Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe What Screams 'I Am Upper Class'

People Describe What Screams 'I Am Upper Class'
Mateusz D on Unsplash

Define "Upper Class."

Everyone wants to be it, but who can really say what defines it?

Money can't buy class, we know that thanks to celebrity and all the Real Housewives.

But so many people believe they belong to this sacred group of privilege.

So let's figure out how we all get there.


Redditor rethinkwhatisthere wanted to discuss just what exactly are the benchmarks to becoming society's best by asking:

"What screams 'I am upper class'?"

GROSS EXCESS.

I do a lot of cable and fiber-optic work in an extremely affluent neighborhood in the FL panhandle, called Alys Beach. I'm talking GROSS excess when it comes to these houses. But the look on their face when I call their multi-million dollar villa a "townhouse," is priceless.

notacatacaton

Giphy

I Aspire. 

Honestly I don't know, I do security for upper class neighborhoods and condos and its the upper middle class people that absolutely do the crazy things for status. There was a guy who didn't have a barcode, so he came through the visitors lane everyday. He had a messy car, greasy hair, wore holey t-shirts. He was the nicest guy, but he did seem out of place. One day he was upset people were talking sh!t about him and I let him vent and he appreciated that. He came in the next day so happy and was like "Remember that b!tch I was talking about yesterday? Well l, I bought her business! Who's laughing now!"

So he was I can buy your business out of pettiness rich, which is what I aspire to be.

wrestleastavaganza2

Rumor has it.....

Knew a rich kid in college. Rumor has it, dude ended up owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to bookies for betting on NBA games. For that amount of money, the syndicates financing the bookies in my country go after you and your family to make sure you pay.

Night before pay day, dude went to his parents allegedly crying, telling them he had a problem. Parents were obviously concerned. Dude told them what happened and parents breathed a sigh of relief.

They thought he got a chick pregnant. They gave him the money to pay the bookie, relieved.

Opulescence

Swim Deep. 

I taught swim lessons at a pretty expensive summer camp, where parents paid upwards of $200 per day for kids, and around $350/day for tweens. Swimming, hiking, paddle boards, rock climbing, horses, etc.. nothing too special these kids couldn't find at another camp. Lots of celebrity kiddos though.

I would charge $50/hr to guard private pool parties because I didn't want to work weekends and didn't really like guarding as much as I loved teaching, but these parents didn't care. I once made $400 in an afternoon guarding a pool that nobody swam in and $100 tip because the dad felt sorry for "wasting" my time. $500 to eat catered Kogi Korean bbq truck food and chat about cars for a few hours; no complaints.

It felt like I was just on display for the parents to show that they could afford a guard. I miss it sometimes.. I was dumb with the money and didn't save much, but enough for some tattoos, a flat screen, and to put 35% down on my first car.

alazaay

Basics...

Not knowing what ordinary things cost, like a banana or pair of socks.

refreshing_username

Giphy

Transport Issues. 

Frequency of travels. I work around a ton of upper class people and many of them travel so much they are practically locals at some restaurants. They also focus on lesser known, yet elaborate spots.

W8sB4D8s

The Steinway....

A wealthy couple I know has twin Steinway concert grand pianos in their ballroom-sized living room.

Neither of them plays a note on these elegant pianos that are worth about $185,000 each (Steinway model "D" - 9').

So they hire me to play for special occasions. In the interim, the 2 grands just sit there as part of the room's décor.

Back2Bach

​Having a nanny 100%.....

Having a nanny 100%. Taught at a dance school in a wealthier area. Not only did all the kids attend a private school but their nannies would be the ones dropping them off. Being that i am not upper class my first few weeks I was pretty confused as to why so many white children seemed to be adopted by asians. Than when I finally met the parents of one of my students i realized they were ALL Vietnamese nannies.

rubyrochelle11

So Quaint. 

My friend's parents have a lot of money and I went to a Halloween party that his family friends were having a couple years ago. I distinctively remember hearing the following two sentences (both travel related):

  1. "We only have five trips booked next year so we're going to try to sneak in a little visit to Egypt in April."
  2. "Yeah, we were just offered another expenses paid trip to St. Lucia but we turned it down. It just gets boring when you've been so many times."

To the second one, I said "I had to downgrade to one-ply toilet paper this month. Can I have the trip?" They all laughed at my "quaintness."

viennawaits88

Add it up...

Being enormously more concerned about how long something will take to get done, rather than how much it will cost.

foodfighter

While we may not have nailed down what upper class is, it seems like classy isn't necessarily part of it.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Signal app logo; J.D. Vance
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Signal's Founder Epically Roasts Vance Over The Disastrous Group Chat Debacle

Signal founder Matthew Rosenfeld, better known by the pseudonym Moxie Marlinspike, mocked Vice President J.D. Vance after the app found itself at the center of the Trump administration's group text scandal.

Rosenfeld's post came amid revelations that Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was invited into a Signal chat with high-level Trump administration officials, particularly Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing military strategy surrounding war strikes in Yemen.

Keep ReadingShow less
MTG, Martha Kelner
C-SPAN

MTG Blasted For Her Unhinged Reaction To A UK Reporter Asking Her A Question

Far right Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was bashed for viciously shutting down a British reporter who had a question about the Signal group chat scandal, AKA "Signalgate."

Republican President Donald Trump's administration continues to downplay concerns after The Atlantic'seditor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to the Signal messaging app's group chat in which U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared with top intelligence officials the specific weapons programs regarding the U.S. war strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Rachel Maddow
MSNBC

Rachel Maddow Gives Trump A Blistering Reality Check After His 'Perfect' Presidency Claims

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow criticized President Donald Trump after he claimed "we've had two perfect months" to start out his presidency—conveniently downplaying "Signalgate" and ignoring all the scandals that have thus far struck his administration.

You can see his comments to reporters in the video below:

Keep ReadingShow less
train crossing in small town
craig kerwien on Unsplash

People Share Their Most Embarrassing Small Town Stories

I lived most of my life in a very small town in Northern Maine. There were about 200 kids in my high school and there were 56 kids in my graduating class—we were tied with the class of 1961 for the largest class ever.

When the primary employer in town—Pinkham Lumber Mill—shut down, the town got even smaller. Now the senior class is considered large if it reaches double digits.

Keep ReadingShow less
A post-it with "I Quit" written on it over a computer keypad
a yellow notepad on a keyboard
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

People Reveal Why They Quit Their Job On The First Day

As much as anyone may want to quit a job, at the end of the day it's easier said than done.

For one thing, even if people are working soul-sucking jobs that barely cover expenses, they still can't afford to lose the paycheck, until something better comes along.

Keep ReadingShow less