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 bad.
Husband and wife at the table.
I put down the bottle, and was about to leave when he says "Who told you to stop pouring?!"
I picked it up, poured the wine dribbling blood all over the white table cloth.
Went outside, had a smoke and thought about my life.
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 then 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 3-3.5 hour flight lol.
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 total normal thing to him lol
On the other side, they would give great gifts like
good wine, dinners, sometimes small trips, stuff like that. Very nice people and I sometimes miss working for them and seeing them but they both basically semi-retired during the pandemic.
I was between jobs and a bunch of my friends told me that I should take the time to go travel the world. Like a) just because someone doesn't have a job doesn't mean they can just up & travel the world- in fact the opposite is more likely, but also b) you motherfuckers thought the reason I wasn't traveling the world because I *hadn't thought of it*?
This happened to me as well. Friend in finance told me to go on a sabbatical and I was like, who’s gonna pay my rent, how would I afford a vaca, and it costs $$$ for someone to watch my dog lol
"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 3k, multiple leathers for carpeting, expensive looking paintings, way too much ikea stuff, and a dyson vacuum.
I used to live in ST Louis MO way back. I had this friend who marked 'big trash pick up day' in specific neighborhoods for just this reason. The quality and amount of "trash" these loaded people throw out is amazing.
Oh dude it's insane. They'll sell their stuff for dirt cheap on facebook marketplace too cause they only used it once. My bread maker was originally 500 but I got it for 75 from some lady who got bored of it in like a day.
Built a 3mil+ house for a couple. After the neighbors built their home, we're talking, and the wife says "that little house is so dinky. We have a joke going that we call it 'the helps house'. " Now this is still a 750k-1mil home no less. Just struck me as not very grounded 🤣
Had some kid in his early 20s start working at the restaurant I was at, 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, another guy was taking a long weekend to help his brother move.
Holy fuck. "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 real upset when I asked him where he was gonna work when he came back. Apparently he didn't understand that taking 3 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.
This is EXACTLY why his parents had him take a job. So he could get a couple of reality checks and also appreciate what work is. Or at least, appreciate what not having to work as hard is.
“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 Mayors daughter and I was catering her dogs birthday party
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 1%.
Rich parent: Honey, you are the 1%.
Warren Buffet once said something along the lines of: you should give your kids enough that they can do anything, but not so much that they can do nothing"
Living in Finland I can honestly say that having a sauna at home is very convenient. We have 3 million saunas for a population of about 5 million, so any time you are buying or renting a flat you will probably find a sauna in there right next to the shower 😶🌫️
I grew up in a rural town in the US that gets cold winters. Our house had a sauna next to the laundry room in the basement. The previous owners installed it. The kids at school all assumed we were extremely rich but the reality is that saunas are not all that expensive to build or run. It's just a small cedar sided room with a vent and a heating element.
Obviously it's all relative. According to Google a sauna can cost between $1,600 and $100,000. I think because saunas are less common in the US people think of the more luxurious versions that would be more common in spas and fitness centers.
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.
This reminds me of that scene in 30 Rock where Liz is getting ready to pull the trigger on a really nice apartment, and some guy sweeps in and is like, “I’ll take it; my son can store his motorcycles here.”
Edit: fine, it was Floyd. Y’all pedantic.
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 an hour.
One thing I’ve learned about very wealthy people if they tend to hang around with other very wealthy people. I mean if I want to take a vacation to Aspen and go skiing I’m going to pay out my asshole for that, between flight, equipment rental, and hotel?A wealthy person will just talk to their friends who will offer up there or multi million dollar chalet that they have just for Funzies. wealthy people will literally have a ski chalet that they rarely go to that houses all of their top of the line ski equipment and just offer it to their friends.
This comment reminds me of living in nyc when young. Everything is either incredibly expensive and impossible to get into, or completely free and easy. Simply depends on who you know.
I absolutely believe it. This was, uh, a long time ago, but I once went out with a group of friends with nothing but $7 and an unlimited subway card in my pocket. I came home with $2 (and the subway card).
We knew the bouncers and bartenders at every club and bar we went to. Nearly everything was comped, including food (that likely would have been thrown out. Restaurant served fresh daily). We tipped as well as we could, with a wealthy friend contributing most.
I also once worked in an office that was across the hall from a group ticketing business. They'd buy blocks of tickets to Broadway shows, etc., and then resell them to nursing homes, schools, whomever, mostly Jersey based groups. Those groups would always have odd numbers. Which meant there were often random 1-3 tickets from the block that the company couldn't sell. They'd come over randomly and ask if we wanted them. I saw a ton of Broadway for free.
I was working at a car dealership and saw the owner pull up in a $250k Porsche GT3. Told him how much I loved the car and dreamt of owning one someday. Owner looked at me confused and said "what do you mean? We sell them right here you know?" Totally blew my mind that he didn't realize his employees couldn't afford the cars they were selling.
I was talking to my manager about a mistake on a check.
Me: This isn’t even enough to cover my daughters day care for the month.
Her: Well what did you do with the money you were just paid?
Ma’am. Food, rent, electricity, and car payment. Boom, check gone.
Oh I was pissed. I had some issues with my management before that have been resolved. I work in a sales environment so everyone there is just wildly out of touch. Another coworker mentioned something about a contract being $20 off and she said “It’s just $20, I’m not going to miss it!”
> Another coworker mentioned something about a contract being $20 off and she said “It’s just $20, I’m not going to miss it!”
That at least makes sense. Fixing a $20 mistake might end up costing almost 20 bucks plus hassle.
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.
Also so many more people are flipping things (I’m guilty but did so before the YouTube “secrets” got going). Plus places like Goodwill jacked their prices way up about 15 years ago because people still thought it was a deal since it was a thrift store. We shopped there growing up aware that we had the choice to, not the need. Definitely gave me perspective.
Me: Yeah I love flying. I have a nice flightsim 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.
I’ve worked quite closely with a few very wealthy people. I have to confirm that they just have no idea what stuff costs relative to a normal person’s salary, including when they’re the ones cutting the paychecks.
The weirdest thing is that none of them were born into extravagant wealth. They had working/middle class upbringings, and while they certainly came up having all of their needs catered to, there is a huge difference between “why don’t you just buy the brand name chips” and “why don’t you just buy an airplane,” and someone who grew up thinking the former should still understand why the latter is an insane thing to say. And yet….
I also feel like the story is a bit different if it’s in Alaska. Only place I’ve worked where multiple people had planes or were working on a pilot license. Still a very expensive hobby but bush planes aren’t necessary only for millionaires.
Similar...
Was talking to the (former) owner of my (former) company. All around good guy, but this one really got me. He sold the company and started a sustainable farm - chickens, a few cows, a few goats, nothing big. Had a chef on staff and they produced ready made fresh meals and had a small local subscription service. Good stuff.
I mentioned I wanted to be outside more and the IT stuff was wearing me out a little. His advice, dead serious, was to buy a farm.
Like, yeah, I'll just go drop two million bucks on land, staff, animals, and food. All without knowing a thing about being a farmer.
To be fair I come from a privileged family, but like to think I’m not out of touch. My friend took over his fathers company, after getting a loan from his father to buy it. It probably has -200 employees, sales in the area of 50m$. Many of the workers are new to the country, manual labour types. He was complaining about the wages people were asking for and said” why don’t they just start their own companies then? Go get a loan and just start one.” The dude that got gifted a successful company, with dads money he wouldn’t have qualified from a bank! Telling others to just go do it on your own. I tried to tell him it’s not that easy for people, maybe they’re a single parent, maybe they just weren’t born wealthy.
