Rich people don't live lives like us normal folk. Their world is filled with caviar, Evian bottles, and other trappings of the uber wealthy. Even the way they treat food is totally different from how the "lower" class lives. A recent Reddit thread asked for stories about working with the super rich and the people of Reddit definitely delivered. Now we can all know how the other half really lives. Content has been edited for clarity.
Totally Wasteful
“I had this one wealthy client, and one time when I was working there, I watched the husband throw away a perfectly good lobster because it wasn’t ‘big enough’, or something like that. He then told his cook to get another lobster! Also, the same dude dropped a $10,000 bottle of vino on the floor. Told his butler to grab another from stock (he had a case of them). Darn rich people.”
What Every 7-Year-Old Needs: Caffeine
“Nanny here. There was this one family I worked for comes to mind with a lot of strange behaviors, but I’ll just mention a few.
For starters, they let their 7-year-old drink coffee! What child needs to be drinking coffee? By the end of my time with that family, the older kids (who were around 7 or 8-years-old) drank exclusively from sippy-cups, and their 8-year-old was still in diapers.
I’m not sure how weird this is, but I found it strange – the dad would leave work in the middle of the day and go grocery shopping and bring the groceries home. Most of it was junk food and just sat in the huge walk in pantry or they would buy a lot of frozen products. The only thing I really saw them go through was milk – they would buy like four chocolate and four regular milk cartons and go through them really quickly.
They also exclusively ate fast food. They would let each kid pick a different fast-food place, and sometimes each parent would go to a different fast-food restaurant. So that would total four fast-food places in one night for one dinner.”
A Refreshing Twist
“For a while, I worked for a beverage distribution place in a very ritzy resort area. This one time, Guy’s assistant shows up and says he needs a pallet of Evian for his boss’ house. No problem. We load the bottled water onto the truck, and drive it up to his house.
After unloading, we ask him where he wants the bottled water. He leads us into the garage and asks if we can help unload it, so we start down-stacking and carry cases into what I thought would be the kitchen or pantry. Nope. We went straight through the house to the back deck.
He was filling his hot tub with Evian.”
Their Kids Were Always Sick Thanks To Their Diet
“I’m a professional nanny and most of the families i’ve worked for long-term were upper middle class, not super wealthy (but comfortable).
I did occasional weekends for an ultra wealthy family in Dallas. The mom was a stay at home mom but did a lot of social things and ‘charity work.’ The dad supposedly was a dentist down on the border of Mexico. Even a successful dentist wouldn’t make as much as he seemed to make. They were both beautiful, in a very Dallas way. The house was an immaculate mansion, totally over the top with fountains inside and outside the house. I looked up the cost of their house on Zillow and it was $6 million, so I upped my flat rate by $4 an hour. The house was fully staffed. I was one of 8 nannies that rotated throughout the month. They had 3 housekeepers come every day but Sunday from 9 to 3 pm. They had a personal on-call chef and one for their dogs as well. They had a security guard every night from 8 pm to 6 am.
They were nice and very generous with money. They’d pay me and then give me a $500 tip. The dad just kept hundreds of dollars in his wallet. I went to their twins’ first birthday party which probably cost about 10 grand, and they tipped all of the staff at the country club $200. They’d order food all the time, and were always generous enough to buy me whatever I wanted for dinner. They’d easily order about $500 worth of food and throw 60% of it away. Drove me nuts.
The kids were fine. 1-year-old twins and a 3-year-old older brother. They strongly preferred the older boy and would take him to the country club on the weekends. I was left with the twins in their playroom, which was tiny and had no windows, I think it was supposed to be a utility closet. The kids couldn’t play in other parts of the house. They couldn’t even play in their nurseries, because they’d break/ruin all the pieces of artwork kept in the room. They also would feed the kids horrible food. You’d think if you were bringing in millions a year you’d buy some organic apples or something, but nope. They’d feed them canned peas, Vienna sausages, Cheetos and fruit cups. They were also always sick.
All three boys would have diarrhea 5-6 times a day, the entire time I knew them. I suggested they had a dairy allergy, but I was always dismissed. Oh, and they slept all the time. The twins would be in bed from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am and then nap from 9:30 to 11:30, and then nap again from 2:30 to 4:30. It seems like they just had the kids for the family Christmas card and otherwise wanted them out of the way.”
