Not everyone is privileged to grow up with money. And we can all agree that those who did already have fewer problems to deal with than those who didn’t, particularly when it comes to finances.
That said, it can be off-putting to encounter someone from wealth who tries so hard to live as if they share the same worries as everyone else. This was the exact scenario among a group of friends when a rich kid tried to open up about incurring credit card debt from lavish living.
Can you guess how it all played out? Your presumptions are likely right on the money (no pun intended), but do scroll through to see how it all unfolded.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with coming from a wealthy family
Image credits: Vitaly Gariev (not the actual photo)
However, it became a problem with this friend group, where one of them grew up with money
Image credits: Vitaly Gariev (not the actual photo)
The author, who was cut off by a friend for “acting ghetto,” wonders what she did wrong
Image source: anonymous
Having money changes how a person thinks and feels about themselves and others
Image credits: Getty Images(not the actual photo)
She may have asserted her supposed humility and understanding for her non-wealthy peers, but the author nonetheless appeared naive and sheltered because of her upbringing with money.
One of them appears to be the lack of empathy.
To demonstrate this, psychology professor Dr. Paul Piff conducted a Monopoly experiment in which one person would be the rich player and another the poor player.
In his interview with the American Psychological Association, rich players who had double the advantage began moving around the board “in a louder fashion” while completely becoming “less sensitive” to the plight of the poor players.
“You can create this kind of rigged experience of privilege through the flip of a coin and get someone to experience that privilege and actually start to manifest as if they deserve that privilege in certain ways within an experience,” Dr. Piff noted.
Another study by researchers from Harvard and the University of Utah found that money tends to lead to unpleasant behaviors, regardless of the person’s true intentions.
As University of Utah professor and one of the study’s co-authors, Kristin Smith-Crowe, explains, “Even if we are well-intentioned, even if we think we know right from wrong, there may be factors influencing our decisions and behaviors that we’re not aware of.”
Reading through the texts, you may also sense the author’s seemingly out-of-touch views on wealth disparity, especially when she said how she could pay off her credit card debt using her trust fund if she “needed to.”
While she may not have malice or arrogance behind her statements, the reactions from her friends who didn’t grow up under the same circumstances were understandable.
She will need to apologize to keep the friendship, but she also needs a reality check from those close to her.
The author provided more information about her post
Many people in the comments called her out for being the jerk in the situation
Some people thought everyone was at fault
While there were those who sided with her