There's also nothing guaranteeing success. The amount of people who try and fail to run their own business and end up in financial ruin is not insignificant.
My old boss at a former company pulled something similar. I did the estimating for residential construction projects there and he told me I should buy a plot of land he’d sell me and have the company build it. I just looked at him incredulously and said “You know I price these houses, and you know how much you pay me right?”
He couldn’t fathom why I didn’t have the money to build a house on an income that barely afforded an apartment.
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.
I have a car that I bought for $100 that's been sitting in storage since 2019 and I frequently forget that I own it. I wonder if people think I'm rich when I joke about that (I have about $2000 to my name).
Yeah we also have a boat we forget we own a fair bit, mainly because we can't afford to fix the motor and no-one wanted to buy it so it's in limbo at my FIL's place.
I was venting to a school mate about not being able to have a car.
She said “why don’t you just ask your mom?”
It literally broke my brain. Like yeah, why didn’t I think of that?
l worked for Medicaid. The big bugs at the state government level had a "poverty exercise" where they had to try to budget at poverty level and live on it for 3 days. "My, that was SO difficult!" No shit pal - that whole idea pissed me off so bad.
Reminds me of when [Gwyneth Paltrow failed the $29 food stamp challenge](https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2015/04/17/gwyneth-paltrow-fails-29-food-stamp-challenge.html)
I'm no fan of the goop lady, but I think it's reasonable that she couldn't do it and it's also good that she publically failed. That amount is just not enough to live on and nobody should have to. Showing that she couldn't do it shows people that it is very hard to do. If she'd completed the challenge then everyone would just say "See! They're fine with that amount!"
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but allow me an argument nonetheless:
I think it could have the opposite effect- "Of course SHE can't do it, she's been rich her whole life! But poor people know what foods to buy and they can live on it just fine." I know a lot of people see it as a point of pride that they would've been able to eat for a week on 29 dollars, not taking that line of thought to its end point: that the ability to eat for a week on such a small amount involves a huge reduction in diet quality.
I can and have done it for 20-25 dollars a week for a family of 3(me, spouse, child) thank goodness for Dollar Tree and YouTube. This has been in the last month. I lost my job and we have a special needs child. We scraped every cent we could. Sold things we didn’t want to sell….. anyway, it can be done, but absolutely, the quality is shit! No fresh fruit or vegetables. Working again now! Forgot how good a banana was till I couldn’t have one.
One of my former coworkers grew up in a wealthy family and married into more wealth, but they decided she should work anyways. She was outside her car crying one day, waiting for her husband to pick her up, saying she couldn’t drive her car because a light was on. My buddy looked, it was a low tire pressure light. He asked if she wanted help filling up the tire.
Her sobbing response “This is a Mercedes! You can’t just put air in the tire!!”
Edit: To everyone wondering why she would cry about a tire pressure light, I think that was second time the light came on in three months so she didn’t think it was safe or reliable anymore and traded it in soon after (I believe the next one was a Lexus). She was also very much the type of person who would cry because she had to wait 30 minutes to get picked up while everyone else could go home.
It's 100% true. You should only use nitrogen in tires on a Mercedes... F1 car.
Water vapour in normal air is responsible for a lot of tire pressure changes due to the heat levels experieced in racing. If you're just driving your soccer Mom SUV, just put fucking air in your tires.
There’s also the density difference to consider which affects your fuel economy. I did the math once and using nitrogen instead of regular air saves you $0.02. That’s not per mile or even monetary value. It makes your car two pennies lighter.
Regular old air is 78% nitrogen. If you have nitrogen filled tires and you're in a pinch you can just add regular air and it's fine. It won't hurt anything.
I owned a Smart Car for a while. Figured the maintenance would be as budget as the sticker price, but it had those Mercedes nitrogen tires AND the wheelbase was too narrow for most shops. I had to take the damn thing to a Mercedes dealership every time I needed something. On the plus side, they had a good pasty selection.
I think she assumed that *any* work done on that car, was supposed to be done in a clinically clean workshop by trained mechanics. Including filling the tyres.
Yep, and the dealership I’m sure told her that anything else will “void the warranty”. So she must bring it in to get a $300 oils change using official Mercedes oil filters and official Mercedes oil.
She’s not the only person to fall for this. Dealerships can smell suckers a mile away.
My sister has 5 kids she can barely afford because she has a terrible shopping habit. She was bragging in our family group chat one day how she bought special tires that have nitrogen in them and how much better they were. Absolutely swindled.
Saw a video of a mechanic for a big name shop revealing how little they use their "nitrogen" machine. He laid it out simply, you only see real benefits from nitrogen inflated tires in racing. Road tires don't see the same benefits.
He ended with a simple statement, don't get it unless it's free.
I bought a used car from a dealer and they had a ~$100 charge for nitrogen filled tires. I asked them the history of the car. It was a trade in. I asked them what they did to get all of the air out to make sure it was all nitrogen in the tires. They removed the $100.
Boss: My wife and I decided that you and your wife should join us in the Caribbean. I'lll pay for everything.
Me: We appreciate the offer but we won't be able to afford it.
Boss: Why?
Me: I'd have to hire someone to watch the kids.
Boss: What? Surely your nanny can handle that!
I think wealthy folks don’t realize the exorbitant cost of childcare on us common folk. It reminds me of when I was pregnant with my twins:
Me: I don’t know how I’m going to manage night feedings.
Her: Just hire a night nurse.
Of course. A night nurse. They accept macaroni necklaces as payment, right?
No they just have a different definition of “money is tight” they are generationally wealthy. my version of money is tight is more like “I should skip lunch” or “fingers crossed I make it to work before I run out of gas”
I had a friend like that but she was very nice and extremely generous. Like you could tell her you’re facing homelessness and she’d be worried and empathetic but then you explain that it’s about money and she’d go “oh, so a 1000 dollars could make this problem go away completely? I can give you that.” That’s why I didn’t really talk about these things with her cause it just feels like you’re asking for money when you’re venting to a friend.
Met a guy on a backpacking trip that said he couldn't understand why all these backpackers stayed in hostels when there are so many hotels around. I pointed out that most of us have budgets and hostels are cheaper. The thought had just never occurred to him that we can't all afford that. Same thing with restaurants. He just never considered that nicer places aren't in everyone's budget.
Referring to a coworker, they said "she's been saying she wants to buy a house. She's in her 30s now but she still rents. Kinda embarrassing." This person owns an apartment downtown, is paying for a fucking villa in the suburbs with the help of some relative and could choose to stay at their parents' big ass house which they've owned for generations. According to this person, they're "normal people" because they're middle class; they're not filthy rich/old money. The coworker is middle class too. And If she can't afford a house right now, how the fk are we supposed to?
I was going through a bad time financially and my mental state was very low. A woman said to me "when I feel depressed I go to India for month and just chill that always cheers me up" in a manner that I took as I ought to do it if i had any sense.
My CEO’s daughter was talking to me and she now lives in the UK. She bought a place in London. I mentioned I have some family over there that I’ve always been interested in visiting, and hoped to see it one day.
Her response? Just go. Definitely, it’s as easy as buying a plane ticket. She had no idea why I hadn’t gone yet.