Such Refined Tastes
“I’m three years into being a Sous Chef at a private resort in Upstate New York. Most of our guests are returning from generations before them. Wealthy. Very wealthy. We get some Congressmen, Actors getting away from the daily grind and publicity. But mostly families that are crazy rich, and four generations deep into annual visits. Insane the amount of requests.
But this one event that stands out as a ‘what-in-the-world?’ is this: A 60-something-year-old woman crying as loud as she could, because we didn’t have the cookies she wanted.
Guys, you would’ve thought she was just told someone died. Made a huge scene in the dining room. Her husband has the backbone of a jellyfish and just sat there, trying to console her saying, “It’s ok honey. I’ll get you cookies. Don’t cry”. The owner went out and bought store bought cookies, because we did not have time for that.
WE DID NOT TELL HER THEY WERE STORE BOUGHT. She was happy by the end of the night. Yay? Fast forward to dinner the next night. Same deal. “Where’s my cookies?” We gave her the same store bought cookies (same packaging), and she said, “These aren’t the same. The baker used too much butter this time.” Next night? “Oh these are much better.’” ITS THE SAME PACKAGE!! She comes every year. We all know ahead what week the ‘cookie lady’ is going to be staying, so we can get her store-bought cookies.”
The Same, Ridiculous Order Every Day, Three Times A Day
“When I was a supervisor for Starbucks, we had a regular who ordered the same (extra modified) frappuccino every day, three times a day. A venti, single ristretto, 2 pump frappuccino roast, 4.5 cold bar pump mocha, 8 pump frappuccino base, nonfat, x ice, double blended mocha frappuccino with a dome lid and the extra poured into the spout with whipped cream blended in. Writing that on a cup was very difficult.
She had to have it all the time and only liked getting them from a few stores. When she would go on road trips to her cabin, she would come in the night before and we would pre make a whole bunch of frappuccinos and not add ice or blend them. This would be so she could blend them in her car on the way there and back. I did the math, she spent over $8,000 per year on this.
For the record, she was an heiress and stayed at home all day watching soap operas. Plus she was a pretty repulsive person. She was very cheap, selfish and demanding, refused to tip ever, complained often and always tried getting free pastries and equipment. She complained about her taxes but was a ‘hardcore liberal.’ To top it off, she was also quite demeaning towards her children. Calling her son ‘slow’ and her daughter ‘a fatty’, in public. My niece was in her daughter’s class, and I’d hear terrible stories about this woman all the time.”
Rich Mom Offers Me Steak
“Nanny here. In my experience, the richer, the crazier. This all was part of a job interview with a very wealthy family.
The dad was a good 20 years older than his stay-at-home wife, who’d pay me absurd amount of money because she doesn’t like playing with or supervising her kid.
My first interview with the mom was cancelled because her 3-year-old had gotten into her luggage and swallowed a bunch of Tylenol. Then she un-cancelled the meeting because he was “fine”? I was like, “okay, whatever”. So, I meet her at this nice restaurant (I’d never been) for lunch. She gushes over how good the flatbreads are and recommends them to me, then proceeds to order a ‘gluten free salad’ and specifically asked for gluten free dressing. Don’t remember too much about that meeting, but she stressed that the family washes their hands every time they enter the house.
Second interview, I was invited to the house. The mom texts me beforehand to remind me that I need to wash my hands after entering her house. After I wash my hands in the designated sink, she gives me a tour of the house, making sure to point out there are cameras in each room, and a special bathroom for the nannies to use. Yes, that’s correct–a segregated bathroom. Then at the end of the interview, she kept offering me steak and a glass of merlot. Apparently she didn’t realize I was underage at the time and needed to drive myself home. I left that interview, and never looked back.”
Civil War Era Butter?
