July 31, 2019 | Christine Tran

People Share Their Cringiest Encounters With “Rich Kid Syndrome”


Was Richie Rich just a cartoon? Money doesn’t tank a personality, but it certainly irritates those who have much less. These people had unfortunate encounters with more fortunate kids, whose familiarity with funds made them often hard to understand (and empathize with). When money is no object, consequences become a foreign object. Charge it to daddy’s credit card and enjoy these stories of “rich kid syndrome.”


1. The Grass is Less Relatable on the Other Side

I grew up absolutely dirt poor. I'm 28 and I often have to help my parents pay their bills still. But my wife comes from money. The effect on her is minimal as her parents were self-made and taught her to work for everything she has. Sure, if we were destitute, they would bail us out, but they aren't handing out gifts. But because of this she ended up going to a really nice school in "that part of town” and all of her friends come from money. Some of it very old money. Their parents bought their first cars, put them through college where they never had to work, paid for their weddings, and put down payments on their houses.

They are all really awesome people and I love having them in my life, but sometimes they just don't get it. Naw man, we can't go out to Europe with you guys for two weeks because we gotta work, and just can't afford it, our mortgage is due this week. No, we can't really afford to eat at that place the third time this week, our dog had an emergency visit to the vet.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

2. Your Ingratitude is My Pleasure

Dunno if it qualifies as rich kid syndrome, but when I got out of the Navy, I decided to use my GI bill at one of the Penn State satellites. I was sitting in the cafeteria drinking coffee and typing up a paper when a girl sits down across from me and opens her backpack. She pulls out a sandwich bag and looks at it in disgust then looks me dead in the eye and says, "I don't even know why I bother; my mother never cuts off the crust.” I let out one of those high-pitched short laughs, like, is this girl for real?

Oblivious to the tone of it she says, "I know right" then asks me if I want it. I looked around thinking I was getting pranked or something 'cause this stuff is too stereotypical to be real, and I just assumed I was being filmed. She shook it at me and gave me a "Well?" look. So, I said screw it and took the sandwich. She then pulled out her student ID card and bought a ton of French fries. That sandwich was awesome; I think the bread was homemade and it was stacked like a Dagwood. It had all kinds of expensive looking meats and Dijon mustard, serious gourmet stuff. I know this girl’s mother will never see this, but I just wanna say someone appreciated that sandwich.

Rich Kid Syndrome Facts Flickr

3. Fast and Furiously Spoiled

In high school, this one rich kid was bragging that he got in his third fender bender in his "old" car (3 years old) that his parents gave him, but he hated, so his parents were buying him an entirely new (current year) car to incentivize him to drive better.

Life-Ruining Secret FactsShutterstock

4. At Least He Learned the Value of a Dollar (or 20,000)

Worked with this kid who was a good kid, but completely disconnected from the financial realities of most people. He’d just moved out west from another state and was trying to get on like a “normal” adult. He went to buy a new car and was shocked that they couldn’t just bill his dad for it, because they didn’t know him.

He ordered a bottle of wine at a restaurant and the sommelier said “Certainly, sir.” Then the sommelier whispered, “Just for your knowledge, sir, the bottle is $700.” He looked straight at him and asked, “Is that a lot?” The sommelier honestly didn’t know how to answer.

He was a good kid, and he got a lot better, but he just didn’t know. Once he casually told his mom he needed some help with bills, and she deposited $20,000 into his account.

Rich Kid Syndrome Facts Shutterstock

5. Save the War for Home

Went to a destination wedding in a Mexico resort. Rich kids rented a golf cart, tore through the streets and flipped the cart (injuring people and causing a huge commotion and traffic jam).

A Mexican lady comes out and begins to scold them for their behavior. "You wouldn't act this way at home!"

Rich kid responds, "I promise you we do."

It was the earnestness of his reply that got me.

He really believed that he was placating her with that response. There's gotta be a German word for something being funny because the other party is aloof to their own behavior.

Rich Kid Syndrome Facts Shutterstock

6. Unreal Estate Problems

My brother works at a rehab center for the kids of wealthy parents. He's always got stories, but the one that sticks with me the most was a kid who was in trouble with the law and doing rehab before his court appearances. You know, to look like a better person and hopefully the judge would go easier on him.

