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.
GiphyI 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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):
- "We only have five trips booked next year so we're going to try to sneak in a little visit to Egypt in April."
- "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."
Add it up...
Being enormously more concerned about how long something will take to get done, rather than how much it will cost.
While we may not have nailed down what upper class is, it seems like classy isn't necessarily part of it.
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