Wealthy People Reveal When They Knew They Were Spoiled As Kids
[rebelmouse-image 18355313 is_animated_gif=You truly do grow up in a different world. Other options are available to you immediately, and you very rarely don't get what you want. So then how do you know you're rich?
Let's ask Reddit. lilsunflowers wanted to know:
Here are some of the luxurious answers.
Poor Unfortunate Souls
[rebelmouse-image 18361894 is_animated_gif=Not so much the same, but didn't realize until way later in life that the reason our neighbors kids had dinner with us every night was because their parents couldn't afford to feed a family of 5 and keep the power on. My dad did their taxes and it was his way of helping them without ruining their pride. We also had the parents over for BBQ almost every weekend and sent them home with all the leftovers. Didnt find out until I took a college class with one of the kids years later.
A Full Childhood
[rebelmouse-image 18361895 is_animated_gif=Extracurriculars.
My parents put me through so many classes, I just thought it was a normal thing that everyone did (although not necessarily as many as I did).
When I moved out and discovered that I had to budget to be able to afford to replace my violin strings and bow hairs, it hit me that my parents must have been spending an actual fortune on me. On top of the actual classes (of which there were many) and getting there, they were buying equipment (my instruments and music books), maintaining/upgrading/replacing as necessary, paying for me to take music exams, paying for me to travel with my youth music group, I think a year of my extracurriculars in high school must have cost at least as much as a year of an undergrad degree in Canada.
I owe my parents so much money if I ever get rich.
Different Strokes
[rebelmouse-image 18361896 is_animated_gif=Some kids make more money than their parents, even when they don't make a lot of money.
My coworker and I make the same salary. She took her parents out to eat for her birthday because to them she makes a lot of money. My parents take me out to eat for my birthday because to them I don't make a lot of money.
Suburban Staples
[rebelmouse-image 18361897 is_animated_gif=When I was 13 I brought over a friend who was really, really impressed by my parent's automatic garage door opener. That was a huge shift in perspective for me
Find Your Silver
[rebelmouse-image 18361898 is_animated_gif=Early on in our relationship, my empathetic, socially aware, and compassionate wife said off-hand "Well, but you must have had SOME silver growing up, right? I mean, everyone has SOME silver."
Renting
[rebelmouse-image 18361899 is_animated_gif=Pretty middle class, but lived in an expansive suburb with almost zero apartment complexes. Always just assumed everyone had a house and didn't really understand the concept of renting a house or an apartment until I was 13-14 when I heard them talking about it on friends or something.
Spare A Dime?
[rebelmouse-image 18351162 is_animated_gif=This is going to sound silly but, money. Like spare cash. I didn't realize until i went to college that everyone doesn't have extra spending money to spend on silly things like movies or a non cafeteria lunch.
Toy Budget
[rebelmouse-image 18361900 is_animated_gif=My family was never overly wealthy, but my parents provided an abundance of toys for me and my sister. I had a huge imagination, and I played with every single one of them. But I would be flabbergasted when I went to my friends' houses to see that they didn't have as many toys, or any toys at all. I used to think that some kids just didn't like toys.
Costs Of Living
[rebelmouse-image 18355312 is_animated_gif=I teach teens whose father makes millions a year. They were very upset that a doctor only makes $200k a year and they weren't sure that was enough to live comfortably on. We did the math one day and realized he makes more in a day than a minimum wage earner does in a year.
To be fair, it's pretty hard to understand how money works when everything is done for you. Most of the kids I've taught have no concept of income and cost of living. Parents! Teach your kids how to pay for things and what life costs!
Airport Limo
[rebelmouse-image 18361901 is_animated_gif=I thought it was standard to take a limo to the airport or funerals. I actually thought my friend was lying when she told me she had never been in one.
One Flight
[rebelmouse-image 18361902 is_animated_gif=When I was like 10 or so, the airline screwed up our tickets flying home from England. My dad was pissed, but he went and bought 4 tickets for us home on the Concorde. I had an idea we were well off, but didn't realize until I was older that our flight home cost almost $50k.
Extra Homes
[rebelmouse-image 18361903 is_animated_gif=I thought everyone had a vacation home somewhere, and had a maid who cleaned the house. I came home from college my first year and looked around my neighborhood and saw it through different eyes. Suddenly I realized how big the houses were, and how most had three car garages. That just felt normal to me until I went to school with people who didn't have those things.
Perspective
[rebelmouse-image 18361904 is_animated_gif=Can I answer for someone else?
A past partner grew up much more privileged than I did. His house was one-level and he warned me that his family was poor before we went in and my response was, "Oh, it's okay, I grew up in a trailer." I walked into this beautiful, completely renovated house with all new furniture and one of those fridges that was touch screen. He thought he was poor because he was technically low-income for the neighborhood he lived in. The whole thing looked like a Rooms-To-Go magazine. It even had skylights.