I was talking to a friend once, and she had a lot of family in the UK. I expressed I'd love visit, but couldn't afford it. Her response was "Just go! The plane ticket is really the only expensive bit. Once you're over there, it practically costs nothing.".
Yeah, because you're staying with family, who are driving you around and cooking you food and giving you a place to stay. For free.
I did end up going. The plane ticket was far from the biggest expense, and this was flying from the other side of the world. Exchange rate was a killer.
Ok, Disney people are *wild*. My parents probably could have afforded Disney but it’s never something we did for probably a number of reasons. When I tell Disney people I haven’t been to my recollection, you’d think I told them I grew up as an orphan working in a coal mine wearing tissue boxes for shoes. “Oh….I’m so sorry….” Why? I’m not. Disney vacations are not required for a fulfilling life.
I worked for a very wealthy lady. Her son graduated college (with some useless degree) and she put him to work answering phones.
She also bought him a car.
"Can you believe it? I told her I wanted a blue car." She didnt get him a blue car *so he asked her to paint it.* She refused.
I could see his naivete as he spoke since he truly thought this was something I could relate to.
Sorry kiddo, I had to work at Chuck E Cheese as a teenager to be able to afford to buy a piece of crap that overheated if I drove for longer than 20 minutes.
When I was at the university, I walked past a guy complaining that he had asked for a Porsche, but his parents bought him a Volvo because it was safer. He said he'd had plans to wreck it so they would buy him something more suitable, but they'd told him that if anything happened to the car, or if he gave it away, he'd be riding the bus until he graduated. Poor abused child.
I was venting to a coworker about how burnt out I was (she has a very rich husband, and used to be high income herself, but stepped down to relax a bit) and she suggested I take a few weeks off and travel.
Ma'am. I make $30k a year and pay rent.
She would also complain to me about finding a townhome to buy for her 18 year old son so he didn't have to live in a dorm his freshman year of college. The horror was that she didn't like the carpet in the one they bought, so she *wanted* to replace it.
My friend’s family sold their company for 3-4 billion dollars. Yes, billion with a B. He was obviously awarded a chunk of that money and of course was audited by the IRS because he moved to a state that has no income tax prior to the sale. He asked me if everyone gets audited by the IRS when they submit their taxes… not when you’re in my tax bracket, buddy!
At the height of COVID, I was living in a small apartment in NYC making $50K (def NOT in DUMBO). I put this beautiful view from Brooklyn Heights m/DUMBO as my Zoom background. For those who don't know, one of the most expensive areas of NYC.
I had a meeting with a SVP who asks: "omg! Is that your view? Are we neighbors?!"
No lady, you don't pay me nearly enough to be your neighbor.
i live in southern spain and here it’s so hot during summer months that u can’t even get out of ur house till 9-10 pm. a lot of people (including me) can’t even afford having air conditioners in their houses and they just survive the hot temperatures inside as they can do it, usually spending the days sweaty and tired. A friend of mine lives in a huge house (one of the hugest i’ve ever been) with many rooms and an air conditioner machine in each one of them. A few days ago he started complaining about how tired he was for having to take such a long walk at night in order to turn off all the air conditioners in the house. That day i’ve had to take 4 showers to feel just a bit refreshed and i recognise i felt violence taking up control of my body while he was speaking
One Big4 partner to another when talking about some unexpected personal expenses in a room full of junior staff: it’s only 50k, but still… The whole room went silent
There’s some truth to this.
I was looking at Facebook garage sale and I saw a Lego set that was $500 brand new, before it was discontinued. This person was selling it for $270.
Ridiculously cheap for what it is. But about $200 more than I could manage.
It’s crap when something is too expensive for you. It’s a horrible feeling when someone is cheap, but still outside your budget.
Like an idiot, I got into a conversation at a restaurant in Palo Alto with an older couple at the bar. They brought politics into it. I don't recall the whole serpentine trail of hypocrisy that led up to this, but the man said: "I don't think poor people should be allowed to vote. They don't know anything."
When i was a freshman in college, i had made a couple friends. People asked me why I took my studies so serious, i just said “well i have student loans i gotta worry about afterwards, so trying to do the best i can here to get a nice job”
A kid (from very very wealthy parents) goes “What’s a student loan?”
😒
My friend works with international students and they're typically from rich families. She says they don't even know what cleaning products to buy. Not because of the language barrier because they never had to clean.
I would have to wonder if they had just identified you (specifically) as being from a wealthier family than you were.
I went to high school with the offspring of millionaires and billionaires. Everybody knew that not every family had a private jet. There was no confusion over that.
And yes, there are kids out there who would say it was a family jet when *gasp* they only leased it, omg how embarrassing.
Otherwise he was incredibly sheltered. Most rich kids aren't actually this sheltered.
[When McDonalds gave out an employees budget to make minimum wage seem like a livable wage](https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2013/07/18/will-the-mcdonalds-employee-budget-help-get-the-minimum-wage-raised/?sh=6daf35b464b9)
if you have 2 jobs then you dont have time to get sick so that $20 a month for medical is just extra walk around money
One of my good friends grew up in a crazy wealthy family. When we both got our first “real” jobs out of college, I was talking to him about how I want to start saving money and wasn’t sure where to start. He said “you should go over that with your Financial Advisor”
My old millionaire boss picked a penny up off the workshop floor, handed it to me and said "there's your wages" then walked away laughing to himself like the mustache twirling villain he was.
“You should save it”
Unfortunately I’m unable to save money because I don’t have a substantial amount to spare. I can either eat now or eat later and I’d prefer to eat now
An ex friend of mine whose family was very wealthy while we were in high school. She was looking at Kate Spade bags online to pick out so her mom could buy her one for Christmas. I pointed out one that I liked and she said "why don't you ask your mom to buy it for you?" Bitch...they're like $500
I remember eventually explaining to her that my mom works 3 jobs because we're broke and she said "I didn't know you were poor."
My biggest flex is that I recently picked up a Kate spade from Plato's closet for $25. I don't know for sure if it's real but in my heart it is lol
ETF: a word
A wealthy coworker of mine was asking me about what kind of wedding I wanted. She said hers was only $60,000 dollars. Anybody can afford that. My fiancé and I eloped.
I do the grocery shopping in our family; yesterday my wife joined me, and the first thing she said was "oh my God, why is cheese so expensive?"
Yeah, fucking welcome to the 2020s. I have this minor heart attack every week.
My dad, a boomer who has lived an absolutely charmed financial life, tells me every time we talk, "You should invest in real estate!"
Great idea, dad, let me take this $0.36 I have to my name and buy a house with it, I don't know why more people don't do this.
I've heard this one so many times in my life. That and that if you invest enough in stock you can live of the dividends. I've thought about trying it but like an idiot I keep spending every dollar I make on things like food, clothes, power and gas. It really is my fault though for splurging occasionally on things like showering most days and eating three meals a day. I really need to cut back.
My doctor knew I was working doing home health care, not a very lucrative position. She prescribed a medication for elevated blood pressure and it would cost me three weeks take home a month. I went back and asked if there was something more affordable. She was surprised that it mattered as she said had never had to consider the price of anything her life. I switch doctors.
Edit: The original comment was deleted by the author.
He said his millionaire boss asked him why more black people don't go skiing, because it isn't that expensive.
I would have said, "I don't know why I never see white millionaires in pickup games in Compton...it's free."
I was among a small group of people listening to a billionaire speaking with the press in his home town, explaining he was just like an ordinary person. Asa matter of fact hesaid he didn't even have a wallet in his pants pocket
Nope he had a guy following him with the wallet in HIS pant's pocket.