He was mopey one day and my brother asks him what's wrong. The kid starts talking about how tough the whole experience has been for him, how it's been so hard on his family that his parents had to sell his house to pay for his rehab. My brother felt sympathetic and says, "Damn, that sucks that your parents had to sell their house over this," to which the rich kid corrected him, "No, they kept their house. They had to sell mine."

SO Said in Sleep FactsFlickr

7. The School of Not-So-Hard Knocks

When I was in boarding school, one of my co-boarders handed me some mail saying, do you notice anything special about this envelope?” When I checked it out, I realized his face was on the stamp... He was royalty...

A rich kid from Taiwan was also attending same boarding school. My advent calendar had little chocolates, his had a remote-control car, Sega Game Gear, etc. etc...

Another teenager (16) arguing on the phone to his grandfather that he didn't want a Porsche, he wanted the Ferrari....

Not Right in the Head FactsShutterstock

8. The Mother of All Insurance

I've posted this before, and I need to say first, off the bat, that this is about my best friend, and she is the best person I know; i.e. not normally "rich kid" or anything.

I was complaining about how I was short on money one month (just couldn't go out to eat) because I had to pay rent and pay for tag renewal all in the same paycheck. She looked at me, super seriously, and was like, "Don't worry they send you those in the mail for free!"

After a long discussion she learned that in fact, her mom had been paying for her new tags every year.

Rich Kid Syndrome Facts Shutterstock

9. Money Please!

I work for a dentist, and her son is a spoiled brat. He was at the office one day because she had to bring him to an appointment later that day. He got bored and went out wandering around some of the local shops. He came back a little while later and without any preamble walked up to her and said, "Give me $80.” She asked him what it was for, and he just repeated himself and she gave it to him.

So, the kid is 19 years old; he was 17 at the time of this incident. The father is in the picture, but my boss (the dentist) is the main breadwinner and disciplinarian of the family. The husband is more like another child and just works here and there and lives off her money. She tries to act tough and instill certain morals and values in her kids, but then turns around and caves to all of their demands. For example, her twin daughters are going to university next year and instead of staying in a dorm they demanded a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. They refused to share a bedroom or even a bathroom. At first, she told them absolutely not; but they whined and complained, and she caved. This will be a tw0-bed, two-bath apartment in Toronto by the way where rent prices are through the roof. My boss is very much about appearances and from a young age got her rich kids accustomed to a privileged lifestyle. She created monsters.

Yes, they are totally like Jean Ralphio and Mona Lisa Saperstein.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

10. Wine and Dine Them

This case isn't too bad, and it’s a bit funny. I became friends with a kid whose family was really well off. He was a really nice bloke, but a bit sheltered and university was the first time he really had any independence, but he had very little sense of what the value of a dollar really was since his folks got him what he usually wanted, compared to what normal people would spend.

There was one particular time he wanted us to eat at a restaurant, and he assured us "it’s really good!" so we all rocked up to this place and the price for main courses started at $40 to $60, which as poor Uni students we couldn’t afford. When he realized this, he was so embarrassed he got his folks to pay for it. He's finally wised up a few years later once he got more independence away from his family and made his own money and remains one of the best blokes I know.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

11. Taking the High-Cost Road

This is pretty tame, but it's what I got.

I used to work as an after-school babysitter for a LOADED doctor couple with two kids. My job was mainly to pick up the younger kid from school and hang out till his parents got home. He was a good kid, but coddled and immature. He was in 5th or 6th grade at this point. Oftentimes he would not be at his classroom when I came to get him, and the school campus was huge. Different buildings, courtyards, playgrounds, the works. If he wasn't at his classroom, I had to comb the whole campus, and he was rarely in the same place twice. He had a cell phone, but usually ignored its existence except for playing games on it in the car.

The school was in the city and I had to park on the street. A couple of times, I wound up with parking tickets because, despite having stuffed the meter with enough quarters to presumably result in ample time, the search for my charge would take much longer than anticipated. After a point, I mentioned this to him, calmly asking that he respect my time and stay in a set location so that I don't end up with a $25 ticket again. He looked at me with a good-natured shrug and said, "Well, that's not much. You can afford that."