He also apologized for his family's cars. They were older but they were both Volvos and they still were pristine. I grew up with a 2001 Monte Carlo that didn't have AC and smelled like cigarettes.
The main thing that bugged me was he kind of chastised me for not being in sports or activities when I was younger. I so wanted to play soccer like he did when I was a kid but my family couldn't afford the uniforms.
Also, music lessons like he had, I really wanted a piano and a violin as a kid but, again, my parents couldn't afford a piano like his family's beautiful Yamaha. Nor could they afford the lessons for violin or piano.
His mom ended up making me feel bad for my "diseased" thrift store clothes and eventually it got to him too and one of the many reasons he broke up with me was because his parents had convinced him that me having grown up poor, I was going to be a leech on his future finances. It made me really insecure about my social status that rich people would look down their noses at me because I had no choice in how I grew up.
Live-In Maid
[rebelmouse-image 18361905 is_animated_gif=House servants. Seriously, they do all your chores and EVERYTHING around the house.
A friend of mine had a maid who lived with them as a fulltime job and had a room in their poolhouse.
Eating In
[rebelmouse-image 18349469 is_animated_gif=It was only until later in life that I realized going out to restaurants, daily, isn't typical.
I just figured that is how people normally ate. I thought home cooked meals were the special ones.
Jet-Set
[rebelmouse-image 18361906 is_animated_gif=A private jet. We would always charter a private jet when flying for vacations or to visit relatives in other states. I would see all of the other jets at the airport, but just assumed that they were just much bigger private jets. I would actually be pretty jealous as I would imagine my family flying in such a large plane and having all that room. Turns out those were commercial flights with very little room at all. I was 15 when I finally realized this.
Never Feeling Discomfort
[rebelmouse-image 18354713 is_animated_gif=At college I asked my pre-med roommate if it was safe to go to sleep hungry.
Safety
[rebelmouse-image 18361907 is_animated_gif=Growing up, my family was considered by the government to be below the poverty line - my siblings and I qualified for free school lunches. But, we lived in a safe part of town. We would often put a fan in the window to bring in cool air on Summer nights. One evening, I was giving a ride to some teenagers from church to another youth leader's house who lived in a similar neighborhood to mine. One of the youth commented, "This is one of those neighborhoods where people don't lock their windows at night." I was in my early 20s at the time. I was ashamed that I'd never realized leaving my window open to enjoy a cool Summer breeze at night was something people a couple miles away from me couldn't do.
Cruises Ain't For The Weak
[rebelmouse-image 18361909 is_animated_gif=For years and years when I was a kid I would look down on people who hadn't traveled well, particularly people who did the same Disney cruises every year. In my mind I was thinking, "Expand your horizons! Go to Europe or China or Peru like my family does!" \
Financing The Stone
[rebelmouse-image 18980259 is_animated_gif=I had a roommate once. His father was a multi millionaire. Anyway so I was sitting at the table paying my bills. He asked what I was doing and upon mentioning I was making a car payment his mind was blown away. The idea of financing a car was very foreign to him. he asked so many questions and he could just not understand why anyone would do that. When we got to the topic of car insurance that was another thing he could not get.
He always paid cash for vehicles and he was self insured, everyone in his family and all his friends did this.
I felt oh so very small.
People Are Roasting Trump Over His Mind-Numbing Observation About The Wetness Of Water 😂
Donald Trump thanked the first responders who came to the aid of victims of Hurricane Florence. The storm devastated portions of North Carolina, dumping massive amounts of rain and damaging millions of dollars in property. Many natural areas were destroyed, some farmers lost everything and more than a few people have been left homeless. The first responders after this massive storm were literal life savers, and Trump was absolutely right to thank them. Unfortunately, the sentiment of his message was lost for many people because he didn't seem to put any effort or preparation into what he was saying. Then, in the middle of his off-the-cuff message, he confused everyone by talking about the wetness of water.
As Trump described the storm and the importance of first responders he told the world:
This is a tough hurricane, one of the wettest we've ever seen from the standpoint of water. Rarely have we had an experience like it and it certainly is not good.
The Tweet went out in the middle of the day on Tuesday, September 18th. At the time of this article, it hasn't even been up for 24 hours and already has over 13,000 comments. Many of them pointed out how Trump didn't even seem to try...
and how asinine his description was.
We don't know if Trump will continue to address the public by releasing these kinds of videos, or if they will continue to be as unrehearsed as this one is. We assure you, if they are, Twitter will have plenty to say about it.