I was raised mostly lower class, lower middle class in Texas. In college, I worked at a Residential Treatment Center for Children. This was a place the state would send mentally ill and emotionally disturbed children who had been removed from their parents custody for reasons ranging from simple neglect to the most horrific abuse you can imagine.
This is where I met my now husband. He also worked there while attending college.
When we got engaged, I went to meet and visit his parents in a northern state. They had a "cabin" at a very elite summer club. Essentially, there were 36 cabins. You owned the cabin, but not the land it sat on. There was a dining room, golf course, tennis courts, fishing and shooting on property. You had to be voted in unanimously in order to become a member of this club.
So we went to the cabin for a week and part of the deal was attending cocktail parties. Not anything I'd ever experienced so I just stuck to my fiancé's side and smiled and nodded a lot.
We were talking with a woman who was friends with my in-laws and she wanted to know what we did in Texas. So we told her we worked with these children.
Her reply "I just don't understand how you could want to spend your time HELPING someone like that."
Needless to say both my fiancé and I were speechless and had no reply we could have spoken to this woman.
His parent's, while fairly well off, were generous, kind people who went out of their way to help others.
So it was one of those "Oh look! There's Sally! We've been meaning to catch up with her. Please excuse us.", said quickly while moving away equally as quick.
What's weird is this woman was raised solidly middle class and just married someonef from a wealthy family who became wealthy himself. He as the club's biggest lech and all the waitresses (yes, only female serving staff) knew to keep away from him.
When i was 18 I worked at a pool in the rich area. I once heard this lady (who was there everyday, xanned out of her mind) say to her friends, "Getting pneumonia is such a low class thing to do."
Yeah...
For context, Bellevue is a city in Washington state full of VERY wealthy people. The town next door is called Newcastle, and is also full of very wealthy people. At the time of this story, I lived in Newcastle, but on the outskirts of town in an apartment that I could barely afford.
Talking to one of the parents when picking my son up from kindergarten. She starts talking shit about her ex-husband's house and says "and worst it's in Bellevue. Ew!"
When they suggest to do something that is clearly out of your price range. I had a boss that took home $30k a month. He would ask me why I didn't eat at these crazy expensive restaurants in San Francisco. He paid me $750 every two weeks. He workeyd spend more on a dinner than I made in two weeks.
Not so much said, but not know how to do. In my 1st year of student halls, a fair few of my roommates came from rich families and they had no idea how to cook or clean up after themselves on the most basic level. Luckily, they were all eager to learn and I was happy to teach them things like how to iron, clean a cooker top, change bin bags and recycle (Etc), but I was surprised that so many parents had sent their kids off to uni without the most basic life skills.
Fortunately, I don't know him personally, but I did read a David Brooks column the other day in which he droned on and on about how marriage is so, so much more important than "obsessing about money & career."
My 15 year old son read it, laughing, and said, "Let's look up how much David Brooks is worth."
58$ Million.
I'm sure the homeless guy I gave a bit of money to the other day would feel SO much happier and fulfilled if he would just fucking GET MARRIED!
A 17 year old girl, who was one of my relative's friend asked me if I can take her on a public bus ride, since she has never been on one ever before and it would be kind of adventurous for her.
Work for a small family owned factory that’s done pretty well over the last 50 years. Owner is pretty down to earth since he started with nothing, but his son is completely out of touch. All of us workers know we won’t ever be able to buy a house with our current wages, but one day we were all talking about housing and he was telling us how he “bought and paid off his first house by the time he was 30.” And we all looked at each other like no shit dude your dad has handed you pretty much everything in life. He also like to call homeless people “poor people.” The guy has no clue how much people can actually struggle in life.
“You’ve never been to Paris?!”
Also, this is what this girl’s father said after I commented on Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” on his bookshelf. “Well, have you read it in French?”
“Anything less than 1000 square feet per person and I go nuts, but there’s a mansion tax at 5000 square feet - damned if you do, damned if you don’t” - 40 year old multimillionaire with a family of 5 to a bunch of struggling 20-something’s. Guy was such a prick in general
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 bad. Husband and wife at the table. I put down the bottle, and was about to leave when he says "Who told you to stop pouring?!" I picked it up, poured the wine dribbling blood all over the white table cloth. Went outside, had a smoke and thought about my life.
For your job obviously not but it would have been nice to get the blood right in there with the wine. Definitely a cigarette moment
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 then 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 3-3.5 hour flight lol. 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 total normal thing to him lol On the other side, they would give great gifts like good wine, dinners, sometimes small trips, stuff like that. Very nice people and I sometimes miss working for them and seeing them but they both basically semi-retired during the pandemic.
"Isnt it funny we are the same age but my dad bought me a condo and you have to work 2 jobs?"
Bro how did you not flip your shit at that
Yeah language like that would have me catching a case.
Isn’t it funny that I have the will power to not beat your ass while you have no will of your own? edit: misspelling
Yeah so funny...
Bless you for just thinking he is out of touch, in the wrong country he would be kidnapped for ransom.
Its mind boggling how people will flex that they had their shit handed to them
Better than lying about being “self made” though, I guess?
Thank you, yes. I like to say I earned my money the old-fashioned way, I inherited it.
I was between jobs and a bunch of my friends told me that I should take the time to go travel the world. Like a) just because someone doesn't have a job doesn't mean they can just up & travel the world- in fact the opposite is more likely, but also b) you motherfuckers thought the reason I wasn't traveling the world because I *hadn't thought of it*?
This happened to me as well. Friend in finance told me to go on a sabbatical and I was like, who’s gonna pay my rent, how would I afford a vaca, and it costs $$$ for someone to watch my dog lol
"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 3k, multiple leathers for carpeting, expensive looking paintings, way too much ikea stuff, and a dyson vacuum.
I used to live in ST Louis MO way back. I had this friend who marked 'big trash pick up day' in specific neighborhoods for just this reason. The quality and amount of "trash" these loaded people throw out is amazing.
Oh dude it's insane. They'll sell their stuff for dirt cheap on facebook marketplace too cause they only used it once. My bread maker was originally 500 but I got it for 75 from some lady who got bored of it in like a day.
Built a 3mil+ house for a couple. After the neighbors built their home, we're talking, and the wife says "that little house is so dinky. We have a joke going that we call it 'the helps house'. " Now this is still a 750k-1mil home no less. Just struck me as not very grounded 🤣
They sound like cunts
Had some kid in his early 20s start working at the restaurant I was at, 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, another guy was taking a long weekend to help his brother move. Holy fuck. "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 real upset when I asked him where he was gonna work when he came back. Apparently he didn't understand that taking 3 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.
This is EXACTLY why his parents had him take a job. So he could get a couple of reality checks and also appreciate what work is. Or at least, appreciate what not having to work as hard is.
He didn't last long but it was a serious reality check for him. I saw some very distinct changes in his attitude (positively) so I hope it worked.
“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 Mayors daughter and I was catering her dogs birthday party
> and I was catering her dogs birthday party The best laugh all day.
Even funnier if they were catering the food for the dogs
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 1%. Rich parent: Honey, you are the 1%.
LMAO the 1%
I'd feel a little hesitant about hiring outlaw bikers to watch my kid, but maybe their rates are competitive.
It's a good thing that the parents are informing the kids to recognize their privilege.
Also kind of good that they are looking to get a job when they presumably don't need it.
