"I'll Never Forget How Insensitive It Was:" People Are Sharing The Most Tone-Deaf Thing They've Ever Heard A Rich Person Say
Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation when you think, 'wow, did that really just come out of this person's mouth?' Well, Redditor AnonymousBedrotter56 asked, "What's the most out-of-touch thing you've heard someone say?" Here are some of the unhinged comments that made people's jaws drop to the floor.
1."'You work too hard. That's why you're so stressed. You need to take a vacation and relax in Italy for a week or two.' Why didn't I think of that!? I'll just shake some money off my money tree and be on the next flight."
2."When I couldn't afford something I wanted, my rich friend said, 'Just check if you have any more money lying around.'"
3."I was recently divorced after 35 years of marriage. In the process, my husband bought out my half of our four-bedroom house. Consequently, I moved to another city to purchase a two-bedroom condo. It was all I could afford...."'
"...My new boss would invite the entire staff frequently to lunch. We’d sit there listening to the details of his latest expensive purchase. That particular lunch was about his large beach house. Being new, he questioned me about where I lived. I said I had just purchased a two-bedroom condo. Seeing the disappointment on his face, I said I owned a four-bedroom home previously. I will never forget his loud, insensitive response, 'Who does that?' I declined all other invitations."
4."I am a legal aid lawyer and do divorce and custody cases. I once had a client who brought her child to school on the bus before work. Bus service is unreliable in our city, so the child was sometimes late to school..."
"... The dad's lawyer brought it up in court, and I explained my client didn't have a car and was depending on the bus. The judge told me with a straight face, 'Well, why doesn't she just buy a car?' She also told me the child (age ten) needed a phone and that 'your client should buy her a phone.' I explained that my client didn't have the money for a car or a phone for a child and suggested that maybe if dad, who was fairly well off, could pay some of the five figures of child support he owed, she could afford those things. The judge snapped, 'Counsel, we're not talking about child support right now; we're talking about things the child needs.' It completely broke her brain that not having money meant not being able to afford things for your kid. To her, they were separate issues."
5."Just recently, my multi-millionaire boss was complaining about the cost of sending his daughter to boarding school in the U.S. (70k a year). He said it was unfair to Europeans because they pay much higher taxes than Americans. Meanwhile, he knows my annual gross salary, for which I work very, very hard, is a bit less than one year of tuition."
6."'Just buy the place you're renting so you don't waste your money and turn a profit,' said the CEO of my job, who was pulling in a pension from his government job and two part-time salaries from the two positions he sat on. When I asked how I could possibly afford that, he asked if he wasn't paying me enough. I said no, and he left my office."
7."I recall a wedding I attended back in my 20s. This person getting married grew up with four homes (one of which was international). After he and his brother moved out, his parents built another home. A ten-bedroom house, each with its own full bathroom, is on the edge of a golf course. Gym, wine seller, sauna, room with a full bar, pool table, roulette table, poker table etc..."
"I remember a couple of direct quotes from people at our table, just to set the scene: 'I'm planning to buy my wife and I a plane;' 'I proposed to my girlfriend at a castle I rented in Europe;' 'I think my next plastic surgery will be xyz.' Apparently, the bridal party took a three-minute limo ride to the clubhouse where the wedding was held. At the ceremony, there was a 15-minute fireworks show. The whole thing probably cost $500,000. And during dinner, one of the parents gave a speech, and I shit you not, they said, 'I'm so proud of these two. They've had nothing handed to them in life and have worked so hard to get to where they are today.' I still haven't picked my jaw up off the floor."
8."My wealthy friend said to me, and I quote, 'Just buy everything you need for the month in one outing. It's cheaper in the long run.' Ma'am, you just watched me pay for gas with quarters."
9."I was on a ski lift when I heard a woman with her two sons tell their private ski instructor for the day that because there weren’t enough food options in the city, they had no choice but to hire a private chef for their vacation."
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10."I was told my degree was worthless because it was from a public university and 'they don’t teach stuff there.'"
11."'Why can’t they just pay their credit card debt with their money?' I went to a top private school, we were all wealthy. At least my parents gave me some sense of empathy and understanding of the world for others. This girl couldn’t understand how people went into debt. I had to explain they didn’t actually have money to begin with"
12."'How could your family's accountant let that happen?' This was the response when we discussed how, growing up, we couldn't pay the bills and had our water/electricity shut off multiple times.
13."The family I babysat for told me they were making a 'conscious decision' to put their oldest in public school because they wanted to 'prove' you didn't need a private school education to be successful. It was wild to hear both as someone with a public school education due to financial necessity and someone who lives in NYC..."
"...Granted, the public schools where this family lived were very good, so I don't think the kid was missing out, but if I had the money, I would absolutely send my child to a private school in the city. Some of the best schools in the country are here. When I daydream about what I'd do if I won the lottery, at the top of the list is calling my siblings with children to offer to finance an NYC prep school education for their children. That is an investment in their future, and I would kill to be able to provide that for them. Is it sad the game is rigged in that way? Yes, but using your kid to prove a point is not going to fix that."
14."My boss (who makes 300K+) said we should be grateful for them cutting some of our holiday pay because 'legally we don’t have to give you any.' I’m quitting as soon as I can find another job."
15."'I don’t get why people use food stamps. They should just budget better."
16."I went to a nice private school with a new policy for financial aid that went to anyone whose household made less than $80k per year. This girl rolled her eyes and asked, 'Who makes that little?'"
17."I lived in an area and went to school with many wealthy kids, but my family didn’t have a lot of money. One time I was staying at a friend’s house, and she had a really nice MacBook, and I said I wish I had one, and she was like, 'Just ask your parents for one for Christmas.' Most Christmases I barely got any presents because we couldn’t afford it…"
18."I used to work a pretty physical job for a very out-of-touch business owner. She was pretty notorious for walking by us as we were all sweating and working our asses off and saying things like, 'Well, at least you won’t have to go to the gym today!' Yeah, How lucky! That’s going to save me a ton of time 🙄
19.“'Well, you don’t want your wife opening her Louis Vuitton purse and pulling out a Coach wallet.'"
20."A friend's sister told me how hard it is to live in Jackson Hole because 'you have to fly in your help (cleaning, yard work) from Salt Lake.' I had no words."
Do you have something to add? What is the most out-of-touch thing you've been told or overheard in conversation? Tell us in the comments or in this anonymous form.
