25 Examples Of The Vast Differences Between The Reality Of The Rich Vs. Ordinary Folk

It’s safe to assume that people with extreme wealth live in a reality that’s very different from that of ordinary folks. Every day worries about bills, groceries, or car payments are such distant concerns to them that they barely register as possible problems. Their lifestyles reflect this disconnect from normal experiences, and Redditors online have been sharing observations that highlight it. We’ve gathered some fascinating examples of the stark contrast between the lives of the rich and those of everyday people in the gallery below.

#1

Image source: PoeticFury, RDNE Stock project

I was at a conference with the owner of our company. She was on the phone with a neighbor. The neighbor was upset because she was having a party and her Maria was sick. She tried to borrow a Maria from a friend, but that Maria was busy. So our owner offered to loan the neighbor her Maria.

They were talking about their housekeepers – none of whom were actually named Maria. They just…called them that.

I was horrified.

#2

Image source: Present-Opinion1561, cottonbro studio

Backpacking Australia after graduation and met up with a college friend from there when I got to town. Normal guy.

He said my parents are in town they want to meet for dinner. I said sure but I’d like at least a shower and change first. No worries. He gets us 2 rooms at the literal Ritz.

Later he’s banging on the door of my room because the ‘shop down the street’ has brought some clothes. On a rolling rack is 5 outfits for me to choose from including whatever I need for the next couple days while I’m in town. It was totally out of the movies. I was utterly dumbstruck for days.

#3

Image source: south-shore0, Hunters Race

I’ve been watching a 34 time convicted felon on the news for almost a year, lining his pockets while oppressing the people of his country. It’s also speculated that he’s hurt children. No criminal repercussions at all… seems like the obscene rich are above the law.

#4

Image source: No-New-Therapy, Polina Zimmerman

Their idea of following dreams is wild.

When I moved to a big city for a film job and then got laid off a year later, I would use my free time to network. But if I ever vented about needing to go back home because I was running out of money, a few people told me

“I don’t get it? You don’t want to move so why move? You’re into film, why not just make a movie and sell it? Why not wait it out?”

Like they had zero concept of having no one to bail me out if I ran out of money. They had no idea why I wouldn’t have money to fund projects while being unemployed.

#5

Image source: SluggoRemains, Rebecca Leitner

Flying in a private jet to an event to rail against climate change.

#6

Image source: paypermon, Pavel Danilyuk

Having the doctor come to the house to give me a cortisone shot. I was working at this beautiful old school mansion and my Achilles tendon was screaming at me . Homeowner asked what was wrong and he says I will call the doctor and have him check you out. 20 minutes later I am sitting in the parlor getting a cortisone shot. No appointment, no driving to and office to wait 1½ hours with a bunch of sick people. It was awesome and made me realize they live in a whole different reality than regular people.

#7

Image source: S0605260, Luis Contf

A friend was the nurse for a rich elderly patient. The patient liked her so much she had the son invite her to a Christmas get together in Vail. My friend said she couldn’t find reasonable airfare for the dates so they sent a private jet to get her. They were giving guests a gift bag that included a digital camera worth over $1000 at the time.

She had a magical time.

#8

Image source: Greeneyed_Wit, cottonbro studio

I had a friend that then became a roommate who was raised with maids. She could not clean up after herself. Never has been made to wash her own dishes. Had no clue how to share a space with someone and never needed to before then. Also the way she’d spend money on us. She’s just blindly cover the entire bill without even thinking about it.

That being said our friendship wasn’t the same after living together.

#9

When I realized that the richest man in the world has 14 kids and there’s no Elon Musk wing at St.Jude children’s cancer research center. Or, a Jeff Bezos wing either.

Image source: Outrageous-Joke-6990

#10

Image source: Repulsive-Past-8245, Mikhail Nilov

Someone told me they didn’t get why people get student loans. They wondered why people didn’t just borrow the money from their parents, that way they wouldn’t have to pay it back with interest.

#11

Image source: Aware_Patience_792, Suzanne Prinsloo

I worked at a luxury car dealership and watched a guy buy a $200k Bentley because his wife didn’t like the color of his current one

The dude literally said “she thinks the blue clashes with her purse” and just casually dropped 200 grand like it was a McDonald’s order.

