When people are rich, they tend to get used to a certain lifestyle. Whether or not they mean to, they can end up with a slew of weird habits, or get used to making outlandish demands. No one knows this better than someone who has encountered one of these rich people while working—or god forbid, worked directly for them. From bathing in Evian to dumping hundreds of dollars as a tip, these Redditors shared their real-life stories detailing the crazy, snobby, and/or ridiculous things that they’ve seen rich people do.
1. Free Drinks
I watched a customer order the most expensive wine in the house, pour two and a half glasses, take a sip, and send it back—knowing full well they are paying for it. To those folks, I say thank you! Nothing makes employees happier than free (expensive) booze.
2. Send it Back
In this case, I was the weird rich person. I ordered the Waygu at Cut in LA a few years ago. I want to say the steak was $200-300. They asked me how I liked it and I said it was okay, which apparently wasn't an enthusiastic enough response. They practically insisted I send it back and order a different steak.
3. Remove the Red
My former boss, who was insanely wealthy, used to stay in presidential suites and would have any and all forms of the color red removed. He was a high roller at several casinos and they made special chips just for him as a substitute to red chips—all for a bizarre reason. He hated the color red because when you’re losing money, you’re “in the red.”
4. You’re on This Floor?
During our honeymoon, my husband and I came back to our (very nice) hotel from a day full of hiking looking like homeless people. We were waiting for the elevator with another couple who were both giving us the side-eye. Once on the elevator, the couple pressed the bottom for the top floor, which was the same as ours.
After about 30 seconds of silence and side-eyes, the woman turns to me and says, “You need to press the button for your floor” in a condescending tone. I told her our floor was already selected—but then it got worse. She actually had the audacity to say, “You have a suite on the top floor!?”
5. Get in Line
I had a lady yell at me a few times that I was standing in the line for business passengers only and that I needed to get into the correct line because I obviously couldn't afford business class with Emirates. People are so prejudicial and rude it blows my mind.
6. We’re Miners
I work in mining and I fly to and from work. One of the company's perks is membership to the business class lounge. On one of my breaks, I was going skiing with a group of friends. A guy and I were queuing for drinks and chatting. A bunch of miners entered the lounge and we began very sarcastically joking about how awful it was they let smelly people "like them" into our lounge.
The woman in front of us turned around to agree and ranted about horrible miners for a good few minutes before asking us what we did for a living. We both happily replied, "We're miners." She stopped speaking to us after that.
7. Economy’s That Way
My parents have been pretty successful in the last decade or so. However, they’re very humble and hardworking people. My dad has dark skin and wears cheap sweatpants 90% of the time. He and my mom treated themselves to an upgrade to first class on a vacation. When my dad was taking his seat, another passenger tapped him on the shoulder and told him “economy was further down the plane.”
I reckon she was lucky mom didn’t slap her.
8. Who Are You?
I worked at a nice restaurant in downtown Portland, and one day a lady called to make a dinner reservation for a large group. But first, she starts asking all these questions about "security" (we had none) and how I thought the staff and patrons would handle a "celebrity" dining there. Is there enough space to be private? They like to be private. Would it be okay if they brought their own security, to stop people from taking pictures and such? But of course, she couldn't name names.
I rolled my eyes, told her whatever they need to do, and booked the date and time. Yes, I was super curious who it would be, and stayed past my shift to see who walked through the doors when the big night came. The group arrived, and it was...no one. Not one of us who worked there recognized a single member of their party. They sure acted like they were someone, but all we saw was a loud group of 20-somethings.
They actually did bring a "bodyguard" who stood in the corner with sunglasses on the whole time. The only attention they got from other diners was the occasional side-eye because they were being rude and obnoxious. Shock of shocks, they treated our staff horribly and tipped even worse. Will never know who that person thought they were.
9. Silver Spoon
I don't even work at that nice of a restaurant, but last month I got chewed out over the phone because some lady left her baby's actual silver spoon on the table. We didn't know where it was, so obviously one of us had stolen it.