Sonny, your parents paid me $140 a week and I was in college. I know you live in a $1.4 million house and your dad buys you an expensive new toy every Sunday, but with the money they're forking over for your education someone ought to have taught you the value of a dollar by now.

But honestly, he was a nice kid. They moved away and I hope he's doing well.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

12. A Penny a Day Keeps Jerks Away

Went to HS with this insufferably rich kid. Family had a couch in their home's elevator. And classical European sculpture (this was in the US). Kid talked down to/about the less fortunate on a regular basis. Once made fun of me for picking a coin up off the ground.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

13. Rich Enough to Cheap Out

“I could absolutely survive on my own; my parents just pay for my food and house, but I pay for everything else. If I got a job, I could pay for my food and house too.” Said at 18, in the middle of a discussion between two middle-class peers who were talking about saving money because they had to pay for their own college and living expenses. About five minutes prior to this conversation, both peers had ordered the cheap dinner options and declined a shopping trip later that night, while rich-girl was talking nonstop about buying the best/most expensive souvenirs for her friends.

Once tried working a regular-person-retail-job and quit within a couple weeks as it “just wasn’t right and I didn’t like it” (read: had actual responsibilities for the first time).

Moved cross-country for an eight-month education course, where her parents pay food, rent, and school. They also gave her a debit card which replenishes up to $500 when it hits $50... she still posts Snapchats with captions of “that broke person life” over pictures of her getting Starbucks every day and insists she could survive on her own.

Constantly suggests the most expensive options for meals, activities, etc., and tacks on things like “We can just split the bill, I know you’re saving but it’s just [amount at least $50], you’ll be fine right?” Then gets upset when people can’t afford to spend time with her, or when someone dares to suggest that she helps cover costs.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

14. We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Friend got a theater with an arcade built over their family’s 12-car garage. Parents didn’t want the 5-year-old sister to be jealous, so they hired an architect to design and build her a fully functioning playhouse with a bathroom, bedroom, and air conditioning. Just the tip of the iceberg with this family though.

And for what it's worth, no, neither I nor my family are rich. We just lived really close to the family and my dad and mother became close friends with them. They were on the whole really nice and innocent people drunk on the spoils of wealth. I can say I genuinely love the family.

And no, these are not "normal rich" people. These are ultra-rich, probably richer now than they were then. For example: George Bush Junior visited the family's house to hold a fundraiser for his second campaign.

This was not a typical rich family. Their father built a mini racetrack for his Lotus Esprits at his lake house. Also built a mega yacht with a garage for what most of us would consider a large boat on it—surprise, he never really used it more than once or twice. An impulse purchase. The house, more aptly called a castle, was filled with game from African safaris taken in the 70s and 80s.

The wife bought a popular fast food franchise unavailable in our area because she didn't like having to drive 30 minutes to get what she wanted. Once when I was swimming in the waterfall pool with the son, my mom called and reminded them that I needed to be home for some sports event or something, and we hopped in their Bentley dripping wet. It was the first time my feet ever touched a fur floor in a car—soaking wet at that! At the millennium, the father was into tattoos and regularly spend tens of thousands to fly the best tattoo artists in the world in from Japan and LA to work on his "Yakuza style" sash tattoo. I could go on and on.

But the number one thing that I think might qualify one in the family for "rich kid syndrome" is that the father, who inherited his family business from his father, sold the business overseas in the late 80s. The company was the only reason the town had to exist. Ever since, the community has been recognized as the most depressed in the state, and the schools unequivocally the worst.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsGetty Images

15. 911, How Much is Your Emergency?

I once had a mom ask if I could open up the back of our ambulance so her kid could see what was inside since he "wanted to be a firefighter" (I'm a medic, not a firefighter). I agree as long as he doesn't touch anything. Of course, the second the doors open the kid hops in and goes straight for our expensive monitor. I tell him no, that's it's dangerous and could break, to which he starts screaming “I don’t care, my mom will buy it," and the mom says "It's fine, just let him play with it, if it breaks I'll replace it."

