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.
People give off cues as to their economic background all the time. The clothes they wear, the car they drive, how they spend leisure time; all of these things are serious clues into how much income a person has swirling around at any given time.
As such, when we see these people doing these things, we immediately get some information about them, which leads to assumptions.
"What hobby makes you immediately think 'This person grew up rich'?"
Here were some of those answers.
Hangin Round The Skies
"My grandfather was a country club type of guy."
"My uncle, who's incredibly wealthy, has the hobby of building and flying his own airplanes. (There are apparently kits? But he has also bought and repaired little 2 seater planes that went down)"-TumblrTheFish
On Horseback
"Years ago, I worked for Wrigley (gum company now owned by Mars) when it was still owned by the Wrigley family and William Wrigley Jr. was the CEO."
"My second day, I ran into Mr. Wrigley in the elevator but didn't know who he was. During our small talk, it came out that I trained BJJ (still VERY new in the US ~20yrs ago) and I ended up asking him what sports he played."
"His response? 'Oh, I play a little pick-up polo from time to time.' I can't even imagine how the hell a pick-up game of polo might materialize."
"I can't imagine a dozen or so billionaires out riding their favorite polo horse and just happen to run into one another at the park."-WebSmurf
Vrooooooom Vrooooooooooom
"I had a £500 twin engined gokart that I ripped around the track every so often but we go in cheap/free as a mate did some work there."
"You see these kids rock up that probably would rather be somewhere else with these overbearing fathers who are trying to live their dreams through the kids."
"Screaming at them for just having fun and not knocking a thou off their lap time. The set ups, the gear and even the vehicles they transport their karts in are stupid money."
"We used to take their tires as they would one race and bin em but they still go for ages just fine for us. Recreationally if you just want to do it as a fun day out and hire. It's still expensive."-Mardanis
People will do what they love, of course, but will that thing send alarm bells that that person is absolutely loaded?
Mismatch
"Anything that doesn't match the climate of where they grew up. If they grew up in the desert but they're ace skiiers then I assume they had the money to travel a lot and own all the gear etc."
" I should clarify my statements are based on my experience in Australia. I was unaware that Yank geography had so many places you could ski close to deserts."
"In Australia there are only about 2 places you can do it and its super expensive. It was much cheaper in Europe, which is why I learned there, but growing up, the only people I knew who did it regularly were super rich."-Super-Noodles
Oh! Pair
"My fiancé was telling me a story about the 'exchange students' that lived with them and how they were so nice and would help take care of the house."
"I asked her why her exchange students stayed with them for so long, when all my high school exchange student friends had only stayed for a semester."
"It was at that moment she realized that she grew up with Swiss nannies."-mikenyle
The Peak In The Clouds
"Mountain Climbing in remote places in the world."
"Went to a work mandatory motivational speaker whose spiel was climbing Everest 4 times starting at age 22 and other mountains in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Guess I did not land the correct job out of college."-Galoot21
These Gestures Are Offensive In Other Countries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
People explain the friendly gestures in one country that are offensive in another. It's imperative to do a little research about the destinations and culture...Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
"As a diver, I can firmly say our sport has two categories of divers. You have tons of rich a**es who drive maybe once a year in some wonderful tropical location they flew to, but suck at the sport because they rarely ever practice."
"These are the kinds of folks who will show up with thousands of dollars worth of gear, but can't remember how to put it on. Conversely, there's also a big contingent of divers who are more working-middle class, and who dive wherever the hell they can locally."
"They usually don't have the most modern gear, but they get a good amount of practice in whatever lake, river, pond, or other body of water they can access locally."
"It still isn't a cheap sport, but doing a few days of diving a year gets a lot less pricy when you're not flying to another country for it."-ColdNotion
The money it takes to get ready to play these sports could have easily fed you for a couple weeks.
Upper Sports
"Being in the upper levels of competitive gymnastics."
"My daughter is only 6 and it already cost us $350 a month (plus another $1k a year for travel and $450 a year for leotards, jacket, pants and bag)."
"If she sticks to it into her middle/high school years and keeps excelling we are looking at $1k+ a month for gym fees and booster club plus travel fees and uniforms (so probably closer to $1.5k+ a month when you factor that stuff in)."
"We are upper middle class and right now can afford it but I'm not so sure about when she gets older and once our other kid gets into sports too. You definitely have to have some money to afford it. It's like paying for college."-Poctah
Fur Elise
"20 years ago, piano. They were stupid expensive and the yearly maintenance was too. Also, lessons."
"Now, you can get an electric one for $500 at costco and it will last you 20 years with $0 in yearly maintenance."
