Earlier in 2021, redditor u/martinkarolev asked the AskReddit community about their "rich kid syndrome" stories. Basically, it's when rich kids act entitled, spoiled, or cluelessly out of touch because of their wealth.
We also got some shocking submissions from the BuzzFeed Community, so here are all of the wildest, most infuriating stories that were shared this year:
1. The college kid who couldn't survive on $1,000 a week:
"One time a college dorm mate next door was stressing his dad hadn’t yet given him money for the month, and $1,000 wasn’t going to last him for the week.
Meanwhile I’m having to donate plasma to afford my next meal. Life just be like that."
2. The girl who straight-up lied about being poor:
"I grew up in Alabama.
I know a girl who applied to university with an essay that talked about...how she grew up poor like [Dolly Parton], and how if Dolly could make something of herself, then so could this girl; she just needed to get into college to achieve her dreams, and she needed scholarships to pay for college.
I’m pretty sure Dolly didn’t have three brand-new cars by the time she turned 16 (driving illegally since she was 15).
Also pretty sure that Dolly’s family didn’t have a separate maid and chef for each member of the family.
Also pretty sure that Dolly didn’t have a weekly allowance of $10K from the time she turned 13 (it was $5K before that)."
3. This family, who lived like absolute peasants:
"I once said offhand mid-conversation to a uni friend that she was rich, and she replied that she was 'comfortable.' I pointed out her family had a pool in their house, and she replied, 'It's not heated.' Outstanding, I had no comeback."
4. This absolute peach of a person:
"I spent a day at the outlets with a former friend of mine. She was upset she had to wait for an employee to open a jewelry case to look at a small pair of gold earrings, and when the employee told her the earrings were 18k gold she was insulted because she 'only wears 24k gold.' She also complained that she made more money than 'everyone in the store.' Meanwhile I was working a minimum-wage job while I was in school so I could afford my bills."
5. This nightmare family:
"Once I was paired with a rich schoolmate for a project. I never talked to them, but they seemed really nice. We went to their amazing penthouse (one of many beautiful houses around the world) to work on our project. Almost immediately their hospitable personal maid was so kind as to surprise us with their favorite snack, and she gave the plate to me first. This kid started screaming at her how ungrateful she was by not serving them first. Then they stole my plate and started eating, keeping theirs as well. Shortly after, they told me to leave because they invited some of their rich friends over, and they wanted to have fun, but my cheap clothes were too depressing to see. While gladly leaving, their mother came back home and I politely greeted her, introducing myself, yet she looked at me disgusted and, keeping a safe distance from me, said, 'What is THAT?' I’m so sorry for their house staff and for whoever has to deal with them."
6. This adult who didn't know what "full time" really meant:
"My dad is an orthopedic surgeon, and my older half brother uses him as an ATM. Finally they’re cutting him off when he turns 30 this year and have been giving him financial advice. My dad told him he has to work more than four hours a week…shocker…and told him full time is 40 hours. My 29-year-old brother was like, 'FULL TIME IS 40 HOURS??' Meanwhile my 22-year-old ass is working 38 hours and working on going back to school next year."
7. Lexi:
"Girl I went to high school with got a Mercedes for her 16th birthday. Bitched and moaned about the fact that she didn't get a Lexus, because her name was Lexi and she thought it would be 'sooooo cool!' for Lexi to drive a Lexus with a custom license plate saying 'Lexi.'
Her parents did cave and buy her a Lexus for her 17th birthday."
8. The guy who just bought a new laptop instead of buying a charger:
"I knew a guy who would do anything regardless of the fine/fee/up-charge. He used to call the fines a 'poor people tax.' I also recall one time, he lost his laptop charger. Naturally, his parents overnight shipped him a new laptop."
9. This poor, poor student:
"I was a teacher at a very exclusive, private high school. I taught 10th grade. At the end of the semester, a kid who had done almost zero work during the semester comes to me BAWLING. Between tears, he begs for extra work so he could get a C instead of a D in the class. He explains that if he got a C, his dad would buy him a new car. With a D, he'd 'only' get a used car."
10. The girl who needed a donation for the silliest thing:
"While working as a house cleaner, I watched a girl bitch and moan to her mom until her mom called the private school to arrange making a donation if they moved assigned seats in classes so the girl could sit beside her friends."
11. The kid who wouldn't even notice a million dollars:
"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 had 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, and 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.'"
12. This kid, who literally WISHED DEATH upon his own parents:
"He was 25 years old when I knew him. His father owned oil fields. He had a credit card that he used for anything and everything, that they 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?'"
13. The people who casually sent an entire jet back home for BBQ:
"My friend is a commercial pilot and works for a large company that has a 'flight department' consisting of several jets and turboprop airplanes. The owner's kids, and a group of their friends, were granted permission to take one of the jets from the central part of the US to the Bahamas. Upon arriving in the Bahamas, they were meeting other friends and getting on a very, very large yacht for a week. They realized the yacht was equipped with fine dining food, not the type of food they liked (junk food). They ordered the pilots to fly back through US Customs and to their hometown in the Midwest. Once there, they had to pick up multiple sides of BBQ ribs, burgers, hot dogs, soda, beer, and piles of other junk food and fly back to the Bahamas — and do so within a timeframe that still allowed them to leave with the yacht on time. It costs roughly $5,000 an hour to operate the jet they were using. And it never even struck the owners as something extreme."
14. The girl who couldn't get why her dad was on her case all the time:
"Girl at work told me she hated her dad. I asked why. She said he keeps asking for money since she used his credit card for a Euro trip and left him an 80 grand bill from last year."