I had to physically pick him up and carry him out of the ambulance since she didn't even try to control him. While this is happening, we get paged out for a call and this witch suggests that she could pay double our hourly wage if we stay for a few more minutes so her little brat could explore/destroy more of our equipment! Screw outta here with that nonsense lady. You're willing to delay an ambulance so you won't have to deal with precious little Joey's tantrum? Unbelievable.

Gut Feeling FactsShutterstock

16. Flying Solo

My roommate refused to go with his family for spring break since there wasn’t a flight with first class seats and only business class was available. He ended up taking a connecting flight that did have first class available while the rest of his family just took business on the direct flight.

Air Travel FactsShutterstock

17. The Family Retainer

Wouldn't exactly call it rich kid syndrome, but it took me a while to get used to my GF’s lifestyle. I grew up in a very working-class family with both my parents working full time just for us to stay afloat. Went around my GF’s house and saw a lady making food in the kitchen, "You must be Mrs. (Surname)," trying to be really polite and introduce myself to her family. That was actually their maid, awkward.

Luckily, they're all really down to earth and stuff cause turns out her parents were basically homeless and living out of a storage space when they were my age, but her parents started up a little business that actually became successful enough to support them, and then just kept growing.

Nicest Thing Ever Done FactsShutterstock

18. Money Can’t Buy Friendship, But It Can Buy a Look the Other Way

The dude who relentlessly bullied me in school was also the son of one of the richest people in the city. One day, a teacher caught him with his hands around my throat, and I was pinned against a wall. We were both taken to the teachers' meeting room, where it was explained to me that we should try and get along and that we should apologize to each other.

Did I mention his dad also built the flashy new cafeteria for the school that year?

He was caught on numerous occasions with me in some state of distress, and every time they found ways to make it both our problem. His dad pumped a lot of money into that school.

He also flew his friends on his private airline to Manchester United games so nobody stood up for me because they could lose their privileges. My saving grace was a lot of his mates in early years of secondary school turned on him in the later years because he was such a jerk.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

19. Money Can’t Buy Class

Attended an international high school in Ho Chi Minh City, where a lot of new-wave millionaire's kids live. The school was ridiculous, a third of the kids were expats (perfectly lovely kids), a third were local Vietnamese kids whose parents were working their BUTTS off to send them to a private school, and the other third were these rich kids.

They wouldn't ever hesitate to show off their mummy and daddy's wealth. They'd pull up to school in Lamborghinis, Ferraris etc. etc. and if their Rolls Royce didn't come on time to pick them up after school it would be a straight phone call to their other driver to COME PICK ME UP RIGHT NOW.

They'd be such jerks 24/7 to the non-rich locals (classist kids), and constantly just bringing up the most trivial things and complaining about them. I'm literally not exaggerating here when I say this: e.g., my maid bought me the WRONG LV bag! I TOLD HER it was the TAN BROWN one not the LIGHT BROWN one! Ugh I can't believe it—now we have to send her on the jet to Shanghai to get it.

They all paid and used family connections to get into Harvard, Stanford, UPenn etc. etc., and even now constantly complain on Facebook and Instagram about how bad their residence hall food was so they just hired some freaking personal chef or something. Mind you, these kids were the DUMBEST bunch I've ever seen—one of them literally was clueless about the most basic facts but still got into business management.

Despised the lot of them. Glad I'm in Europe, far away from most of them.

Man, I’m clearly not entirely over it.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

20. Call It a Bad Harvest

Group of rich high school kids in Montana out driving around, drinking. Found two combines (large farm tractor thingies, worth about $250,000 each) out in a wheat field. Decided to have a demolition derby. Got caught. In the judge’s chambers with the farmer, who just wanted the damages reimbursed. The high-end family lawyers asked what the heck they were thinking when they did it. The response: “Well, you can’t put a price on a good time.” Turns out that was the wrong answer...

