The Things a Rich Kid Would Never, Ever Understand

18. That not every kid gets a grand from Grandpa

I had a good friend whose grandfather was a multimillionaire. His family lived within reason in a nicer middle-class home.

But Grandpa liked to give each grandkid a thousand dollars for Christmas, and each kid got a new car for their 16th birthday (as long as they were good, passing grades, etc).

By comparison, I don't think I held a $100 bill until I got my first paycheck.

So my buddy always has the new games and new clothes. He drove the newest car, and while he was responsible considering what he was given, he didn't know what it was like to go without.

| Seabee1893

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17. That public transit isn't a Hollywood concoction

My friend, whom I love very dearly, was a little ignorant when it came to public transportation.

She took the bus one day, which she had never done before.

Soon after she Snapchatted about how she didn't know that the plastic looped handles that you hang onto hanging overhead were real and not just in the movies.

| crazymermaid

16. That hanging out can be a luxury

When I was young and super poor my rich friends would get mad at me for not having the money to do things with them. From their perspective I was just ditching them all the time.

More recently my significant other (who comes from a wealthy family) and I have been making common law official and moving towards being "married" and he totally freaked out about the fact that I have student loans.

Apparently he didn't realize that a kid who grew up below the poverty line wouldn't have school paid for them in full.

In other words rich kids don't seem to get that money can be scarce.

| DaughterEarth

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15. That certain gifts aren't givens

A rich kid won't understand that when you turn 16 you don't get a car, you just get to be 16.

| jonhalo

14. That a gift to Mom can have real power

I'm going to add a positive one.

Rich kids won't understand what it's like to call up your mom, who has only ever know being poor, and say "I'm buying you a house."

Because you've been saving and working hard to improve your economic position, and now your mother never has to worry about rent again. Ever.

Because not only did you save for the down payment, you got a cheap enough place for your family to afford her mortgage. Forever.

Oh and energy bills? Phone bills? Those are covered too, and no, it isn't a loan, it's a return on investment for the years, blood, sweat, and tears she invested in me, not to mention scraping every cent together so I could get a used car for my first job.

| MapleBaconCoffee

13. That friends may turn down an expensive invite

In the last five years or so, I've had something like six close friends get married. Only ONE of them actually had a somewhat downplayed, relatively local bachelor party where we went out and partied, got him a lapdance, dressed him up, etc.

Everyone else just seemed to assume that I would absolutely drop $500 to $1,000+ flying and spending four to five days abroad.

Not hating the players, but I just don't get it. This is just expecting someone to pony up a month's rent or more, just off the cuff, because they decided to get married.

I would honestly feel so bad if I was the groom. Like, I would try and make it as cheap and convenient for everyone as possible. I wouldn't demand everyone pay for flights to Thailand or they weren't "true friends."

| iliterallydied

12. That some kids have to hold jobs in college

Rich kids don't get having to work and study simultaneously.

I'm studying for the MCAT while working 35 hours a week as a cashier, and whenever I complain to a rich person about struggling to balance the two, they're always like "Duh, just quit your job!" as if I can generate rent money out of thin air.

| riali29

11. That you can make a sandwich without bread

I wouldn't say all rich kids, but most of the rich kids I met will never understand how to be resourceful with things. If they can't find the solution right then and there they give up.

For example, I slept over at a rich friend's house and we were trying to make sandwiches and we ran out of sandwich bread.

With a serious look on his face he said, "We can't make sandwiches because we don't have sandwich bread."

I looked at him straight in the eye without saying a word and reached for the burger buns that he just pulled out and I said, "This is now sandwich bread." We were both 17 years old ...

| The8bitlion

10. That parents don't always leave fortunes

Almost everyone my husband and I know inherits a buttload of money when their parents die. (We're at the age where it's starting to happen.)

When my mom died, I got her old Christmas sweaters. That's it. Yet some people actually asked if I "got a windfall" when she died.

Both she and my dad were teachers. They lived on ramen noodles and canned soup. When my dad dies, I'll be lucky not to have to pay for the funeral.

I'm not complaining — if my parents had any money, I'd want them to spend it on themselves. But sadly for them, they never did. | AsBigAsAlone

9. That some people don't date because of money

People always seem shocked that I never had a girlfriend or even a date until I was in my early 20s. They assume I was too shy or not interested in women. But really, it was because I didn't have money.

Some girls won't date you because you're poor. Others think you're gross because you wear the same oversized, outdated hand-me-downs every day.

And even the least judgmental girls on the planet would never date you because you couldn't afford to even go out on a date, and you sure as hell aren't going to bring her back to the broken-down trailer you call home even if you could find the time between school and the two jobs you work to help your parents buy food and pay the bills.

| irrelevant_usernam3

8. That it doesn't have to be Ikea or nothing

My girlfriend and I are getting a place soon. She's definitely been raised upper middle class.

She wants to furnish with Ikea. I'm saying we go to Goodwill.

[Spending] $120 for a glorified bean bag chair ("But it's a hanging chair!") isn't logical or smart, especially when you're only doing a combined $20 an hour in terms of wages.

| ld115

7. That some fixes can't be quick

My first cousins are very well off (my uncle is a doctor, and their mom comes from a crazy rich family). One thing I always found funny was that they didn't understand why things would be broken and we didn't fix them.

My mom's car was beat up and they would ask "Why is your car messed up? Why don't you fix it?" And we'd just be like "We can't, we don't have the money."

I think we were the first people to show them that different people have different amounts of money, lol.

| imoutofstep

6. That birthdays aren't always happy

Just not having a birthday party when your birthday rolls around. Not even a small one where friends come over to your house. Nothing.

| ohbrotherherewego

5. That not everyone can pay people to do stuff

When a rich person's car breaks down, they can just whip out their cellphone, get it towed to a mechanic, write a check and move on with their life.

When a poor person's car breaks down, they have to call Uncle Ted. Because Uncle Ted sometimes knows how to fix cars.

Rich people can have a stay-at-home nanny to watch their kid. Poor people have to drop off their kid with a family member while they go to work.

Poor: dependent on each other to survive.

Rich: dependent on checkbook to survive.

| Yossi25

4. That some kids get knock-offs for a reason

[Rich kids will never understand] getting off-brand stuff. I didn't have a PlayStation, I had a Polystation, 9000 games (really five games repeated 1800 times).

| RogueBestGirl

3. That 'poor' is more than opting for cheap beer

Where broke to them means only getting the cheap beer at the bar or only ordering takeout once or twice a week. Or, no, I can't just call my parents for money when I'm stretching things pretty thin.

It's mindblowingly frustrating at times.

| resilienttbastard

2. That not everyone lives in a palace

[Rich kids never understood] why my house was so small.

I got made fun of because my house was "so small." Like "a garage size."

Sorry I didn't live in a mansion like the rest of them. Come on, we had a living rooms, never had to share rooms with siblings and 1 guest room but it was still so "tiny" to them. Like so tiny they almost missed it and thought it was someone's shed!

| wistful

1. That some Christmases aren't so merry

[Rich kids don't get] that Santa doesn't visit some kids.

| SentientLife

Via Reddit.