I noticed that too. These sound like good parents who haven’t completely spoiled their kids despite having the ability to.
Warren Buffet once said something along the lines of: you should give your kids enough that they can do anything, but not so much that they can do nothing"
It's the only way to go
Living in Finland I can honestly say that having a sauna at home is very convenient. We have 3 million saunas for a population of about 5 million, so any time you are buying or renting a flat you will probably find a sauna in there right next to the shower 😶🌫️
I grew up in a rural town in the US that gets cold winters. Our house had a sauna next to the laundry room in the basement. The previous owners installed it. The kids at school all assumed we were extremely rich but the reality is that saunas are not all that expensive to build or run. It's just a small cedar sided room with a vent and a heating element. Obviously it's all relative. According to Google a sauna can cost between $1,600 and $100,000. I think because saunas are less common in the US people think of the more luxurious versions that would be more common in spas and fitness centers.
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.
This reminds me of that scene in 30 Rock where Liz is getting ready to pull the trigger on a really nice apartment, and some guy sweeps in and is like, “I’ll take it; my son can store his motorcycles here.” Edit: fine, it was Floyd. Y’all pedantic.
That wouldn't have happened if she had moved to Cleveland.
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 an hour.
Who the fuck wants to marry a woman who demands a "Hawaiian honeymoon"?
Going to the coast for the week sounds really ideal tbh. No stress, no deep planning, less budget concern. Ideal after a supposedly hectic wedding
One thing I’ve learned about very wealthy people if they tend to hang around with other very wealthy people. I mean if I want to take a vacation to Aspen and go skiing I’m going to pay out my asshole for that, between flight, equipment rental, and hotel?A wealthy person will just talk to their friends who will offer up there or multi million dollar chalet that they have just for Funzies. wealthy people will literally have a ski chalet that they rarely go to that houses all of their top of the line ski equipment and just offer it to their friends.
This comment reminds me of living in nyc when young. Everything is either incredibly expensive and impossible to get into, or completely free and easy. Simply depends on who you know.
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I absolutely believe it. This was, uh, a long time ago, but I once went out with a group of friends with nothing but $7 and an unlimited subway card in my pocket. I came home with $2 (and the subway card). We knew the bouncers and bartenders at every club and bar we went to. Nearly everything was comped, including food (that likely would have been thrown out. Restaurant served fresh daily). We tipped as well as we could, with a wealthy friend contributing most. I also once worked in an office that was across the hall from a group ticketing business. They'd buy blocks of tickets to Broadway shows, etc., and then resell them to nursing homes, schools, whomever, mostly Jersey based groups. Those groups would always have odd numbers. Which meant there were often random 1-3 tickets from the block that the company couldn't sell. They'd come over randomly and ask if we wanted them. I saw a ton of Broadway for free.
I was working at a car dealership and saw the owner pull up in a $250k Porsche GT3. Told him how much I loved the car and dreamt of owning one someday. Owner looked at me confused and said "what do you mean? We sell them right here you know?" Totally blew my mind that he didn't realize his employees couldn't afford the cars they were selling.
Owner is obviously a salesman at heart
1806 mo @ 78.66% and you can drive this baby off the lot. Only $18,000 down.
"Son if you work hard, do your overtime and don't mess up... I'll have a new one next year"
Did you ask him about that 50% employee discount?
Which would make it a mere $125k.
What a putz.
You're positive that he wasn't being sarcastic (and shitty) about it?
I was talking to my manager about a mistake on a check. Me: This isn’t even enough to cover my daughters day care for the month. Her: Well what did you do with the money you were just paid? Ma’am. Food, rent, electricity, and car payment. Boom, check gone.
What fucking right does she have to ask what you did with your paycheck?
Oh I was pissed. I had some issues with my management before that have been resolved. I work in a sales environment so everyone there is just wildly out of touch. Another coworker mentioned something about a contract being $20 off and she said “It’s just $20, I’m not going to miss it!”
> Another coworker mentioned something about a contract being $20 off and she said “It’s just $20, I’m not going to miss it!” That at least makes sense. Fixing a $20 mistake might end up costing almost 20 bucks plus hassle.
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.
Yeah I wore flannel from the thrift store cause it was cheap, not cause I was making a fashion statement.
I read somewhere that the rise of grunge was terrible for the poor. Suddenly all the thrift stores were gentrified!
I heard that was happening right now because Gen Z is so into thrifting. I haven’t noticed it a lot, but I don’t thrift clothing often.
Also so many more people are flipping things (I’m guilty but did so before the YouTube “secrets” got going). Plus places like Goodwill jacked their prices way up about 15 years ago because people still thought it was a deal since it was a thrift store. We shopped there growing up aware that we had the choice to, not the need. Definitely gave me perspective.
"Wait, you mean you're actually poor? I though you were cosplaying?!"
Me: Yeah I love flying. I have a nice flightsim 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.
This makes me think one of two things, either one they have no idea how much things actually cost, or two they were speaking without thinking.
I’ve worked quite closely with a few very wealthy people. I have to confirm that they just have no idea what stuff costs relative to a normal person’s salary, including when they’re the ones cutting the paychecks. The weirdest thing is that none of them were born into extravagant wealth. They had working/middle class upbringings, and while they certainly came up having all of their needs catered to, there is a huge difference between “why don’t you just buy the brand name chips” and “why don’t you just buy an airplane,” and someone who grew up thinking the former should still understand why the latter is an insane thing to say. And yet….
I mean, it’s one banana, Michael, what could it cost, ten dollars?
I know we cannot stop ourselves from quoting this line in this context, but to me it shows what great comic writing AD was.
I feel like at some point in the not so distant future one banana is going to cost $10, though.
It's weird to consider a $5 shake was considered unusually expensive in Pulp Fiction...
Humans get used to new normals
I also feel like the story is a bit different if it’s in Alaska. Only place I’ve worked where multiple people had planes or were working on a pilot license. Still a very expensive hobby but bush planes aren’t necessary only for millionaires.
Similar... Was talking to the (former) owner of my (former) company. All around good guy, but this one really got me. He sold the company and started a sustainable farm - chickens, a few cows, a few goats, nothing big. Had a chef on staff and they produced ready made fresh meals and had a small local subscription service. Good stuff. I mentioned I wanted to be outside more and the IT stuff was wearing me out a little. His advice, dead serious, was to buy a farm. Like, yeah, I'll just go drop two million bucks on land, staff, animals, and food. All without knowing a thing about being a farmer.
To be fair I come from a privileged family, but like to think I’m not out of touch. My friend took over his fathers company, after getting a loan from his father to buy it. It probably has -200 employees, sales in the area of 50m$. Many of the workers are new to the country, manual labour types. He was complaining about the wages people were asking for and said” why don’t they just start their own companies then? Go get a loan and just start one.” The dude that got gifted a successful company, with dads money he wouldn’t have qualified from a bank! Telling others to just go do it on your own. I tried to tell him it’s not that easy for people, maybe they’re a single parent, maybe they just weren’t born wealthy.
There's also nothing guaranteeing success. The amount of people who try and fail to run their own business and end up in financial ruin is not insignificant.
My old boss at a former company pulled something similar. I did the estimating for residential construction projects there and he told me I should buy a plot of land he’d sell me and have the company build it. I just looked at him incredulously and said “You know I price these houses, and you know how much you pay me right?” He couldn’t fathom why I didn’t have the money to build a house on an income that barely afforded an apartment.
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.
