"'Oh, This Is Whole Foods?'": People Share Their Experiences With Very, Very Wealthy Friends, And I'm Genuinely Shocked At How Out Of Touch They Are

Yahoo

14 hours ago

Unfortunately, wealth disparity exists in this world. Cough — the Bezos-Sánchez $50 million wedding comes to mind. In r/ask, when someone asked, "Something your rich friends have said that made your jaw drop?", people weighed in on how this exists all around us. And wow, what a peek into a gilded reality. Here's what people had to say:
1."A group of us went to McDonald's, and after he got his cheeseburger, he went back to the counter to ask them to center his cheese."
—bunk3rk1ng
2."'I don't get it. What would he need two jobs for?'"
—superkow
3."I accidentally found out that what I made in a year, working full time, he made in a month. Yeah, I knew he was wealthy, but that put it into perspective."
—Interesting_Day2277
4."I had the 17-year-old daughter of a rich acquaintance visit our city with a few of her friends for spring break. I was helping her check into their hotel (the most expensive one in the city) when she decided she didn't like the suite and wondered if an upgrade was available. Indeed, there was —the penthouse, but it would cost an additional $8k or more. Without batting an eye, she whips out HER CREDIT CARD and says, 'Use this one.' A 17-year-old with a five-digit credit card limit, who didn't need her parents' permission to use it, just blew my mind."
—Middle-Luck-997
5."I was a council house kid. I went to school with lots of better-off kids and some rich ones. Some were OK, but some didn't seem to understand, or care, for that matter. What gets me is the calm acceptance. You want a new bicycle? Here, have one. Clothes? Sure, have what you like. A Bang & Olufsen stereo for your room? Here it is, son. Motorbikes, cars, even houses. No problem. Must be nice to have 'stuff,' although some of the parents weren't that interested in their kids from what I could see. A couple of the blokes I've known later in life who came from monied families, reckoned they were basically treated as an inconvenience, and packed off to boarding school as soon as possible."
WB / Via youtube.com
—Amplidyne
6."Not friends, but some estranged family I've recently connected with dropped this line: 'We're middle class.' Yet, they own three houses, multiple business ventures, and she does triathlons all over the world. They just extended their vacation in, I think, Guam, because she wanted to adopt two dogs off the street, but couldn't bring them home during their current vacation time due to the pups' health concerns. Completely out of touch. Also, they asked me, 'Why do you guys rent in San Diego when you could just buy a house instead and build up the equity?' Like that's a possibility."
—nobeer4you
7."'We'll keep it small, just a few friends over.' It turned out to be a 50-person party with wedding-worthy flowers, an eight-person catering staff, and two live entertainment acts. 12 people I didn't know brought presents for my son."
—NightSisterSally
8."'I traveled economy once. Ugh, it was so narrow.'"
—shiroandae
9."'How did your parents invest the money they saved for you?' Bro. My parents didn't save money for me. They fed me, clothed me, supported me, and paid for some extracurriculars. I'm grateful. Not all parents have the ability to save as well."
—Foreign-Yak-3223
10."One didn't notice an entire family gym membership leaking out of their bank account for a year. They thought they'd canceled it. It was £300 a month."
—South-Bank-stroll
11."'We need poor people for society to function.'"
—Poulop
12."Their parent's salary equates to my lifetime income."
—Intelligent_Way_9450
13."His parents bought him a house near the university because they didn't see the point in paying for a year of rent."
—Financial_Change_183
14."A friend from uni gave me a ride in a $50k Mercedes. I said it was a cool car, and he said, 'You should have seen the other one,' but he crashed it. It was a $100k car. Mind you, we were 18 and 19 at the time."
—SignalElderberry600
15."A best friend growing up got a full ride to go to college, even though he was filthy rich. Our friend group was talking about student loans, and he chimed in, saying he took out $20k in loans and spent it on shoes and liquor because that's what college is about. We stopped talking."
—Cocoononthemoon
16."A woman I worked for recommended a $35 mouthwash to me. It was 1.5 ounces."
—chudock74
17."I heard a rich guy say that people don't use the word groceries anymore."
—Hister333
"What does he mean?"
—PassengerNo2022
18."I went to Whole Foods with my friend, and he said, 'Oh, this is Whole Foods? So, this is where [House Manager Name] goes to get our food!'"
—Dull_Wrongdoer_3017
19."On what to do for my 18th birthday, she suggested flying my friends out to another country and renting a private yacht. That would've cost $2,500 for just the tickets and the yacht, plus more, for other expenses like cabs, food, and whatnot."
—SoggyDoughnut69
20."'I think my trust fund is around $9 million.' Later that day, he found out it was $23 million. This is a person in their late 30s."
—sixjasefive
21."They want to go golfing in the middle of the day, on a weekday."
—3rody
22."'I'm not materialistic.'"
HBO / Via youtube.com, HBO / Via youtube.com
—Tak-Tik-2
23.And finally, "'I keep spending money and more just shows up in the account.' I almost cried."
—ohyesiam1234
I'm crying in pennies. Any wealthy friend stories to share? Let us know in the comments!
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
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