Wikimedia Commons, Mauro Cateb
10. Got You Covered
I’m a soldier. We held an annual ball at a local marina hotel restaurant and had it reserved for the evening. The host grabs our commander a few hours into the event and says, "There's a guy, he's a daily regular for the past 15 years. He wants to grab his usual nightcap. Do you mind?" The commander agrees and the gentleman comes in, sits at his spot, and proceeds to enjoy the show while "occasionally" covering costs for those of us grabbing drinks.
He did this in exchange for a little small talk about what we do. After about three hours, he grabs his coat and heads out. He then returns about an hour later, and proceeds to shut down the joint with us, still covering drinks "here and there." The next day when I came in as part of the clean-up crew, the host gave me the breakdown after I asked how long their charges normally take to process, as I hadn't seen my tab hit my account yet. Then they told me something that knocked me off my feet.
Turns out the regular owned a chunk of the marina and covered a combined $12,000 tab as "thanks to the servicemen and women." I had a tab of over $450 waiting on my card, completely covered that night. It was glorious.
11. Two Different Worlds
I got back from a four-day trip to Hawaii. The first two days, we stayed in a modest hotel near Waikiki and last two days, we splurged on a fancy resort hotel because we thought it would give us a nice break. At the first hotel, every time we got in the elevator, other guests made small talk, wished us a happy new year, etc. In the fancy hotel, so many guests did the "rich snarl" where they would stare at us in disgust.
We saw so much bad micro behavior. But the staff were super nice and I felt for all the nonsense they must deal with.
12. A Gift for You
I operated a premium chain restaurant in Canada. One day, this Indian gentleman started coming in, at first by himself. On the first day, he spent $200 on wine and tipped $1,000. The next day, he did the same again. When we saw him the third time, I had servers fighting over him. One evening, he had too much wine and the busboy made the mistake complementing his watch. Mr. S. takes off his Tag and gives it to Brad.
The next morning, Mr. S comes back to get his car and asks if Brad is there, I say yes and go get him. Brad knows what's up and is removing the watch as he walks over to Mr. S. Mr. S says, "Brad I'm really sorry about last night and for giving you my watch." Brad is chuckling as he removed the watch and says it's no problem. He also reassured him that he was just holding the watch until Mr. S returned.
The next thing Mr. S. said, I could not believe. "Brad you don't understand. I'm sorry because it was very rude of me to give you a used gift." And at that moment, Mr. S pulled out a box with a brand-new Tag Heuer inside and handed it to Brad.
13. Take Your Pick
Back when I was a waiter, there was a woman and her friends at one of my tables. The woman asked for a can of Coke. When I brought their drinks and gave the woman her Coke, she looked at me and said "Excuse me, honey? I asked for Fanta, not Coke". So, I apologized, wrote it onto my notepad, and went back to get her a can of Fanta.
I brought it to her, and again, she turned to me and said, "I didn't ask for Fanta, I asked for cream soda." By this time, I was getting a bit annoyed. But, I went back and got her a cream soda anyway. And surely, when I returned to her table, she did the same thing again. "I asked for Sprite. Should I call the manager?" So, for the last time, I smiled and I went back to the kitchen and packed one can of each: Coke, cream soda, Fanta, Sprite, Pepsi and Sparberry soda.
I put them into a small plastic box and took it all to her and said, "Here you go, miss. Take your pick." She looked offended and almost made a scene. She started lecturing me about how I'm incapable of getting the simplest order right and that she wants to talk to the restaurant's manager. I told her that I can call him and that I'll show him all the soda types I wrote on my notepad that she asked for, and we can get his opinion on the matter.
She turned and took her Sprite out of the plastic box and said, "Just leave it." Her friends were silent throughout the whole ordeal and none of them gave me any issues further on. I didn't receive a tip, as expected, but I shrugged it off.
14. Brand New Bag
I worked at a grocery store in uppity Gold Coast Chicago when I was a teen. We sold soup for lunch and when bagging them, we put it in a paper bag followed by a plastic bag to make sure it was secure. This one lady buys soup and I proceed to bag it. She then says, “No, I’ll just put it in my bag.” I asked if she was sure. Mind you, she has a Louis Vuitton bag that looks brand spanking new.