15. The terrible story of Twin A:
"Twins in high school.
[On their] birthday, I think it was 17, they get matching pickup trucks. Like the suped-up larger than life cool as fuck looking black ones.
Twin A is the brat, and smashes his in some remarkable timeframe, I want to say same day. It was crazy though.
Parents decide not to get him another one (though I'm sure insurance probably covered it even if it was his fault), but regardless he is going to learn a lesson.
The lesson?
Takes Twin B's truck (he's the responsible one) and crashes it ON PURPOSE.
If he can't have one, neither can his brother.
So much recklessness, spite, and downright illegal in what he did."
16. The kid with a legit homework excuse:
"My first teaching job was at a private middle school in one of the wealthiest enclaves in the United States. I taught a kid who told me he didn't finish his homework because his helicopter had stalled over the weekend so he couldn't leave his family's island. He was telling the truth."
17. The guitar player who was either super generous or super unaware:
"My personal favorite was in college. Kid down the hall from me bought a brand-new Fender Stratocaster, played with it for a day, and got bored and sold it to me case and all for $20. I still have it and play it 15 years later. It's a great guitar."
18. The frat guy who delegated:
"When I was in college, a friend who was heavy in the frat life told me about a first-year who got kicked out for having a servant flown to town to do the hazing chores he was supposed to do."
19. The kid who couldn't handle used products:
"There was this rich kid in our class who was literally disgusted by us buying used stuff (like computer parts) on eBay. Once during conversation, I said I bought on eBay a memory module for my PC, and he said to me that I should have a little dignity, and if I buy used stuff I should keep it to myself."
20. The roommate who decided Fridays don't count:
"My college roommate's mom gave him fucking $1,400 'for the weekend' just randomly. He blew through the whole thing by Saturday and asked his mom for more money, and was screaming at her because 'she promised $1,400 for the weekend,' and he spent most of what she gave him on Friday, which isn't a part of the weekend."
21. The rich kid whose dad had enough:
"Funny short story.
My ex-wife used to drive a 1998 Honda Accord. She treated it like shit, and so one day I got into it to drive somewhere, and I noticed that it was falling apart.
I had two options: junkyard or sell it. So I put it on Craigslist for $250. I thought it could go to a low-income family who had someone with some know-how who could semi-restore it, but when I met the buyer, he was not who I expected. He pulled up in a brand-new Escalade and told me that his son was spoiled. His son had crashed a BMW, Mercedes, and an Audi, and so he was done buying him nice cars. Turns out, this guy purchased my car as a way of torturing his son."
22. The roommate who thought parents were just laptop dispensers:
"My parents bought me a laptop for my 18th birthday. It was absolutely unheard of in my family to receive gifts as expensive or technological. I cried when my mom handed me it. I was meant to be moving away for university, and both my mom and dad had saved up six months' wage between them to afford it for me. We all hugged and cried, and it was extremely meaningful and emotional. I went off to university.
I was in the dorms one night when my dorm mate, who was a rich white boy from Long Island, brings back like two drunk girls and another friend. They start drinking and rolling up weed in the dorm, which I was fine with — it was university etc. I go to the bathroom down the hall, and when I get back, one of the drunk girls has opened my laptop and is trying to log in.
I approach her and I'm like, 'Hey that's my laptop, not (roommate's). I don't mind you using it, I guess, but let me just log you in to the guest account.' She goes to move the laptop off her lap toward me, and knocks an open bottle of wine onto it, the entire laptop being flooded with wine.
She goes, 'Oh! sorry!' And I'm like what the fuck, dude? Get a fucking towel! Put it upside down! I'm FREAKING the fuck out!!!!! I can't believe it's happening. My roommate starts telling me to chill the fuck out and asks, 'Can't you just get a new one, dude?'
I start patting down the laptop, and I ask them, please, if it doesn't work, can you help me replace it? I need it for my classes, etc. They start laughing at me! Saying, 'Why can't your parents get a new one for you?'
It took two weeks of demanding them to buy me a new one before they reluctantly did, as I had to explain to the dorm manager my situation... Luckily he was sympathetic as fuck and helped me arrange for a replacement."
23. The person who thought accessible parking spots are just there for their convenience:
"'It's not illegal for me to park in handicap spaces. It just costs $250 if I get caught. I'd rather not deal with the rain today.'
Said completely honestly. That is what we call 'fuck you' money.
Remember: Punishable by fine = Legal for the rich."
24. The kid who worked a whole month:
"This one is kinda mild, I guess, but goes to show how clueless wealthy kids can be, completely unaware of the disparity between them and average-income people.
Anyway, he picked me up in a new $85,000 sports car one day. The newest Corvette special edition model, fresh off the line. I said, holy shit, dude, your car is incredible. He said he wished everyone knew he had to work a full month with his grandfather and earned it himself."
25. The person who thought car registrations just magically renewed:
"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."
26. The kid who had no frame of reference for wine prices:
"Worked with this kid who was a good kid, but completely disconnected from financial reality for 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, since 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?'"
27. The guy who tried out one of those job thingies:
"I worked at a Starbucks, and we hired a new guy, who I was training. At one point, I had to show him how to clean the restrooms. I grab the bleach and hand him a pair of gloves, and he looks at me in disgust and says, 'We don't have a maid to clean the bathrooms??'
He quit the next day, LOL."
28. And finally, this rich kid who was at least trying to be nice:
"First day as a librarian in a private school. Help a 7-year-old with the printer. He offers to tip me."
The year is almost over, and we're looking back on 2021. Check out more from the year here!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.