“On the weekends, I use to help my mom clean her bosses house. Her boss had this Civil War Era hutch in the corner of one room stocked with dishes. She wanted us to move the piece, and then clean the hutch and the dishes inside of it. We noticed that the hutch smelled a bit weird when we were moving/cleaning it. Well, eventually we found the source. It was butter dish with butter in it from 1984, mind you this happened to by 2014! We told her about it, and the first thing she asked us was, “did you save the butter dish?” My mom and I then went to go dig this sour smelling piece of porcelain out of the trash. Later on we found it being used in the fridge again…”
A Tailored Dining Experience
“I worked at a high class restaurant, in a nice hotel for a few years. We had this one couple come in with their miniature purse poodle dog, religiously, every Tuesday. But, due to health code, they were not allowed to bring their (non-service) dog into the restaurant. Do you what their solution was? Request a special table be set up in a private nook of the hotel lobby, so they could dine in style with their fur child.
Also, they saw the menu as more of a ‘mix and match’ situation, rather than a thought out, cohesive guide to ordering, with each component of each dish tailored to complement everything else on the plate. They chose whatever sides and sauces on the menu that struck their fancy, and paired them with their chosen protein, and they often ordered two different mix and match entrees each, plus a starter – They ALWAYS ordered the cheese and cracker board, no crackers, sub gluten free bread double toasted. The lady sent the first round of bread back every time. We could’ve sent the first round out burnt, and she would’ve sent it back to be toasted more, or re-sent the bread she had just sent back without doing anything to it and it would be ‘just divine’ the second time around. Plus they subbed all 4 or 5 of the local, artisan cheeses for Brie, which wasn’t even one of the cheeses that came on the board to begin with. We started keeping a wheel on hand specifically for them. Oh, and a ‘lightly seasoned, grilled chicken’ for the dog. They were polite, and delightfully odd (plus they tipped through the nose) so once we got used to most of their quirks, we were more entertained than annoyed, and enjoyed their weekly visit.”
A Total Pigsty
“I’m a former au-pair, worked in Europe for a family of five with the kids aged 9-13. I was mostly there to drive to the kids to their activities, appointments, and school. I’d help them with their studies, cook dinner, etc.
The mess that that family created was insane. In addition having me as an au pair, they also had a cleaning lady come in for several hours every weekday. I thought it was overkill having a cleaning lady that often but going into the main house on weekends showed me why they needed so much help.
In the kitchen, the floor would be covered in garbage, like fruit peels, eggshells, food wrappers, and scraps. The sink would be overflowing with dishes. The dining room and coffee tables were covered with used dishes and food containers. And the bathroom, oh the bathroom—on more than one occasion I would see menstrual blood wiped on the walls. I can only imagine how bad the bedrooms were. Mind you, this was what I’d encounter on a Saturday, less than 24 hours after the cleaning lady had been there. By Sunday, the main house was a disaster area, I felt so bad for the cleaning lady on Mondays, I would help her clean, when my schedule allowed for it.
If you had met them out in public or come over on a day when the cleaning lady had just finished, you would’ve never known. I was lucky enough to live in a studio apartment in the backyard so I could limit the amount of time I spent in the main house outside of work hours.
It’s worth noting that both parents were medical professionals and very intelligent but didn’t seem to care much about cleanliness at home at the time. After their kids started leaving for university, the parents got better about cleaning up after themselves (at least it seems that way based on my visits back over the years). And besides all this messiness, they were a wonderful family to work for.
Still, they are the 2nd messiest people I’ve ever encountered in my life so far.”
Must Have Been The Best Coq au Vin Ever
“I worked for a resort in the Seychelles for 4 years. The family that stands out was a very wealthy Canadian family who stayed at one of the private residences for a couple of weeks.
They brought their own staff including two personal chefs, also asked for a hotel chef to assist their team with prep and local ingredient knowledge. A chef I was friendly with was selected to spend the two weeks with them.
One day, another member of their staff came down to one of the restaurants and purchased two bottles of vino for €11,000+ each. Now we had far more expensive bottles on the list but this was still a notable sale and later that night, I asked my mate what they had cooked to accompany their purchase.
Turns out they had poured both bottles into the pot while making a Coq au Vin.”
Using “Power” To Her Advantage
“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 (Coca-Cola, just so we’re clear).
When I brought their drinks and gave the woman her Coke, she looked at me, and, in that typical rich witch voice, 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. 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 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, and Peps 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. Most customers were decent though.”