She took it on its own anyway. 15 minutes later, she comes in raging that she has minestrone all over her Louis Vuitton and demands to speak to a manager.
15. To Each Their Own
I work at a luxury property in California, and we had the co-founder of a large payment processing company stay with us a while back. He only liked to sleep on his own bed, so when he woke up that morning, he paid a team to load his bed into a truck and have it delivered to our property. We then removed the bed in his luxury suite and set up his bed that his team had brought us.
He only stayed with us one night and the process was done to send the bed back home the following day. It kind of blew my mind that he went through all that trouble, just so he could always sleep on his own bed. To each their own, I guess!
16. Good Service
I worked in a fancy lobster restaurant on the water with a lot of outdoor seating. These very wealthy people come to eat and demand a table outside for dinner. Now, it’s just before sundown in the middle of summer in Maine and we’re on the water, so mosquitoes are definitely not scarce. These people sit down and order a $200 bottle of wine, a massive lobster each, and some appetizers.
They seem to enjoy the meal up until the sun sets and the bugs come out. These people were not happy and started complaining about it. They also complained about the “stupid restaurant not paying for mosquito spraying.” The waitress gets a couple of candles to light and asks if they need anything else. Those fools actually asked her to stand next to them with a flyswatter.
She laughed, thinking they were joking. The man said, “Whatever happened to good service?” They also didn’t leave a tip on a $350 bill.
17. All on Black
I play poker for a living and every now and then, some rich guy will sit down and start going all in every hand for $300-500 without looking at his cards. One day, I was in a game where a guy was betting $1,000-$3,000 dollars without looking at his cards. It was insane to me, but for him, I guess it wasn’t that much money.
18. Open the Kitchen
My dad used to work as a valet for Lawry's in downtown Chicago. Some pretty well-known football player came in about 15 minutes before closing with a group of friends. He made them re-open the kitchen, so they could all have steaks. Then they stayed for almost two hours after close being really loud and obnoxious and rude to most of the staff.
He also tipped everyone horribly, especially considering everyone had to stay later because of him.
19. That One Guy
I worked at a restaurant in the lobby of a rather nice hotel. There was a rich dude that basically lived there. He would eat in our restaurant every night. Our chef had to hand-pick his steaks from a local butcher. The steaks were massive. It was always specially prepared just for him. Every time this guy would take two or three bites and complain to everyone in earshot that his steak was terrible.
This dude was odd. He would only drink the cheap wine that we served by the glass. However, he would request that you open a fresh bottle just for him. He couldn't possibly drink a glass of wine out of a bottle that was first opened for someone else. Even if I just opened the wine and poured a glass to the person next to him. That bottle was considered "tainted" to him.
If you are that picky, just buy your own bottle of wine. Oh, but that wasn’t the worst part. He also parked in the handicapped spot out front, even though he is not handicapped. But because he spent so much money at the hotel, the managers refused to make him move his car or have it towed.
20. Special Guests
I interviewed at a large hotel attached to a casino and while I was being shown around the front desk, a woman walked up, said nothing, and got room keys after being greeted by the front desk agent. She immediately turned and walked away. Then the manager who was interviewing turned to me and said, “That’s Mrs. Rich Lady. You never ask her for her name, her ID, or god forbid a credit card.”
He continued: “She stays here comped once or twice a week because her husband spends so much in the casino. If you upset her, she will yell at you and then hand the person working next to you a $100 bill just to spite you.” I ended up turning down a job there, thankfully so, because apparently, she wasn’t the only guest of her type there.
21. Here’s Your Tip
I'm loosely acquainted with someone who is obscenely rich. He dated my best friend for a while back when we were in college. As you can imagine, he bought her fancy things all the time, took her on expensive family vacations with his folks, etc. He was a stereotypical rich kid, but he was also kind and still very down to earth. They dated about a year and in the spring, we went spring breaking in his family's condo at a famous spring break beach location.