#12

When one of the execs at work said “I’m going to The Hamptons this weekend” in a Thurston Howell voice – and that’s his voice.

Image source: IamJoyMarie

#13

Image source: retiredhawaii, SO Creative

They invited me for dinner at their favourite restaurant. First clue was no prices on the menu. Then they asked if I liked lobster because it’s really good here. Did I like filet mignon because it’s really good too. They said they really liked the chicken parm. I said yes I liked all those things but I’m going to order the lasagna. They said that was good too. The waiter comes and they order everything they mentioned and more. They said we’d need two bottles of red and two bottles of white wine so bring that too. They saw the look on my face and said they really wanted me to try the dishes they mentioned so they ordered them so I could have a bite from each, just to taste how good it was. Probably cost more than I spend eating out in a couple of years. A.

#14

Image source: secderpsi, Ron Lach

BIL and his wife are both physicians a few years out of residency. She makes over $500k and he makes around $400k. They take the family out to fancy dinners about once a month and always spend more than a grand on wine alone. I can’t fathom that kind of wasteful spending. I’d work for 10 years and retire with an upper middle class life. We try and get the family to come to our house for dinner so we can reciprocate but they always just say let’s eat out and pick a restaurant we can’t afford (we are both PhD scientists with high credentials but science in the public sector pays really bad nowadays). They pay for the dinners but boy I wish I could contribute sometimes.

#15

Watching my FIL drop a months worth of rent (4k) in one day, to fuel his boat.

Image source: Thecuriousgal94

#16

Image source: camo_ist, Getty Images

A former boss invited our group to retreat at his Napa Valley vacation home with a pool and small vineyard. I knew he came from money, and this was an obvious display of it, but it was his reaction to my innocent question that put it in perspective.

I asked if his (9 year old) kids helped harvest the grapes thinking this would be a fun, outdoors thing to do on the family farm, and he just looked at me in horror as if I had asked if they cleaned gas station toilets on the side.

He really was a lovely person, but we definitely were not raised the same.

#17

Our neighbors are dairy farmers that both come from very rich families. They always talk about how hard running a farm is, being poor, having no time etc. (and it is, not downplaying that). Meanwhile their parents are take them frequently on expensive vacations, buy quarters of land for them, buy them vehicles and give them equipment/land/buildings to use when any sort of calamity strikes. They can farm without any risk because they will never be able to fail, yet they yammer on about how stressful farming is. They talk about it more than other farming couples we know that are legitimately operating without an unlimited safety net. It seems either really untitled or they are completely oblivious.

Image source: PF5542

#18

Image source: Under_TheLilacs, Diana

I had a roommate in college who flew her horses from coast to coast each semester. She lived in San Francisco and we went to college in New York, and she had her horses flown to a stable in each city depending on where she was each semester.
She also ordered takeout steamed broccoli. Just literally delivery of steamed broccoli.
She didn’t know how to do laundry so she had everything dry cleaned including her sheets and socks.

#19

Image source: BoomerishGenX, Arnauld van Wambeke

They casually mentioned bringing their sailboat from Hawaii up to Seattle for the summer. I asked how long it takes to sail it.

They said they have it shipped each way for convenience.

Another tenant in the same building was having a kitchen remodel, so they decided to buy a home in the sf mission district to have someplace to go in the meantime.

If you know Seattle you might know the building.

#20

Image source: ForQueenandCountry82, Mikhail Nilov

I’ve got friends who make huge money.
They often invite me to come on holidays with them.
They treat a international holiday as if it’s just like heading to the coast for a weekend.

#21

Image source: BitofaGreyArea, Fabio

I was walking into a coffee shop in Aspen. A dude pulled up in an orange Lambo, pulled too far forward in the parking spot, scraped the HELL out of the front bumper, backed up, cracked the bumper. Got out, took a quick glance at it, gave a small, “Oh well” shrug, and walked in to get his coffee. Left like nothing had happened; totally unfazed.

That’s when I was like, “Oh. It’s one level to buy a Lamborghini. Totally different level to not care if you mess it up.”

#22

Image source: Humble_Umpire_8341, Anna Tarazevich

Shopping without having to consider the need or cost of items. Simply if they like the item, they buy it.

