed."
"The guy gave him the keys and said "Keep it; I don't want it'."- Aiku
Added To The Collection.
"Girl got a 2 year old Range Rover for her 17th."
"Now 20 and still doesn’t have her license."
"Sits unused in their 4 car garage."- foxaer
We've all dreamed at one point about living like the other half lives.
To never have to worry about money, and have chauffeurs, maids and private jets at our disposal.
But money doesn't always lead to a happy life.
As judging by these encounters, being flown around in a private jet one too many times, might have damaging effects in regards to keeping you grounded.
People Who Grew Up Poor Explain The Things Rich Kids Will Never Understand
Being poor is not fun, I can attest. I never went to bed hungry, but times were often tough.
And having friends who had a lot when you have little can be an overwhelming feeling.
However, it did give me a sense of how to appreciate money, when I have it, and appreciate the things I have in general.
Yes, being rich is great and having tons of cash solves a lot, but the poor kids know a thing or two about survival.
And that is priceless.
RedditorBobtheglob71wanted to hear from the people who know what it's like to really appreciate a dollar, by asking:
"Redditors who grew up poor, what is something that 'rich kids' will never understand?"
In an interview, Dolly Parton once said... "I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better. But, what I do know from being poor is that if it happened again, I'd know how to survive and be happy."
(I'm paraphrasing) I love her.
Mealtime
"When I went to school (in the '70s). At lunch time we had to stand in line in the hall before going into the cafeteria. they made those of us on 'free lunches' stand in the back of the line. It was quite humiliating." ~ BirdGuy64
GiphyBasics...
"What a luxury laundry is. Those kids i went to.school with will never understand I was so poor my family couldn't afford to use the laundry machines in our building, so often times my dad would just get a big cheap bottle of dish soap or some bars of Irish Spring, and that soap was for laundry, dishes and bathing. Also that those tv dinners were a god send. Getting 20 banquet tv dinners for 10 bucks meant eating good for a few days."
Gifts
"All my gifts for Christmas and Birthdays were something I needed or would need and had to be bought anyway. Like clothes, shoes, or school supplies. Never, never anything fun or just because I wanted it. I also had to steal my first real bra because I'd outgrown my training bra. I'd even snipped the elastic all around to provide more stretch but it wasn't working anymore and people were commenting on it." ~ freckledjezebel
Time Away
"Family vacations were nonexistent." ~ personofinterest18
"I remember coming back from summer vacation and dreading going back to school for the mere fact I had nothing interesting to share about the summer. All my classmates would talk about their vacations and I would make something up so I wouldn’t sound boring." ~ Scared_Difference_24
Witness
"Watching your mom have to put items back as there is it not enough money to pay for everything." ~ Poenkel
GiphyWell that all hits close to home.
Nevermind appreciating money, be thankful you can appreciate food.
Eat Please
"Having dinner and knowing that your Mum isn't eating, not because she isn't hungry, but because she's making sure her kids have food first." ~ DragonsLoveBoxes
GiphyAluminum...
"Collecting aluminum cans." ~ DryMartini_Up
"I used to have a can crusher outside and one of my chores was to crush the cans. We would put them in this industrial plastic barrel that my dad got from work. When it eventually filled up, we took it to the scrap metal yard and sold the cans." ~ WeirdJawn
When to Sleep
"Sleep for dinner." ~ Leeono
"I used to do sleep for lunch. Because I’m high school some days I’d be there from 7:30 to 6:30 and counting leaving the house I actually was away from around 6:00am to 8:00pm." ~ docasj
Living on the Edge
"That it never goes away. I want from homeless growing up to having a very comfy six figure job. I still find myself acting as if I am always living on the edge of homelessness again. Thinking I can't try new foods because it I don't like it then I won't get dinner. That I'm a bad person for throwing out things instead of trying to reuse them. I get serious panic attacks I think I did bad at work because my brain still tells me I'm one paycheck from the street." ~ AsexualAccountant
Too Much Stuff
"A lifetime of clutter because it's so hard to throw anything away even when you're no longer poor." ~ HermitWilson
GiphyMoms rule.
Money helps.
There is no shame in poor.
God bless us all.
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