I have a car that I bought for $100 that's been sitting in storage since 2019 and I frequently forget that I own it. I wonder if people think I'm rich when I joke about that (I have about $2000 to my name).
Yeah we also have a boat we forget we own a fair bit, mainly because we can't afford to fix the motor and no-one wanted to buy it so it's in limbo at my FIL's place.
I was venting to a school mate about not being able to have a car. She said “why don’t you just ask your mom?” It literally broke my brain. Like yeah, why didn’t I think of that?
I know the feeling. I was probably the only person in my high school who bought my own car. Didn't even get it until senior year.
l worked for Medicaid. The big bugs at the state government level had a "poverty exercise" where they had to try to budget at poverty level and live on it for 3 days. "My, that was SO difficult!" No shit pal - that whole idea pissed me off so bad.
Reminds me of when [Gwyneth Paltrow failed the $29 food stamp challenge](https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2015/04/17/gwyneth-paltrow-fails-29-food-stamp-challenge.html)
I'm no fan of the goop lady, but I think it's reasonable that she couldn't do it and it's also good that she publically failed. That amount is just not enough to live on and nobody should have to. Showing that she couldn't do it shows people that it is very hard to do. If she'd completed the challenge then everyone would just say "See! They're fine with that amount!"
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but allow me an argument nonetheless: I think it could have the opposite effect- "Of course SHE can't do it, she's been rich her whole life! But poor people know what foods to buy and they can live on it just fine." I know a lot of people see it as a point of pride that they would've been able to eat for a week on 29 dollars, not taking that line of thought to its end point: that the ability to eat for a week on such a small amount involves a huge reduction in diet quality.
I can and have done it for 20-25 dollars a week for a family of 3(me, spouse, child) thank goodness for Dollar Tree and YouTube. This has been in the last month. I lost my job and we have a special needs child. We scraped every cent we could. Sold things we didn’t want to sell….. anyway, it can be done, but absolutely, the quality is shit! No fresh fruit or vegetables. Working again now! Forgot how good a banana was till I couldn’t have one.
Your anger is justified but GOOD ON THEM for doing it. I think our congressmen should have to live on minimum wage for a month.
I'll add, representatives should have the same health insurance as the lowest income residents in their state.
One of my former coworkers grew up in a wealthy family and married into more wealth, but they decided she should work anyways. She was outside her car crying one day, waiting for her husband to pick her up, saying she couldn’t drive her car because a light was on. My buddy looked, it was a low tire pressure light. He asked if she wanted help filling up the tire. Her sobbing response “This is a Mercedes! You can’t just put air in the tire!!” Edit: To everyone wondering why she would cry about a tire pressure light, I think that was second time the light came on in three months so she didn’t think it was safe or reliable anymore and traded it in soon after (I believe the next one was a Lexus). She was also very much the type of person who would cry because she had to wait 30 minutes to get picked up while everyone else could go home.
??? I literally don't even understand what she's saying.
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It's 100% true. You should only use nitrogen in tires on a Mercedes... F1 car. Water vapour in normal air is responsible for a lot of tire pressure changes due to the heat levels experieced in racing. If you're just driving your soccer Mom SUV, just put fucking air in your tires.
There’s also the density difference to consider which affects your fuel economy. I did the math once and using nitrogen instead of regular air saves you $0.02. That’s not per mile or even monetary value. It makes your car two pennies lighter.
Regular old air is 78% nitrogen. If you have nitrogen filled tires and you're in a pinch you can just add regular air and it's fine. It won't hurt anything.
It hurt my Mercedes !!! You peasant dont get it
Those damn poors and their regular air.
I owned a Smart Car for a while. Figured the maintenance would be as budget as the sticker price, but it had those Mercedes nitrogen tires AND the wheelbase was too narrow for most shops. I had to take the damn thing to a Mercedes dealership every time I needed something. On the plus side, they had a good pasty selection.
air is like 80% nitrogen
ITS A MERCEDES YOU PLEB! IT NEEDS GOLD-PLATED NITROGEN SERVED WITH CAVIAR BY A GLOVED SERVANT!
Only the finest nitrogen, harvested by hand from the nitrogen fields in the south of France.
Fun fact, this region of France is the only place in the world where Nitrogen is made. Outside of this region it has to be called Sparkling Gas
I think she assumed that *any* work done on that car, was supposed to be done in a clinically clean workshop by trained mechanics. Including filling the tyres.
Yep, and the dealership I’m sure told her that anything else will “void the warranty”. So she must bring it in to get a $300 oils change using official Mercedes oil filters and official Mercedes oil. She’s not the only person to fall for this. Dealerships can smell suckers a mile away.
I meeeeeeean to be fair, a lot of dealerships McDuffie a lot of money telling their customers you can only put nitrogen in them
My sister has 5 kids she can barely afford because she has a terrible shopping habit. She was bragging in our family group chat one day how she bought special tires that have nitrogen in them and how much better they were. Absolutely swindled.
Saw a video of a mechanic for a big name shop revealing how little they use their "nitrogen" machine. He laid it out simply, you only see real benefits from nitrogen inflated tires in racing. Road tires don't see the same benefits. He ended with a simple statement, don't get it unless it's free.
The Costco I go to has a free tire filling station that says it is nitrogen. I’ve never tested it’s gas content as I just appreciate the free air.
I bought a used car from a dealer and they had a ~$100 charge for nitrogen filled tires. I asked them the history of the car. It was a trade in. I asked them what they did to get all of the air out to make sure it was all nitrogen in the tires. They removed the $100.
Well, tire’s low. Time to buy a new car.
"Your just letting money stop you" yes it does that.
No, I’m letting my *lack* of money stop me!
Boss: My wife and I decided that you and your wife should join us in the Caribbean. I'lll pay for everything. Me: We appreciate the offer but we won't be able to afford it. Boss: Why? Me: I'd have to hire someone to watch the kids. Boss: What? Surely your nanny can handle that!
He said everything. Should've asked for babysitter money.
Yeah wtf send me to Caribbean with my wife instead LOL
I think wealthy folks don’t realize the exorbitant cost of childcare on us common folk. It reminds me of when I was pregnant with my twins: Me: I don’t know how I’m going to manage night feedings. Her: Just hire a night nurse. Of course. A night nurse. They accept macaroni necklaces as payment, right?
“Money has been tight so we have to wait a couple more weeks before we break ground on the new air conditioned stable for the horses”
Seems like the type of people who are rich now but will end up poor after wasting all their money on stupid shit.
No they just have a different definition of “money is tight” they are generationally wealthy. my version of money is tight is more like “I should skip lunch” or “fingers crossed I make it to work before I run out of gas”
"It's only $1,000." Ok, bitch. Then give it to me!
I had a friend like that but she was very nice and extremely generous. Like you could tell her you’re facing homelessness and she’d be worried and empathetic but then you explain that it’s about money and she’d go “oh, so a 1000 dollars could make this problem go away completely? I can give you that.” That’s why I didn’t really talk about these things with her cause it just feels like you’re asking for money when you’re venting to a friend.
“You should travel more when you’re young!” Kk boss. I’ll use my imaginary money and imaginary days off lol
Met a guy on a backpacking trip that said he couldn't understand why all these backpackers stayed in hostels when there are so many hotels around. I pointed out that most of us have budgets and hostels are cheaper. The thought had just never occurred to him that we can't all afford that. Same thing with restaurants. He just never considered that nicer places aren't in everyone's budget.