I Nannied The Parents Caffeine Addiction
“I’m a former nanny for a very wealthy Silicon Valley family. I was hired shortly after the mom had gotten married to a new husband. The husband was an older, wealthy lawyer and wife was in tech consulting.
They were always really kind to me and the kids were good despite having insane privilege. Honestly, the only weird thing was that the parents were addicted to Five Hour Energy and Coke Zero (I assume because they were total workaholics and needed the caffeine). I’d get texts at random hours just begging me to bring over Coke Zero and Five Hour Energy, so I’d purchase cases at a time and it would all be gone by the end of the week. The kids didn’t touch the stuff, they made sure of it, so I knew it was pretty much only the mom and dad drinking it.”
Her Diet’s Probably The Reason For Her Lack Of Hair
“The most bizarre family I worked for was this rich, young family in Vienna, Austria. They had two kids, ages 3 and 7, and their bedtime routine included a spa treatment (for both). I’d never seen that many hair and body care products in a child’s bathroom, they each had their own! The poor 7-year-old girl had next to no hair on her head, but I was required to slather her in the most expensive adult shampoo, conditioner, hair mask, hair oil, and some other things I didn’t recognize – every night.
The kids only had one tiny box of toys and was allowed to play with toys for 30 minutes after they brushed their teeth. Dinner was normally a bland fish fillet paired with a lot of salad. Not a grain of sugar anywhere in the house. The hot cocoa was made with skim milk and pure high quality cocoa – no sweetness to it whatsoever, it tasted awful.
The parents were extremely detailed oriented, and made sure to explain everything to me the first time, then I received an inch thick file with lists and procedures to follow. What the parents failed to mention was that the older girl was still wearing diapers at night. Finding that out, made for a very awkward conversation with the child. I hope I was sensitive enough to not cause her any future trauma.
Very, VERY weird.”
He Insisted On A Place With Steak On The Menu
“The only time I’ve ever babysit, it was for a friend of my grandparents. All I really had to do was hang out with their 8-year-old grandson for a night. Overall, it was a pretty cool night. All we did was play video games all night, so it wasn’t bad.
But anyway, this family wasn’t like billionaire wealthy, but wealthy enough to where they left me an envelope with $500 in it and told me whatever I don’t spend on food, I could keep. Wealthy enough to speed off to dinner in a Maserati, to have a pool, jacuzzi, and nice BBQ built-in to the backyard out back. You get the idea, they were just an old couple with some money, and they were taking their grandson’s parents out to dinner one particular night.
Having been given $500 for “dinner”, I thought to myself, I might as well splurge like $30 or $40 on a meal for two and pocket the rest. I was like 17 or 18 at the time so I can’t say it was a negligible amount of money. Anyway, I take the kid outside to my car across the street, which, at the time, was my older brother’s 2005 Toyota Corolla.
He gets in, takes a look around, and goes, “Where’s the button that moves the roof back?” Sorry kid, no convertible here. He tells me that his parents only have convertible cars and that he’s only been in one other car that isn’t a convertible, and that “he isn’t my friend anymore.”
I thought that was pretty weird. Throughout the night, he did also make some interesting ‘rich kid’ comments, such as asking if we could go to a restaurant that had steak on the menu. He revealed an interesting bit about his parents, saying that they keep talking about bringing him a sister when ‘the time is right.’ Apparently the kid asked the dad when the right time was and he said, “when mommy stops being afraid.”
I then learned that the kid’s mom and dad divorced about a year later. Felt bad. He was a cool kid, didn’t really have that spoiled vibe. More like a curious innocent, steered wrong by his parents’ vibe.”
A Monster Waste Of Money
“I was a nanny for a rich family in Vegas. The amount of food they wasted was crazy. There was this one instance I can remember: 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. I guess there is something sweet about that, but too bad she wasn’t very nice to her workers. Plus she was definitely not poor as a kid, her family was in the casino business and she and her husband owned a very successful business, so it’s not like this was some weird trait from her childhood.
Oh, then there was this other time they had me run around and buy $25 gift certificates for their annual company Christmas party from 25 different places… in Las Vegas… two days before Christmas. That was fun.
She was a strange woman but her husband was cool and I liked the kids.”