There was just me, my best friend, him and a couple of his friends. The group decided we wanted good old-fashioned Waffle House breakfast after a night of revelry. After eating, I noticed he was lingering behind the group. He'd said he had to take a leak, but he stopped back by the table on his way out to the car. Curious, I ran back to the restrooms just so I could pass by the table to see what he'd done.
He left the waitress a small pile of Benjamins as a tip. There had to be four or five hundred dollars. I couldn't quite tell because they were folded and rumpled from being in his wallet. My mouth fell open when I saw it and I forgot I was even heading to the restroom. I looked out by the car and he was watching me through the glass windows. He held up his finger to his lips and beckoned me back out to the car.
I didn't tell, but my eyes were glued to the table as we pulled away. The waitress collapsed into the seat of the table when she saw it. I’m pretty sure she was crying. Letting that guy get away was the dumbest thing my best friend ever did in her life.
22. Smart Choices
Dog walker here. One of my clients only lets her dog drink smart water.
Shutterstock
23. It’s an Emergency
My sister is a nanny for an NBA player and his wife. The wife called my sister at 9:00 pm to come to their house for an "urgent" matter. When my sister gets to their house, the wife tells her to take the trash out. That's it. My sister drove an hour round trip to take out the trash. She has so many ridiculous stories about this family, but that one is my go-to.
24. I’m Just Frugal
I know a lady who's discreetly rich. For example, she would wear designer jewelry sets to the gym. Anyway, her quirk was she liked Costa coffee, so she'd get one once a day, drink half of it, let it cool and then put the rest of it in the fridge. Then she’d reheat and drink the other half the next day. When she told us that she does this, and we asked her why, she laughed and said, “I'm just frugal.”
25. The Little Things
Where I work, I’ve seen some crazy things. The wife was driving through the home improvement part of the city and saw a sale on bathtubs. So, she popped in and bought three. As she was leaving, she saw another tub she liked and simply had to get that one too. She wasn't renovating a house at the time. They also refuse to throw away food. Used by and best before dates are completely ignored, to the point where I found a tin of seafood marinara which was 15 years out of date.
They have a holiday home in the South Pacific and have a housekeeper clean it three times a week. Yet, they only visit three or four times a year. When they're not visiting, no one lives there. When the family go out for dinner, the father will happily pay for the expensive meals but not the drinks. The kids (who are all teens or older) have to pay him back for the drinks and he will send reminder messages about the amount.
Yet, when any of the kids offer to pay for the meal, he won't accept. The wife is a hoarder and will often take way more samples than any normal person. She always makes sure to take all the toiletries from hotel rooms. If she passes the housekeeping trolley, she’ll grab as many as she can from there. Yet she never uses them.
They have a whole bathroom cupboard dedicated to samples!
26. Drawers Upon Drawers
I nannied for a New York City power couple in 2014. Both were corporate lawyers for national banks. The husband owned more socks than I had ever seen at one time in my life. Drawers upon drawers of them, all navy blue, black, and grey.
27. Eating Habits
I used to be a live-in nanny for the CEO of a major German investment bank in Berlin. They were a lovely couple with a sweet baby girl and they made me feel like part of the family from day one. They paid me well, had a separate car for me and weren't concerned about what I did in my spare time. They were very generous, lovely people. My only gripe is that they had strange eating habits.
Some days, they would have three enormous meals, and other days they would “forget” to eat all day. I was often too shy to say that I was hungry.
28. What’s in the Bag?
Once when I was a nanny, I was housesitting while the family was out of the country. The refrigerator in my apartment broke, so I packed up some perishables and brought them to the family's house to store them until the landlord could fix it. When I brought my groceries back to my place, I realized I had accidentally grabbed something that wasn't mine from the cheese drawer.
It was a gallon Ziploc bag. Inside that was a smaller Ziploc bag. Inside that was a bundle of wax paper. Inside that was a bundle of plastic wrap. Inside that was another bundle of plastic wrap. Inside that was a bundle of tinfoil. Seven layers deep, I found an old lump of fruitcake.