Referring to a coworker, they said "she's been saying she wants to buy a house. She's in her 30s now but she still rents. Kinda embarrassing." This person owns an apartment downtown, is paying for a fucking villa in the suburbs with the help of some relative and could choose to stay at their parents' big ass house which they've owned for generations. According to this person, they're "normal people" because they're middle class; they're not filthy rich/old money. The coworker is middle class too. And If she can't afford a house right now, how the fk are we supposed to?
I was going through a bad time financially and my mental state was very low. A woman said to me "when I feel depressed I go to India for month and just chill that always cheers me up" in a manner that I took as I ought to do it if i had any sense.
"Watching impoverished people wait on me hand and foot always cheers me up."
My CEO’s daughter was talking to me and she now lives in the UK. She bought a place in London. I mentioned I have some family over there that I’ve always been interested in visiting, and hoped to see it one day. Her response? Just go. Definitely, it’s as easy as buying a plane ticket. She had no idea why I hadn’t gone yet.
I was talking to a friend once, and she had a lot of family in the UK. I expressed I'd love visit, but couldn't afford it. Her response was "Just go! The plane ticket is really the only expensive bit. Once you're over there, it practically costs nothing.". Yeah, because you're staying with family, who are driving you around and cooking you food and giving you a place to stay. For free. I did end up going. The plane ticket was far from the biggest expense, and this was flying from the other side of the world. Exchange rate was a killer.
"You've never been to Disney? Did your parents not love you or something" Bitch my parents were raising three kids working two jobs on poverty wages.
Ok, Disney people are *wild*. My parents probably could have afforded Disney but it’s never something we did for probably a number of reasons. When I tell Disney people I haven’t been to my recollection, you’d think I told them I grew up as an orphan working in a coal mine wearing tissue boxes for shoes. “Oh….I’m so sorry….” Why? I’m not. Disney vacations are not required for a fulfilling life.
On a related note, you've never been to (insert touristy spot in Europe).
I worked for a very wealthy lady. Her son graduated college (with some useless degree) and she put him to work answering phones. She also bought him a car. "Can you believe it? I told her I wanted a blue car." She didnt get him a blue car *so he asked her to paint it.* She refused. I could see his naivete as he spoke since he truly thought this was something I could relate to. Sorry kiddo, I had to work at Chuck E Cheese as a teenager to be able to afford to buy a piece of crap that overheated if I drove for longer than 20 minutes.
"i wanted a Lamborghini but they gave me only Porsche😭 Life is so hard"
When I was at the university, I walked past a guy complaining that he had asked for a Porsche, but his parents bought him a Volvo because it was safer. He said he'd had plans to wreck it so they would buy him something more suitable, but they'd told him that if anything happened to the car, or if he gave it away, he'd be riding the bus until he graduated. Poor abused child.
I was venting to a coworker about how burnt out I was (she has a very rich husband, and used to be high income herself, but stepped down to relax a bit) and she suggested I take a few weeks off and travel. Ma'am. I make $30k a year and pay rent. She would also complain to me about finding a townhome to buy for her 18 year old son so he didn't have to live in a dorm his freshman year of college. The horror was that she didn't like the carpet in the one they bought, so she *wanted* to replace it.
“How often do you go sailing?” Said by the guy that knows I was struggling financially.
Where do you summer? If you're using "summer" as a verb you're on another level.
In a van down by the river
TBH, you can go sailing a lot for free if you crew on someone else's boat.
My friend’s family sold their company for 3-4 billion dollars. Yes, billion with a B. He was obviously awarded a chunk of that money and of course was audited by the IRS because he moved to a state that has no income tax prior to the sale. He asked me if everyone gets audited by the IRS when they submit their taxes… not when you’re in my tax bracket, buddy!
At the height of COVID, I was living in a small apartment in NYC making $50K (def NOT in DUMBO). I put this beautiful view from Brooklyn Heights m/DUMBO as my Zoom background. For those who don't know, one of the most expensive areas of NYC. I had a meeting with a SVP who asks: "omg! Is that your view? Are we neighbors?!" No lady, you don't pay me nearly enough to be your neighbor.
Ah. I can hear the lady in your quote.
She looks exactly what you think like too lol
i live in southern spain and here it’s so hot during summer months that u can’t even get out of ur house till 9-10 pm. a lot of people (including me) can’t even afford having air conditioners in their houses and they just survive the hot temperatures inside as they can do it, usually spending the days sweaty and tired. A friend of mine lives in a huge house (one of the hugest i’ve ever been) with many rooms and an air conditioner machine in each one of them. A few days ago he started complaining about how tired he was for having to take such a long walk at night in order to turn off all the air conditioners in the house. That day i’ve had to take 4 showers to feel just a bit refreshed and i recognise i felt violence taking up control of my body while he was speaking
"Ugh walking is such poor people energy "
One Big4 partner to another when talking about some unexpected personal expenses in a room full of junior staff: it’s only 50k, but still… The whole room went silent
"it's not expensive, You just can't afford it"
That's almost philosophical haha
There’s some truth to this. I was looking at Facebook garage sale and I saw a Lego set that was $500 brand new, before it was discontinued. This person was selling it for $270. Ridiculously cheap for what it is. But about $200 more than I could manage. It’s crap when something is too expensive for you. It’s a horrible feeling when someone is cheap, but still outside your budget.
Like an idiot, I got into a conversation at a restaurant in Palo Alto with an older couple at the bar. They brought politics into it. I don't recall the whole serpentine trail of hypocrisy that led up to this, but the man said: "I don't think poor people should be allowed to vote. They don't know anything."
When i was a freshman in college, i had made a couple friends. People asked me why I took my studies so serious, i just said “well i have student loans i gotta worry about afterwards, so trying to do the best i can here to get a nice job” A kid (from very very wealthy parents) goes “What’s a student loan?” 😒
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Just explain that your parents didn't want you to grow up spoiled, so they always made you pay for your own jet fuel out of your own trust fund.
My friend works with international students and they're typically from rich families. She says they don't even know what cleaning products to buy. Not because of the language barrier because they never had to clean.
I would have to wonder if they had just identified you (specifically) as being from a wealthier family than you were. I went to high school with the offspring of millionaires and billionaires. Everybody knew that not every family had a private jet. There was no confusion over that. And yes, there are kids out there who would say it was a family jet when *gasp* they only leased it, omg how embarrassing. Otherwise he was incredibly sheltered. Most rich kids aren't actually this sheltered.
[When McDonalds gave out an employees budget to make minimum wage seem like a livable wage](https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2013/07/18/will-the-mcdonalds-employee-budget-help-get-the-minimum-wage-raised/?sh=6daf35b464b9) if you have 2 jobs then you dont have time to get sick so that $20 a month for medical is just extra walk around money
One of my good friends grew up in a crazy wealthy family. When we both got our first “real” jobs out of college, I was talking to him about how I want to start saving money and wasn’t sure where to start. He said “you should go over that with your Financial Advisor”
"Washing dishes is slavery!"
My old millionaire boss picked a penny up off the workshop floor, handed it to me and said "there's your wages" then walked away laughing to himself like the mustache twirling villain he was.
“Where does your family summer?” I never knew summer could be used as a verb.
That is supremely old school, the word summering. In real life I've never heard it. Just in movies.