"Plus, there are so many online free lessons/inexpensive tutors, I am surprised that more people don't pick it up. It is more accessible than ever."-TooMuchCoffeeQ
Expensive Reads
"Readers/book collectors. I had a friend thru most of my childhood who had tons of books. Pretty much every week she'd go to Barnes & noble and get to buy 10+ books at a time.. for years!"
"Thinking about it now, her parents had to have been spending thousands a year. She never got paper back either. It was always hardcover and a lot of times author signed. About $20-$60 each book. That's a few hundred a week."
"Her parents even gave up their office to turn it into a book room for her when she was about 15 because she couldn't fit any more in her room. The walls had floor to ceiling bookshelves."
"Then there were a few rows of book shelves in the middle just like in a library. I always used the school and public libraries to check out the same books."
"A bunch of the times tho the libraries didn't get them in until months after she had already read them. By then she didn't want to discuss them."-TinyOddEarthling
To the Skies
"Falconry can be as expensive as you want it to be, with a much lower starting cost than you would think. I'm talking a couple grand including licensure to get started if you are crafty and then a few hundred a year maybe. I started in college and I worked part-time with not much spending money. The real cost is time."
"Example, I'm a master class falconer, I have all the gear I need. For $50 I can trap whatever bird I can find essentially, put some anklets, jesses+leash, and a bell on it, and I'm good to go. But then I need to spend about 8 hours a day with it minimum for the next couple weeks moving down to a couple hours a day for the next 4-5 months until I release it back into the wild."-IMongoose
Quilting
"I used to work in the quilting industry (machine sales) and yeah, this. You can absolutely make a quilt with nothing but cut up old t-shirts, some sewing needles, and a vision. The people who were winning the $15k prizes in shows were the ones with a dedicated quilting room, a $20,000 quilting machine, a $2k long neck sewing machine for home, a $500 travel machine, and then also going to the retreats, cruises, and conventions to learn new techniques and try out the latest and greatest innovations."
"Nobody ever believes me when I try to tell them how big a business quilting is or how much money can go into it. I have a luggage tag someplace I picked up at a convention from a company that was advertising a quilting trip to Greece." -standbyyourmantis
Fencing
"As a fencer, yes for the most part. My club had a financial aid application, but those aren't common. All clubs do loan gear, but having your own is much better. The upkeep is also another problem since gear breaks down."
"I guess to lower the cost, I try to do some repairs myself, but I don't have all the tools to do that. Unfortunately, I didn't grow up rich and got started through my public high school's team. When I decided I wanted to get into it more, the prices weren't great.
Looking Up
"Astrophotography. The telescope is expensive enough… but the camera…. sheesh…." -CrackedChelle
"I'm in a group called budget astrophotography and its people with sub 1k worth of equipment. It's honestly kinda impressive." -JordPlaysGames
House of Mouse
"People that go to Disneyland/Disney World at least once a year despite living several states away." -Pear_Jam2
"This is honestly an amazing example. To have such a good time at Disney World that you want to go back every year, or even multiple times a year, is INCREDIBLY expensive. If you just slum it like a regular person, as my family did, it can be miserable and exhausting. Tickets are expensive, food is expensive, lines are super long, rides are just fine but rarely special." [user deleted]
Row Row Row
"Crew." -XnoonefromnowhereX
"Got scouted for crew during freshman orientation because I managed a 2km row in under 7 minutes."
"Then I found out it's like $3.5K a year just to be on the team. No thanks!" -Obvious_Moose
Did you see any hobbies here you wish you had the time and money for? How about hobbies that you love, but aren't super rich and so can't afford the upper tiers of equipment for?
People Explain Which Ridiculous Features They'd Install In Their House If They Had Unlimited Funds
It's time for rich people games!
You know what I mean - that thing we all do where we daydream about what shenanigans we would get into if we had unlimited funds? This time, we're focusing on our homes... which seems extra poignant considering the housing crisis thousands of people are facing.
Reddit user "breathingsaveslives" asked:
What ridiculous features would you put in your house if you had a ridiculous amount of money?
It you were expecting things like a helicopter pad, a giftwrapping room, or a personal Starbucks ... well... keep reading.