29. Would Fly Again
I treated myself to first class on a vacation many years ago. I'm a large guy who doesn't do dress up just for a leisure flight. I had on a t-shirt, cargo shorts, Vans, a typical outfit for me. Priority boarding gets called to line up at the gate and of course, I'm there. So much side-eyeing and people praying they don't sit next to me during the flight. Some guy says, "Um, I think this is just for priority boarding."
I said, "Yeah it is, thanks". I had a smug look on my face when the guy saw me relaxing in first-class (he was sitting in economy plus). 10/10 would fly first again.
30. All These Holes
I was a nanny for an affluent family. They had a beautiful home and nice vehicles and the kids all had lots of toys and new clothes. But, while doing laundry one day, I had to take a load of mom’s clothes out of the dryer. Every single pair of her panties had multiple holes in them. They were worn out and the most tattered panties I've ever seen.
I got curious and looked in her undergarment drawer. This was par for the course. She was like a major high up in a huge company and her panties looked worse than I would imagine a homeless person wearing.
31. Someone Fix This
My friend works for a tax lawyer for the obscenely wealthy. Their firm is one of those go-to places when you want to take advantage of tax havens. Think Panama-Luxembourg. He tells me he one of their clients had an issue and called the people he always turns to for help. His lawyers. The problem? He bought a new jet and only just realized its entertainment system doesn't have a Blu-ray player. Find someone that can fix it. Today.
He had lawyers at three different firms searching for a solution that afternoon, and they all billed him for it.
32. It Shouldn’t Decline
I work at a ski school office at a fancy ski resort in Colorado. I've had guests come in and get a private instructor just for them for three weeks straight at a grand a day and then throw the biggest hissy fit when their credit card declines a $20,000 charge. I tried to explain that their card company might think it's fraud, and they lose their minds.
"I have a $200,000 limit, it shouldn't decline!"
33. Paying Too Much
I work at a Marriot, one that is more expensive than your typical hotel. But, by no means is it a place that millionaires or celebrities would come to, especially because of our suburban location. However, that doesn't mean I don't often get people who think that because they’re paying 150 bucks a night, that they can be just rude and entitled. My favorite little story is the guy who was shooting hoops at our sports court too early in the morning.
When I asked him to stop, he just looked at me and threw the ball as far as he could into the parking lot. He then said, "I'm paying too much to be treated this way. I'm talking to your manager."
34. Great Pleasure
I once saw a Wolf of Wall Street-type character trying to impress his flock of sheep in an expensive place. He approached the server and abruptly ordered a round of expensive drinks. He then pulled a wad of $100 bills out and extended his arm to her saying, “Take some, peasant.” The whole time, he refused to look at her, instead looking at his friends for approval—but he messed with the wrong woman.
She swiftly smashed the entire wad out of his hand and I took great pleasure in his angry reaction while he scrambled to pick up the cash in a crowded place.
35. Only the Finest
I worked at a private villa in Bali. One guest stood out. She only drinks and bathes in Evian, so one day I spent almost an hour filling a large tub from tons of Evian bottles. The same young woman complained that the path from her villa gate to her room wasn't well lit. She wore sunglasses at night.
Flickr, Marco Verch
36. We Own These Floors
I once stayed in a hotel an NFL team had rented for an away game. It was a really nice hotel and the only reason I was there was for a family member’s wedding and I was sleeping on a couch in a room. The whole place was filled with very wealthy people and to separate them from the other guests, they rented the three top floors. They also had security to stop anyone from getting to the floors.
The best part about the trip was seeing a guy valet park a rented muscle car by just stepping out and handing the keys to the nearest person.
37. Just a Taste
This was not stereotypical, but ridiculous it was. I had a customer come in in the most basic cheap clothes. But, he then pulled out a bundle of $2,000 in cash. He bought a glass of our most expensive wine and sat by himself for about an hour, not doing anything. He then wound up leaving after having taken only one or two sips.
38. You Can Have This
I used to work as a chef at a restaurant in this massive five-star resort. Our restaurant is usually quiet during lunchtime, as it is more of a fine dining restaurant and people would go to the less fancy places for lunch. This guy comes in once, casually dressed, and orders a salad and the five most expensive main courses on the menu.