Purchasing services without comparing costs. Time is more important, thus quick decisions are often more important and if the expectations aren’t meant or services not rendered, they have the resources to fix the issue or sue the person.

Buying things and never using them. Clothes, jewelry, guns, homes, boats, cars, etc.

I can go on. Poor person behaviors are also a thing.

#23

Image source: TheHandsomeFart, Liliana Drew

They complain about money and their business not making enough and fears of poverty, all while having a housemaid a nanny , 2m dollar house in an affluent neighborhood, three 100k+ vehicles, a 250k+ rv.

#24

Image source: Imaginary-Daikon-310, Polina Zimmerman

After i said i couldnt afford to travel, rich person told me to get a job that’s only “fun money” … i had 3 jobs at the time.

different rich person told me she didnt know there are people out there without insurance. “how do you go to the doctor?” that’s the neat part! you dont!

#25

Image source: RevolutionaryOil9375, Ihor Lypnytskyi

When I told my friend my dream car was a G wagon and he told me to dream bigger…. Found out that was his first car in HS.

#26

Image source: SavageCucmber, Murat IŞIK

I have a wealthy family member, worth 100s of millions in my estimation. Went to breakfast and she wanted everyone to pay her back. Okay, thats fine, I get it. Later she asked her sister why she didn’t pay her back for a $2.30 yogurt. I realized that she thinks about every penny someone might owe her, and thinks she’s being taken advantage of if she doesn’t get every cent.

This jerk buys 100s of thousands in art every year. I buy my friends breakfast from time to time. If they shorted me $2.30 I wouldn’t worry about it. I have never been able to understand it. She is part of the reason why I vilify the wealthy. She is a horrible person, and not just for that story.

#27

Image source: malpasplace, Israel Alfaro

Taking a private jet to a different state for band practice. And no, not a musician who will ever perform for others. Or is it three 8000+sq ft houses in the same state two hours from each other. Or is it getting an entire street project changed in US city because they didn’t like it and didn’t care about safety for everyone else.

I could go on and on. They are not like us. Not even close. And they don’t get what it means to be like us at all. They can try to be nice, and many do try, but they are out of touch with the reality most of us live in. And shouldn’t be given power over us because us flourishing is not their concern. If it was, they wouldn’t be where they’re at.

#28

Image source: ColdAntique291, Yuliana Kungurova

They treat time as the most expensive thing they own.

Instead of saving money, they pay to remove inconvenience immediately, meals, travel, errands, or problems, without hesitation or guilt, because their default assumption is that time is never worth trading for money.

#29

Image source: Standard-Elk-3411, Mikhail Nilov

Cut down a bunch of old trees to build a personal par 4 golf course hole, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars levelling the ground to make it flat, and then literally played on it twice in five years.

Also if you ever wonder why we have such bad inflation – the answer is here in this thread with hundreds of examples.

#30

Standing on a dock with my secondhand kayak and overhearing a mega-yacht owner talking about the annoying problem the crew was having with her onboard dishwasher.

Image source: SusanOnReddit

#31

Image source: InternationalName626, Arina Krasnikova

I worked at a high end retail store for awhile and would see people come in and drop thousands of dollars on clothing like it was nothing. They’d be back again a week later to do the same thing. A handful of the regulars didn’t even have jobs, just rich husbands or parents.

Meanwhile, we only made $15/hr and I wasn’t even able to make it from pay period to pay period without running out of money, and that was without eating out, going anywhere, or buying anything for myself. It was a night and day difference.

#32

Image source: NormalNobody, John Cameron

Black Friday and some rich guy bypasses the whole line and when I say, “I’m sorry sir, there is a line,” he says, “I don’t wait on lines. Let them wait.”

He was one of the investors of our store.

#33

Image source: -Economist-, Nejc Soklič

I have a billionaire friend. When I landed at the airport he said he’d send someone to get me. They picked me up in a helicopter.

#34

Don’t know how to checkout in a supermarket.

Image source: Weary_Capital_1379

#35

They have no problem asking for discounts for services. They never hesitate when it comes to buying themselves something to spend any amount of money. But when it comes to paying other people, they want you to do everything for less.

Image source: _lucid_dreams