Zsa Zsa Gabor factsShutterstock

21. Where There’s a Will, There’s a Brat

He was 25 years old when I knew him. His father owned oilfields. He had a credit card that he used for anything and everything, which his parents paid the balance on every month. He never even kept track of what was charged on it, just bought whatever caught his fancy. He openly and shamelessly admitted that he had offered his college professor money to give him a passing grade.

One day, he was cranky about something and said, "I wish my parents would just die, so I could have their money. Why should I have to wait?"

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

22. A Drop in the Ocean

Back in high school we were doing one of those ice breakers where we passed a beach ball around and whoever caught it had to answer the question their thumb landed on. Well, this kid who has proclaimed being rich numerous times before talking about his parents owning a known pizza place and how he drives an expensive sports car caught the ball. His question was, "If you won a million dollars what would you do with it?" His response was somewhere along the lines of "A million dollars wouldn't make any difference in my life."

George Clooney FactsPixabay

23. Doesn’t Sound Like a Nice Guy, But Okay…

I have a rich kid in my MBA cohort that outsources his homework and projects to India. He whined and moaned when one of our professors gave him a “C” when he only showed up to two classes after “he (dad)” donated $10,000 to school. Overall nice guy but doesn’t really have a clue.

Martin Luther King Jr. FactsShutterstock

24. Second-Class Flying, Third-Class People

I went to middle/elementary school with some very wealthy people. Typically, I was oblivious enough to not really realize it, but two instances come to mind:

In fifth grade, we did an exchange trip type of thing with some kids in Canada. On the flight over there, one of my classmates said, "Wow, this is crazy. I've only ever flown first-class before!"

Later, in eighth grade I was at that same rich kid's house (an absolute mansion on top of a hill, with the long landscaped entrance drive, marble-floored entrance hall with stairs winding up either side, etc.), and he and a girl (who had been dropped off in her dad's "newer" Ferrari) started having a discussion comparing the merits of their relative in-home movie theaters. Like, not just a living room with a cool A/V setup, but full on movie theaters with rows of seats that could seat about 50 people.

My family wasn't poor, but that was when I realized we weren't rich either.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

25. Fortune with Extra Cheese

I deliver pizza in a VERY rich area. I’m talking seeing Rolls Royces and supercars on a daily basis kind of rich.

My manager told me a story of someone that used to work there. This guy would deliver pizzas in a brand-new BMW M3 and just put absolutely no effort into his job (delivering pizza isn’t hard).

Apparently. this guy only had a job because his parents wouldn’t pay his allowance if he didn’t work.

How much was his allowance?

$5,000 a month.

This guy was making $60,000 a year to deliver pizza part time.

Delivery Experiences FactsShutterstock

26. Maid to Be Impressed

Brought my college roommate to my mom’s house for Thanksgiving because he lived in a different state, and I only lived 15 mins from campus. I gave him a quick tour of the house, and he was astonished by how clean it all was (my mom’s a neat freak and keeps a very clean house). He then said to my mom, “Wow you guys must have a really good maid service.” I’ve never seen my mom laugh that hard before.

Worst Thing Found in Hotel FactsShutterstock

27. The Princesses and the Pauper

Two girls, both nice and fairly level-headed but also just raised too damn rich.

One would take a taxi everywhere in town. It was a very safe, small college town with free campus buses, and she’d taxi across campus. She lived two blocks away from me and would take a taxi from her dorm to my house. Google Maps says it’s a full four-minute walk. She swore she just had a terrible sense of direction and couldn’t figure out where we lived, but you’d think after the first embarrassingly short taxi ride, she’d throw our address into Google Maps and just walk.

The other would regularly complain about people not knowing how to manage their money. It took a while to figure out, but eventually it clicked that she meant very poor people didn’t know how to invest their money in stocks and bonds. Then one day we were having a conversation where she revealed she didn’t think a house in Detroit in 2010 could possibly cost under $1 million. I told her I grew up in a nice $180,000 house and she thought I was dumb or lying. Shattered her world when I showed her my home on Zillow. When she graduated college, she complained about how much stuff cost all the time; it was nice seeing her learn the value of a dollar finally.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

28. Sticking Around

Went to college with a totally chill dude who was apparently rich as heck. He was on our college golf team and enjoyed destroying a club if he hit a bad shot. He wasn't even angry; it was just like a reflex to go Bo Jackson over his knee or whatever.