Two other colleagues and I are on shift, so we prepare everything and send it out. 20 minutes later, the waitress serving the guy says he requested five clean knives. The guy had tried a bit of everything, then proceeded to cut a layer off the part where he'd eaten with a clean knife (hence the knives), so the rest is not contaminated by him trying it.
He said he was full and insisted the food not be wasted, so he gave it to the staff on shift so “they can also taste the great food they make.” When leaving, he came to the kitchen and shook everyone's hand. We later found out the guy owned over half the resort, apparently.
39. Toss ‘Em Down
I helped my mother-in-law, who was a maid once, with a very large mansion in NC. Beautiful house, amazing architecture. They traveled the world all the time. But the kitchen had old appliances from the ‘70s, the wife's bathroom had a broken toilet seat that was duct-taped together. The wife did not re-wear her underwear. We were not to go in the basement.
I peeked down there once, though, and my blood ran cold. There were clothes three-foot-deep in the basement where she took off her clothes and just threw them down there. There were thousands of pairs of underwear. They were very weird people.
40. Running Around Vegas
I was a nanny for a rich family in Vegas. The amount of food they wasted was crazy. One instance I can remember is the woman buying Monster energy drinks for her nephew who only visited her house maybe twice a year. The garage was stocked with cases of the stuff for the kid. When it went bad, they threw it out and bought more.
There was also the time they had me buy $25-dollar gift certificates for their annual company Christmas party, from 25 different places in Las Vegas two days before Christmas. That was fun.
41. Not That Coffee
My dad is an electrician and has worked in some very rich houses. He did a job in one where the couple only drank very posh fresh coffee. Fair enough, who wouldn't? But they had a cleaner who was permitted one cup of coffee each day, but not their coffee. She had her own separate coffee, but it wasn't even a decent, if cheaper, brand.
It was the cheapest possible sort to buy.
42. Can You Cook This?
The first guy I dated was worth $30 million while his parents were worth $300 million. He didn't know how to cook. There was a list of phone numbers on the refrigerator that you called when you wanted food, a guy would show up and cook it for you. He wouldn't step foot in my car because the check engine light was on and was convinced that the car was going to hurt me.
He used his money to open a yoga studio, that's all he wanted in life.
43. Bleach Them
Growing up, my mother would clean houses for wealthy individuals. There was an elderly widowed woman with large, all-white poodles. She insisted that my mother clean them with bleach. She would provide two gallons of bleach each week. My mother never did bleach them, she just poured out the bleach in the tub.
44. Off the Grid
My husband used to work for a landscaping company. There was one lady he would always come home with crazy stories like they paid a pilot year-round just to be on standby in case they wanted to fly somewhere. Also, they apparently paid Google a fee every year to keep their property off of Google Maps?
If this is the same woman and I'm remembering correctly, she also had two solid platinum reindeer for Christmas decorations.
45. Jungle Gym
My sister used to be a nanny for a very famous former F1 driver. I'm pretty sure the kids’ outdoor playset (jungle gym, castle-like playhouse, etc.) cost more than my sister's apartment. On the plus side, he and his wife are apparently the most down-to-earth, sweet people.
46. Washing Bags
I was a nanny for a pretty affluent family for a summer. On the whole, they were really nice and great parents. Two things stood out to me, though. On one occasion, they had family friends visiting with their three children, so I worked a full day taking care of the five kids while the four adults just hung out in the house. I understand occasionally having the nanny come while you're there, so you can work well from home, but nannying five children whose parents were ten feet away was a little absurd.
The second thing is that they reused Ziploc bags. I probably spent at least 45 minutes a day washing, drying, and organizing their Ziploc bags.
47. Cleaning 101
I lived with a girl from an insanely wealthy family in college. What amazed me the most was how completely clueless she was when it came to cleaning. I mean, she grew up with maids her entire life and college was the first time she didn't have someone cleaning up after her, so I figured she might be untidy, but I wasn't prepared.
