People Who’ve Worked for the Rich Are Sharing the Most Out-of-Touch Things They’ve Seen — ‘We Replaced a $15-an-Hour Worker With a $600,000 Machine’
When you grow up watching TV shows about mansions and private jets, it’s easy to assume rich people are living in a completely different world. According to one viral thread, a lot of them absolutely are.
The question was simple: “For those who worked for rich people, what is the most out-of-touch thing you witnessed?” The answers turned into a brutal highlight reel of wealthy bosses and families who genuinely have no idea how the rest of us live.
From payroll being treated like an optional suggestion to “starter homes” that cost $2 million, people who’ve worked in rich households and high-end companies didn’t hold back.
Here are some of the wildest stories.
“Can You Make a List of Employees Who Need to Be Paid on Time?”
One person said their company’s payroll kept going out late, not because of cash flow problems, but because the wealthy owners simply “forgot” to submit payroll on time.
An entry-level employee finally snapped and emailed the whole staff, saying she wasn’t coming in until she got paid. The owner’s response? He sent a message asking for “a list of employees that need to be paid on time.” The commenter had to explain, like he was five, that everyone needs to be paid on time because most people live paycheck to paycheck.
The Nanny Who Has to Ask to Be Paid Every Single Week
A nanny for a very wealthy family said she has to text her employer every Sunday to remind her to send her paycheck. She’s been there a year. The woman just “forgets.”
Another commenter shared a similar experience: when she reminded her rich boss about her late pay, the woman literally laughed and said she tends to forget how “poor people” live because she never has to worry about paying bills or month-end. She’s a millionaire; everyone else, apparently, just babysits for fun.
“Why Don’t You Just Buy a House? It’s Only $2 Million.”
One worker was making $15 an hour when a client casually asked why they didn’t just buy a house in the city. “It’s only $2 million,” the client said, like they were talking about picking up a new toaster.
Others chimed in with similar moments: bosses and clients who genuinely don’t understand why people rent instead of “just” buying a starter apartment, or why someone can’t drop “a few grand” on company stock to “show their support.”
A House So Big They Didn’t Notice Part of the Roof Collapsed
An HVAC tech shared that the owner of a massive luxury home had a house so large that they didn’t realize part of the roof had collapsed in one wing. They never went in that part of the house. The only reason anyone noticed was because a technician happened to see it while servicing the AC.
Another person described installing Wi-Fi in a CEO’s home that needed sixteen access points just to cover the main house, plus more for the guest house and pool house. The place was so sprawling, the commenter was convinced the owner probably had rooms he didn’t even know existed.
“It’s Only $90,000 for a Family Vacation”
One employee said their company was “struggling” financially… except the owner had just taken his entire family on a three-week vacation to Italy paid for by the business.
When he came back, he spent a full hour in a staff meeting lecturing employees about being good parents and how they needed to take their kids to Europe so they could “experience the world.” Half the people in that room were making under $20 an hour. Three of them quit the next day.
Another worker watched their boss casually book a $90,000 vacation while loudly telling everyone he was “worth 40 million.” Subtle.
Replacing a $15-an-Hour Worker With a $600,000 Machine
One person overheard a conversation on a private jet where a group of wealthy business owners talked about replacing a $15-an-hour position with a $600,000 machine so that “no one can hold you hostage for 5 more bucks an hour.”
Another commenter said their company actually did it: they bought a $700,000 robot to replace a human. It broke after a month. Operations ground to a halt while they waited weeks for the manufacturer to diagnose the issue. The commenter said they couldn’t resist reporting that “the robot got sick and had to take some time off.”
Throwing Out a $6,000 Curtain Because the Dog Peed on It
Waste came up a lot.
A nanny described working for a family who threw away a custom-made $6,000 set of drapes because the dog peed on the bottom. In another household, a beautiful down comforter went straight into the dumpster because the cat had vomited on it. The neighbor just bought a new one rather than bother cleaning it.