Pizza Party
"An outdoor brick oven for pizza. Then I'd hold pizza parties, instead of grill outs." - flpacsnr
"You don't need a lot of money for a pizza oven. I put together the jankiest oven for free and it gets above 700 degrees!" - myshkiny
"Definitely! And inside the pizza oven you could have a rotating stone baking surface, so you can have multiple pizzas gradually cooking as the stone rotates. Take a cooked pizza out, shove an uncooked one in, and it'll be cooked by the time it finishes its 360°." - green_meklar
Splash Pad
"Swimming pool in the basement designed to look like a cave." - ilike7hournaps
"Complete with a waterfall that's fed by a river that flows through the house starting from a fountain in the lobby. Also, behind the waterfall is a bar" - BigSwedenMan
"We current have a pool - it's nice. It's a standard in-ground pool with a diving board and slide. If I had unlimited $ I'd rebuilt it into a kind of grotto with caves, waterfalls, bridges, fountains, etc. It'd be awesome!" - HouseRenovations
The Horror-Movie House
GIF by Archives of Ontario | Archives publiques de l'OntarioGiphy"A gigantic kitchen with plenty cabinets for all my things. It would include one of those industrial dishwashers that clean dishes super fast and easy. And appliances for whatever I want."
"Í would also get a nice, big dining-room for all the fancy dinner parties I would throw."
"My house would also have a garden with a lot of flowers, but not too much. I don't need bugs. I would have loads of flowers, and a raspberry bush. I would create a beautiful terrace to have tea on."
"As a kid, I sometimes visited this nice, old lady who lived in a big home. Her garden was amazing, with flowerbeds, and a terrace, and you could look at it from a balcony. All the way in the back was a wall, layered with raspberries."
"In the summer we were allowed to pick them, because this woman and her husband weren't gonna. Inside the house was kind of like a horror-movie: Confusing hallways, a dark attic, and a mysterious office. It was the ideal place for children to play hide and seek, and then finding a ghost or something." - ieatalot2004
Vacuum Walls
Vacuuming Freddie Mercury GIF by QueenGiphy"There are these hidden baseboard vacuums where all you do is sweep towards the gap at the baseboard and it vacuums up everything. Definitely I would have that in the kitchen, bathroom, and near both entry doors." - okcallmegoddess_
"This is real?!? I want vacuum walls!" - breathingsaveslives
"The maintenance is difficult, and I've yet to see one functioning as intended after 5 years without being completely rebuilt."
"It's such a lovely idea that I really wish was executed better." - TragedyPronFamilyVid
10 Seconds
Cat Chores GIFGiphy"I worked at a kitchen for a little while and they had this dish washer that you just slid the dirty dishes on a rack underneath it, pull down the handle and it jet washed them in 10 seconds." - [reddit]
"I mean in a restaurant those dishwashers are practical but why would you need it at home? How often are you going to need 30 plates cleaned in a minute and a half?" - MountainCandidate0
"Family of 4, eating 3 meals in a day is 12 freakin' plates, forks and approximately 30 toddler cups because they somehow vanish into a black hole."
"Every day is a full load of dishes in the dishwasher. Miss one load and the sink is too full to get sh*t done."
"Full load of dishes in 10 seconds? Hell yeah!" - ihaveabibledegree
Going On Tour
Water Bathing GIF by SalesforceGiphy"I'd want a bath on rails that takes me out of my bathroom and through a very slow tour of my pirvate and secluded garden while I wash." - Auserna
"I didn't know it, but now I want a toilet version of this" - ggrindelwald
Rich Friend
fish koi GIFGiphy"Had a rich friend. She had a large koi carp pond with stepping stones that you had to cross in order to reach the main bedroom."
"And then the door to the bedroom was some sort of round thing that you rolled aside to enter. Since seeing it I've always wanted exactly that." - pawnografik
Access
Design Architecture GIF by SavariaGiphy"An elevator for my disabled boyfriend." - goldenalpha207
"I came here to say "an elevator for my cat to go into the garden dowstairs", and now I feel bad." - lbpixels
Dungeon Master
Dungeons And Dragons Dnd GIF by Nerdist.comGiphy"I'd pay people to sit in a room all day and night. When I'm in the mood, they have to play dungeons and dragons or magic the gathering with me. They would live on my estate with up to 10 chosen friends or family, they would earn a nice salary."
"They would all have a copy of the Player's Handbook and I would have two butlers, Jeeves and Alfred, to bring me rulebooks upon demand."
"Jeeves would double as the rules lawyer. Got a question? Ask Jeeves." - chubbychaseryou
So what would YOU put in your dream home? Sound off in the comments.
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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Money doesn't mean anything when it comes to measuring class, dignity and humanity. Those lessons seem to be lost on many wealthy degenerates. Showing off your wealth to a point that is extreme only exposes one's lack of self-esteem and taste. Nobody begrudges you for having it but there is no need to belittle everyone else with your (lucky) good fortune.
Redditor u/hughesyy94 wanted to hear how the other half is living a little too loud by wondering.... What are some of the trashiest ways you have seen people show off their wealth?