I asked her to clean the kitchen once and she came home with a box of powdered bleach from the Dollar Store and sprinkled it around the counters, then rubbed it around with a wet paper towel.
48. Special Tag
I used to work security for a high rise building in Uptown Dallas. There was a VIP parking garage underneath the building. Entry required a special toll tag to be in the window of your car. The wife of a couple that owns a large part of Home Depot, had it mounted on the bumper of her Bentley and then had the entire bumper repainted to hide the tag.
Long story short, the tag was now at the wrong angle to transmit to the reader. Thousands wasted when she could have just asked first. Of course, she couldn't ask personally, she always had her PA do it. I think he was also her lawyer.
49. More Appetizers
My brother was an apprentice cook in one of the most prestigious hotels on the French Riviera. That week, he was assigned to prepare the free tapas and amuse-bouche they were giving at the hotel for customers. This super famous French actor came in. He played a lot of comic roles, so there was this good aura attached to him. But all day long, he requested to have more of the free appetizers.
He was getting mad at my brother when he didn't prepare them fast enough because he was hungry. It changed our view of the guy in his movies.
50. A Month’s Wages
When I brought the bill after lunch, this rich dude fumbled with the unknown currency, walked off then walked back, and threw about half my month’s wages on the table. He then said, "Oh yeah, here's a tip." I’m not complaining, though.
51. More Income, More Intergenerational Problems
My mom works in a family-owned business, and while the owners aren't excessively rich they're definitely upper class. I think the most messed up thing that I know about them is just how they treat members of their own families, let alone strangers. For example, the founder of the company fell and broke his hip when he was around 80.
Since he could barely walk around on his own anymore, let alone run a company, he finally retired and gave the company to his daughter. This was a huge mistake. She put him in a home, never visited him again for his entire life (He passed away at age 92, just to give some perspective on how long that was), and almost immediately began to drive the company into the ground.
Around three years after the daughter became the owner of the company, her grandson is hired into basically the same sort of secretary job my mother has. Now it's a bit of a long story, but he lives with his aunt who also works for the company, basically in the same job his grandmother had before she became the company owner.
So, things are going fine for a while, then eventually he comes out as gay, and is immediately fired for some BS reason by his own grandmother. On top of that, she demands that her daughter kick him out of her house or she'll fire her too, but thankfully she wasn't taking any of that, and said she'd sue her mother if she fired her over it. Her mother backs down, and thankfully the kid isn't kicked out onto the streets, but he's sure as heck not getting his job back. Then of course since he was fired, all of the work he was doing is piled onto my mother's desk.
Fooji
52. Helicopter Parents Never Fly Coach
I worked as a nanny for a 1% family. The stuff I saw haunts me. I remember having one parent complain how rude it was a friend hadn't offered to fly them to Miami on a private jet for a weekend getaway, and they were "forced" to go first-class. Had the other parent tell me they thought it was really "sweet" I was happy to help others and never be wealthy.
They would also spring last-minute trips on me and their kid all the time, so I'd stay in the main house with their child while the parents were country-hopping. Poor kid never had any sense of who was going to be where. There were business-related videos of the parents on YouTube, so it got to the point where I'd play them on an iPad so the kid had some sense of consistency.
Just to be clear, the kid was absolutely adorable and very sweet (which made it really hard to leave, I felt terrible), but it was pretty disheartening to think they'd probably turn out like their parents in a few years. The best part about the parent complaining over the first-class flight was when they asked me if I thought they were overreacting.
Literally asked me "Wouldn't you be upset? Don't you think that's rude? They've been doing better [financially] now that they have Company X money they could have sent a plane etc." and I'm thinking, well I'm pretty sure my entire year's salary couldn't pay for one chartered flight, so you know I'm probably not the best person to ask.
53. Side Chicks
When I was a poor college student my wealthy cousin and his wife went on vacation and offered to let me house sit to give me a break from my three slovenly roommates. They live a few towns over in a very nice house with a huge front lawn and a fancy, tall iron fence with double gates. The fence and gates are about 11 feet high. You have to have a remote to open the gates.