One commenter who helped with downsizing an estate said the owner left behind a painting worth around $3,000 because she “didn’t feel like selling it.” Entire dinner sets worth about $1,000 apiece were given away just to clear space. The owner was shocked that people would willingly drive over to pick up hundreds of dollars’ worth of “excess” cleaning products.
The Woman Who Rang a Bell for a Handkerchief
A former housemaid and cook for minor nobility in England recalled that the lady of the house would ring a little bell to summon her from two floors below. The reason? So the maid could walk upstairs and hand her a handkerchief from the other side of the bed.
The woman rarely got out of bed before midday. When the maid was fired with no notice and no payout, the family hired a cheaper young girl who had no idea what she was walking into. Before leaving, the maid unplugged the freezer holding that season’s pheasants in the garden shed. Sometimes karma needs a little help.
Adults Who Don’t Know How to Function Without Staff
One commenter’s sister worked as a house manager for a billionaire. Their adult daughter, who was in her 40s, still lived at home. Whenever the family traveled, the house manager had to do all of the packing because the grown daughter had no idea how to pack a suitcase.
Another person said they’d dated a woman who, at 25, didn’t know how to use a washing machine. When he asked how she’d made it that far in life without doing her own laundry, she answered: “I don’t know, that’s what the people do.” The “people,” in this case, were the household staff.
College roommates and nannies weighed in with similar stories: young adults who didn’t know how to use a microwave, buy soap, or change a toilet paper roll because someone had always done it for them.
Range Rover in the Pool Because It Was the “Wrong Color”
Some of the behavior went beyond clueless and straight into unhinged.
One commenter said a friend worked for a wealthy family whose son was furious that his brand-new Range Rover was the wrong color. His solution? He drove it into the pool in protest. The family just bought him another one.
Another person said their friend’s boss had a pool drained and re-tiled because he didn’t like how the tile color looked with water in it. Then he had the pool drained and re-tiled again. Both sets of tiles were expensive imports from Europe.
“If Your Problem Can Be Solved With Money, It’s Not a Problem”
Several people brought up a line they’d heard from wealthy bosses or clients: “If your problem can be solved with money, it’s not a problem.”
One commenter remembered hearing that while their bank account was in the negative. Another mentioned a CEO who couldn’t understand why everyone didn’t “just turn one of their rooms into a home office” during lockdowns, fully oblivious to the fact that many people live in apartments, not sprawling houses with spare rooms waiting to become Zoom studios.
To the people making these comments, problems like childcare, housing, and time off are things you simply throw money at. For everyone else, those are the problems.
Private Jets, Personal Doctors, and Helicopter “Hacks”
The travel stories were their own category of surreal.
One worker said they listened to a conversation about how helicopter travel was “actually pretty affordable.” Another described a boss who traveled with a personal doctor, hairdresser, and masseuse, and would book out entire restaurants so he could eat on his own preferred time zone wherever he was in the world.
Someone who worked in private aviation said they’d see couples arrive in separate cars, each with a different partner in the passenger seat, and board separate private jets. Their kids would show up with the nanny, decide whether they wanted to fly with Mom or Dad, and just hop onto whichever private plane they preferred. A third jet sometimes followed, loaded with luggage and shopping.
Not Every Rich Person Is Like This — But a Lot of Stories Look the Same
To be fair, a few people did point out that not all wealthy families are disconnected from reality. Some described rich employers who were generous, grounded, and treated staff like actual human beings. One commenter said the wealthiest families they knew lived below their means, dressed normally, and were very kind.
But reading through hundreds of replies, a pattern shows up fast: when you never have to worry about rent, utilities, groceries, or medical bills, it becomes very easy to forget that most people do. Payroll becomes an afterthought. A $35,000 decor bill is a casual anecdote. Throwing out a $6,000 curtain is “easier” than cleaning it.
For everyone else, those numbers represent years of work and sacrifice.
If reading all this has you thinking about just how wide the gap really is, you can also look at new data on which states have the biggest divide between rich and poor or dive into the kinds of luxury products most people don’t even know exist. The Reddit stories might sound extreme, but they’re very much in line with how differently money works when you’re on the other side of that divide.
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