I asked him how he keeps playing, and he basically said that at the end of every round he just bought new clubs for the next round. He showed me in the trunk of his car how he had like five boxes of irons and always took the plastic off a new driver for every round I saw him play (and he played every day at least 18 if not 36 holes). He said it wasn't even a rounding error in his dad's credit card...

Close-Up Of Golf Clubs In Bag.Getty Images

29. The Garage is Open But Nobody’s Home

Rich kid in my high school crashed six cars within a year. And they weren't like 1990's Toyotas and Hondas most high schoolers buy (themselves); these were brand new Subaru STIs, a BRZ, a BMW, brand new Jeep, stuff like that. The last car his dad bought him was a semi new Ford focus. A decent car, better than my 1997 white Camry.

Every day he complained and threw a fit his dad wouldn’t buy him another $30,000+ car.

Nurses Ghost Stories FactsPixabay

30. Let It Snow

One of the kids in my grade brought bags of cocaine to senior prom. Not only did his parents let him go, but the police did too. Now I believe he's in an engineering program at Yale.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

31. Wrong Side of the Bed

A kid that used to work for me came in to work super cheesed off one day. I asked him what was wrong, to which he replied, “My freaking maid didn’t make my bed again, but my dad still won’t fire her!”

Horrible Bosses FactsShutterstock

32. How Low Can You Go?

Know a girl who comes from a multimillion-dollar family... She made several blog posts about how she and her SO were broke (spent the year living REALLY lavishly) and that they were going to end up on the street because there was no place to live available in their price range, and she genuinely wanted to kill herself. Turns out what she meant is that there wasn't anywhere available ABOVE the normal rent rate... Ended up in a top floor penthouse. Guess daddy came through? Neither of them work.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

33. Why Not Buy the Neighborhood at This Point?

My boss bought her kids a $2,000,000 house to live in while they went to college. My boss also paid for their college.

So of course, they move out of the$2,000,000 house five months later because they want to be independent. Oh yeah, and expect mommy and daddy to pay for their rent, utilities, college, cars, vacations to see friends in different states...etc.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

34. Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Unplayed Games

Friend in college literally went to the local GameStop at midnight every Tuesday. He'd buy every new release for every console. We went over to his house one time that year and he had about 60ish games that were unopened.

One time, we were walking around campus and he stopped by the ATM. He got his receipt and called his dad. Turns out his dad was worried his funds were running low, so he sent him $25,000 just to make sure he wasn't going to starve.

Messed With the Wrong Person factsNeedpix

35. Size Matters to the Little One

Nannied for a wealthy family in the upper east side of Manhattan. Got engaged to my now-husband. Boy, age eight or nine, thought my ring was super cool and unique because he “never saw one that small before.”

Worst Ways They’ve Been Dumped FactsShutterstock

36. More Money, More Mental Problems

Had a friend in high school whose dad was uninvolved. He was raised middle class like me and lived with his mom and stepdad. After high school, he worked towards becoming an electrician and was saving for his first apartment.

His dad eventually came around when he was right out of high school and started giving him money here and there when he needed it. His dad owned a large company on the east coast and was a multi-millionaire.

Soon his dad convinced him to quit trade work and gave him a job at his business. Shortly after, he was promoted to a managerial position he wasn’t qualified for and paid way too much. He’d get drunk while on conference calls and nobody questioned him since he was the boss’s son.

His dad bought him his first home (almost half a million dollars) and multiple cars. He took up horse racing and, quickly, we had nothing in common. Gone we’re the days of dumb teenage stuff, going fishing, hiking and playing video games together. He quickly found a girlfriend whose dad was a multi-millionaire. She was 30 and still putting everything on daddy’s credit card. I couldn’t keep up with their lifestyle and very quickly we faded as friends. After his girlfriend and him broke up, she told me that he was actually severely depressed and almost drove his car off a bridge multiple times. Deep down, he was having issues with wanting to live up to his dad’s lifestyle and standards but losing his old friends and life. It’s too bad. I haven’t seen him in probably four years now. We tried to reconnect a few times, but it just doesn’t work anymore.