That first night I slept so well! I breakfasted like a king and then drove to school. I got back around five, made a supper fit for a king, and settled down to write an Econ paper. My cousin has a warning system for when someone driving turns off the road and comes up to the gate. There's a chiming sound and you can look at screens in a couple of different rooms to see who it is so that you can buzz them in.
I was deep into my paper when I heard the chime. I was confused at first and check my phone before I realized what it was. I looked from the sofa and could see a movement on the security screen. I stood up and got closer and had a clear view of two women getting out of a white car. One tried to squeeze between two bars of the gate—impossible—and then the other woman tried to boost her over the top of the gate—hilarious.
The top one fell and even from the house I could hear swearing. I was about to press the intercom button and ask WTF was their problem but I was chuckling at their antics and just watched silently. They peered at the house intently from between the bars like a couple of jailbirds for a while. The skinnier one actually stripped down to her bra and panties and tried to squeeze through the bars again. No dice. Butt and boobs were not allowing that to happen. More swearing.
Then, as the skinny one got dressed again, the bigger one went back to her trunk and got out a tire iron. As soon as she started with the hinges of the gate I was calling 911. The cops took too long and the women left. I showed the cops the video but they couldn't get a license plate number. When my cousin and his wife returned the next week I told them what happened and we watched the tape. He said that he had no idea who the women were but his wife looked pissed. I packed up, thanked them for my "vacation" and left.
She divorced him that summer.
54. Too Little, Too Late
I was working as a General Manager at a struggling restaurant—struggling despite excellent business, because the owners would do stupid things like take trips to Italy on the company dime to source the "perfect" panini press. They also wouldn't staff properly; I was the only waiter ever there, open to close, six days a week, on top of handling phone orders, inventory, and other managerial duties. I was wildly overworked, but I sucked it up because the base pay was good, plus tips.
However, to fund their lavish "business" trips, costs had to be cut at the store. They decided to do this by bumping me down to minimum wage for tipped employees—effectively cutting my salary to 1/10 of its previous level. They were also too chicken to tell me until I got my new teeny paycheck and questioned the mistake. "Oh yeah haha, forgot to mention that blah blah cost-cutting blah valued team member please work with us through this difficult time."
I had worked for two weeks at this new lower rate without my knowledge. Pretty sure that's illegal, but hey, a lot of illegal things go on in the restaurant industry. That's not when I rage quit, though....a couple of hours later, I'm fuming and have decided that I can't work for the lower rate, so now I’m just waiting for the perfect chance to give my notice.
They called in a delivery guy who was fired a few weeks before, and they talk about hiring him to start doing our Facebook posts and handing out flyers around town. Whatever. Then I hear them offer him close to my old salary as "Promotions Manager"! What??? I was basically running the place for $2.13/hr and you're offering this dude almost $20/hr to walk up and down the street saying "Eat at (Name)"?
And yet, it gets worse.
They bring up our negative Yelp reviews and this guy suggests asking friends to post positive ones. The boss starts laughing and says "Better not ask our waitress to post one, it'll be all boohoo don't eat there, I can't pay my rent this month because they cut my pay without telling wahhhh!" I don’t think I was supposed to hear that, but I was five feet away, so of course I did.
I RAGED! I quit on the spot, told them to screw their job, and wished them good luck keeping the place open without me. They quickly realized I was right, as neither of them knew how to do more than pick up the takings once a week. They begged me not to quit. They were so desperate that they sat there for half an hour and allowed me to bluntly tell them exactly what kind of huge idiots I thought they were in excruciating detail.
I went on and on as my rage burned, and they just quietly listened, nodding and apologizing. Once I had cursed myself back into calmness, I walked out, 30 minutes before the dinner rush began, leaving them with an unstaffed floor and no clue how to even open the cash register. God, they were morons. I loved that they actually listened to me telling them exactly how stupid they were. No repercussions on my side, as the restaurant industry isn't known for checking references.
The place closed down about 18 months later, and I was surprised it even made it that long.
Sources: Reddit,
.JPG){kind=link}