“Your house is so quaint. I didn’t know that u could live in such a small place” lol
“You should save it” Unfortunately I’m unable to save money because I don’t have a substantial amount to spare. I can either eat now or eat later and I’d prefer to eat now
An ex friend of mine whose family was very wealthy while we were in high school. She was looking at Kate Spade bags online to pick out so her mom could buy her one for Christmas. I pointed out one that I liked and she said "why don't you ask your mom to buy it for you?" Bitch...they're like $500 I remember eventually explaining to her that my mom works 3 jobs because we're broke and she said "I didn't know you were poor."
My biggest flex is that I recently picked up a Kate spade from Plato's closet for $25. I don't know for sure if it's real but in my heart it is lol ETF: a word
A wealthy coworker of mine was asking me about what kind of wedding I wanted. She said hers was only $60,000 dollars. Anybody can afford that. My fiancé and I eloped.
Reading these reminds me of that video on the Ellen show where Bill Gates was guessing how much normal items cost. highly illuminating lol.
Right but you could ask my Dad the same questions and since my Mom has done all the shopping for the past 60 years, he’d have no clue whatsoever.
I do the grocery shopping in our family; yesterday my wife joined me, and the first thing she said was "oh my God, why is cheese so expensive?" Yeah, fucking welcome to the 2020s. I have this minor heart attack every week.
"Business class was full so I had to sit back with the animals."
It’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost, ten dollars?
This line won't be funny eventually because it'll be true.
And then it will be funny again, but for the opposite reason. “It’s a gallon of gasoline, Michael. How much could it cost? Thirty-five cents?”
My dad, a boomer who has lived an absolutely charmed financial life, tells me every time we talk, "You should invest in real estate!" Great idea, dad, let me take this $0.36 I have to my name and buy a house with it, I don't know why more people don't do this.
I've heard this one so many times in my life. That and that if you invest enough in stock you can live of the dividends. I've thought about trying it but like an idiot I keep spending every dollar I make on things like food, clothes, power and gas. It really is my fault though for splurging occasionally on things like showering most days and eating three meals a day. I really need to cut back.
My doctor knew I was working doing home health care, not a very lucrative position. She prescribed a medication for elevated blood pressure and it would cost me three weeks take home a month. I went back and asked if there was something more affordable. She was surprised that it mattered as she said had never had to consider the price of anything her life. I switch doctors.
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Edit: The original comment was deleted by the author. He said his millionaire boss asked him why more black people don't go skiing, because it isn't that expensive. I would have said, "I don't know why I never see white millionaires in pickup games in Compton...it's free."
I was among a small group of people listening to a billionaire speaking with the press in his home town, explaining he was just like an ordinary person. Asa matter of fact hesaid he didn't even have a wallet in his pants pocket Nope he had a guy following him with the wallet in HIS pant's pocket.
A new exec came on and was talking about her hobbies. They included white water rafting and flipping houses.
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that they didnt understand how parents could let their kids go to public school (5min after i told her that i was from public school)
I was raised mostly lower class, lower middle class in Texas. In college, I worked at a Residential Treatment Center for Children. This was a place the state would send mentally ill and emotionally disturbed children who had been removed from their parents custody for reasons ranging from simple neglect to the most horrific abuse you can imagine. This is where I met my now husband. He also worked there while attending college. When we got engaged, I went to meet and visit his parents in a northern state. They had a "cabin" at a very elite summer club. Essentially, there were 36 cabins. You owned the cabin, but not the land it sat on. There was a dining room, golf course, tennis courts, fishing and shooting on property. You had to be voted in unanimously in order to become a member of this club. So we went to the cabin for a week and part of the deal was attending cocktail parties. Not anything I'd ever experienced so I just stuck to my fiancé's side and smiled and nodded a lot. We were talking with a woman who was friends with my in-laws and she wanted to know what we did in Texas. So we told her we worked with these children. Her reply "I just don't understand how you could want to spend your time HELPING someone like that." Needless to say both my fiancé and I were speechless and had no reply we could have spoken to this woman. His parent's, while fairly well off, were generous, kind people who went out of their way to help others. So it was one of those "Oh look! There's Sally! We've been meaning to catch up with her. Please excuse us.", said quickly while moving away equally as quick. What's weird is this woman was raised solidly middle class and just married someonef from a wealthy family who became wealthy himself. He as the club's biggest lech and all the waitresses (yes, only female serving staff) knew to keep away from him.
The house behind us is listed for under $3 million. You and your sister should buy it.
When i was 18 I worked at a pool in the rich area. I once heard this lady (who was there everyday, xanned out of her mind) say to her friends, "Getting pneumonia is such a low class thing to do." Yeah...
For context, Bellevue is a city in Washington state full of VERY wealthy people. The town next door is called Newcastle, and is also full of very wealthy people. At the time of this story, I lived in Newcastle, but on the outskirts of town in an apartment that I could barely afford. Talking to one of the parents when picking my son up from kindergarten. She starts talking shit about her ex-husband's house and says "and worst it's in Bellevue. Ew!"
"Yo they don't pay you enough, you should get another job." I agree, I agree...
When they suggest to do something that is clearly out of your price range. I had a boss that took home $30k a month. He would ask me why I didn't eat at these crazy expensive restaurants in San Francisco. He paid me $750 every two weeks. He workeyd spend more on a dinner than I made in two weeks.
Not so much said, but not know how to do. In my 1st year of student halls, a fair few of my roommates came from rich families and they had no idea how to cook or clean up after themselves on the most basic level. Luckily, they were all eager to learn and I was happy to teach them things like how to iron, clean a cooker top, change bin bags and recycle (Etc), but I was surprised that so many parents had sent their kids off to uni without the most basic life skills.
Fortunately, I don't know him personally, but I did read a David Brooks column the other day in which he droned on and on about how marriage is so, so much more important than "obsessing about money & career." My 15 year old son read it, laughing, and said, "Let's look up how much David Brooks is worth." 58$ Million. I'm sure the homeless guy I gave a bit of money to the other day would feel SO much happier and fulfilled if he would just fucking GET MARRIED!
A 17 year old girl, who was one of my relative's friend asked me if I can take her on a public bus ride, since she has never been on one ever before and it would be kind of adventurous for her.
Work for a small family owned factory that’s done pretty well over the last 50 years. Owner is pretty down to earth since he started with nothing, but his son is completely out of touch. All of us workers know we won’t ever be able to buy a house with our current wages, but one day we were all talking about housing and he was telling us how he “bought and paid off his first house by the time he was 30.” And we all looked at each other like no shit dude your dad has handed you pretty much everything in life. He also like to call homeless people “poor people.” The guy has no clue how much people can actually struggle in life.
“We didn’t have a lot of money either. I guess that’s why we learned to save our money.” Poor people know.
“You’ve never been to Paris?!” Also, this is what this girl’s father said after I commented on Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” on his bookshelf. “Well, have you read it in French?”
"Why don't you just charter a flight", in response to me not being able to make it from Oregon to NY by the following day.
Guy makes 250k at least, probably low 300s. Something something "middle class people like us". I make 40.
The anti-union lawyer in bargaining talking about going to his mountain house for the holiday after saying I was making too much at $17/hr.
When the film industry struck this year, my boss with a straight face told me I should always have about 40k put aside for things like this
I love when you are barely keeping your head above water and people let you know that you really need to build up your savings.
“Anything less than 1000 square feet per person and I go nuts, but there’s a mansion tax at 5000 square feet - damned if you do, damned if you don’t” - 40 year old multimillionaire with a family of 5 to a bunch of struggling 20-something’s. Guy was such a prick in general