Worst Ways They’ve Been Dumped FactsShutterstock

37. Cash and Crashed

A group of rich kids who went to high school with me got super drunk at a party and then drove home and crashed the car. Only one of the four of them got in any trouble (she ended up getting maybe 40 hours of community service). Then this girl was complaining about how her parents wouldn't buy her a brand new, fairly expensive car for her birthday until she got the community service done.

Online Friends FactsShutterstock

38. A Phone is Like a Fish: Catch and Release

I taught for six years at a school with extremely rich kids (the professional athletes in my city would live in this district and their kids would go here, and lots of other wealthy people).

I taught 7th grade. One of my students had the iPhone 6. He wanted the newest phone at the time, the 6S which had come out that week—so this was probably late September. During the bus call, he was whining about his parents telling him that he had to wait until Christmas to get a new phone.

What did he decide to do? He chucked his phone at the cinderblock wall in the hallway from my classroom. It broke his screen, and possibly his phone.

He had the iPhone 6 the next day.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsPixabay

39. Poverty is Just an Aesthetic, Right?

My ex was a “poor” rich kid from the eastern suburbs of Sydney. His dad was the CEO of a big medical corporation, but my ex was a “free spirit, hippie” who would act like he was dealt a rough hand in life. He was smelly and dressed in what looked like rags—all for the aesthetic.

His dad gave him $500 regularly to spend on whatever he pleased. He blew it all on drugs which he’d share with his hippie mates. He never had to work a day in his life and his parents paid for his university tuition upfront.

His dad once spent $40 on a bottle of water for us when we went out to dinner.

His mum ended up having a chat with me basically implying that her son couldn’t date me because I was poor. (I’m from western Sydney so if you know, you know).

Creepiest Encounters with Stalkers FactsShutterstock

40. Must-See-TV Means Must See

15-year-old girl insisted that the family’s flights to a pacific island get pushed back a day so she wouldn’t miss an episode of her favorite TV program. They went a day late on vacation.

This was in 1998 when streaming wasn’t an option.

As some of you have pointed out she could have recorded it, but it wouldn’t be a true case of "rich kid syndrome" if she were happy to wait two weeks to watch the season finale. It would just be a run-of-the-mill "rich kid owns a VCR (and goes to Tahiti)" situation.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

41. Someone Needs to Go Back to School and It Ain’t Us

I work landscaping and was working at a lady’s house, planting a tree and spraying the grass with pesticide. When we were packing up the truck, I heard her say to her teenage son to do well in school or he’ll end up working like us. All but two of my coworkers on that job had at least bachelor’s degrees from major universities. I’m working on a master’s degree in conservation management right now. You actually need to be pretty smart and well trained to apply chemicals around houses.

Rich Kid Syndrome FactsShutterstock

42. Daddy Warbucks Comes Back with a Vengeance

I worked as a bouncer at a high-end night club. The biggest boner of a rich kid, straight out of Malibu’s Most Wanted, gets a VIP booth and bottle service. Racks up a massive bill trying to act like a baller. His credit card gets denied, and he has to call his dad to come down at 1:30 am because he can’t order any more bottles. His dad comes down in his pajamas. Obviously ashamed and furious at this brat of a kid.

Ends up embarrassing the heck out of his kid in front of his whole group of friends. He takes the kid's keys and is about to leave when his kid makes some trashy comment and goes back in the club. The dad’s about to walk away after he apologizes for his son, when we offer to drag him out the rough way. He smiles and accepts. That kid hit every door and step on the way out.

Not the best story but was one of the most satisfying experiences working at that club.

Rich Kid Syndrome Facts Getty Images

43. With a Little Help From My Housekeeper

There was a kid at my high school.

When he was 14, he had a learner’s permit, but his parents got him a Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Every day, he drove it to school and was determined to park it in the parking lot to show it off. So, he had his housekeeper drive to school with him and her son drove a car behind her to take her back home—which was only about 2 miles away from our school.

Spoiled Brats FactsPxHere

Sources:  Reddit,


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