H/T: Huffington Post, Twitter
Time-Lapse Video Shows What A Rocket Launch Looks Like From Outer Space—And It's Dazzling 😮
We've all seen videos of rockets launching from the ground, but what does the event look like from space?
European Astronaut Alexander Gerst, on board the International Space Station, managed to capture time-lapse footage of the Russian Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft flying through Earth's atmosphere on its way to delivering supplies to ISS.
Very few people will ever have the chance to see an event like this in person.
Russian Rocket Launch Seen by Space Station - Amazing Time-Lapse Videoyoutu.be
Gerst created the video by setting up a camera to take regular photos through the wrap-around Cupola window of the station, which resulted in a video roughly 16 times faster than real life. Watching the rocket launch in person took 16 minutes but, in Gerst's video, the launch, stage one re-entry, and escape from the atmosphere all occur within one minute.
@_TheSeaning @Space_Station That's awesome!— Scott Waby (@Scott Waby) 1542898886.0
The rocket in the video, known as Progress 71, was on its way to delivering 5,652 pounds of supplies to ISS. The next flight, pushed back to December 3 after a sensor malfunction resulted in the cancellation of an October 11 liftoff, will bring replacement personnel for NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev. Both have been in orbit since June).
If all goes according to plan, the Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will take off from the steppes of Kazakhs… https://t.co/o0LpNWTsJQ— CTV Vancouver (@CTV Vancouver) 1543800600.0
People online were amazed by the footage from space.
@_TheSeaning @Space_Station Seán, thank you for this. THIS is easily one of THE most mesmerising, and exquisitely s… https://t.co/a440XaOEX6— Nathanial_LB - نثنيال (@Nathanial_LB - نثنيال) 1542915054.0
@_TheSeaning @jasonrdavis @Space_Station SO COOOOL— Justin Foley (@Justin Foley) 1542908365.0
@_TheSeaning @Space_Station wow. just...wow. this is incredible— Sarafina Nance (@Sarafina Nance) 1542918245.0
I hardly think I need to hyperbolize this at all, because it’s simply so freaking cool: Time-lapse video of a rocke… https://t.co/lx32324AWv— Phil Plait (@Phil Plait) 1542989889.0
@BadAstronomer I watched this 5 times with my jaw on the floor... And then made everyone around the Thanksgiving ta… https://t.co/iMbSm8nvIO— Marc Leatham (@Marc Leatham) 1542990342.0
@BadAstronomer @LongDogSecurity https://t.co/Yv3YZQI9Oe— MO News DAilY (@MO News DAilY) 1543001454.0
@BadAstronomer I think that’s the most beautiful photo of Earth I’ve ever seen— Ben Migliore (@Ben Migliore) 1543092741.0
@freak1ngawesome Reverse of shooting star— Shivani Jadeja (@Shivani Jadeja) 1543667552.0
@AntonioParis What an inspiring way to begin my day! Thank you! 💫🚀✌🏻— Heather Call-Me-Elf-One-More-Time Hartley (@Heather Call-Me-Elf-One-More-Time Hartley) 1543492212.0
Videos like these are a nice reminder that space truly is the final frontier! If ISS is looking for a soundtrack to put behind their video, we have an idea:
Star Trek: The Next Generation Intro HDyoutu.be
White Supremacists Used App To Trick Brett Favre And Soulja Boy Into Recording Messages Supporting Anti-Semitism
White supremacists are truly a scourge. Every time they think you can't go lower, they find a new way to burrow underground and prove you completely wrong, as they did when they targeted two celebrities over the internet and tricked them into spewing garbage.
Brett Favre, star football player, and Soulja Boy, recording artists, were approached by a group claiming to be "a U.S. veterans organization for Cameo, a company that enables consumers to book personalized video greetings from celebrities."
Favre recorded the message, assuming the "request stemmed from [his] interest in veterans affairs" and recorded the message, a service that the perpetrators paid $500+ to complete.
Later on, Favre found his request was appropriated for the agenda of an anti-Semitic hate group.
"I was distressed to learn that the request came from an anti-Semitic group that reposted my video with comments implying that I endorsed their mission. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am therefore donating my $500 Cameo fee to Charities supporting their fight against hate and bigotry."
I'm on Cameo & kinda jealous they didn't request me. Maybe I need to lower my price? Most importantly Brett Favre d… https://t.co/8hsC292nRs— Tom Arnold (@Tom Arnold) 1543784713.0
@TomArnold How do you not know something is anti-Semitic. #ComeOn— keith lyle (@keith lyle) 1543785859.0
@BuzzFeedNews Log everyone off everything now— Zinskē (@Zinskē) 1543635691.0
The organization refers to itself as the GDL, or Goyim Defense League. "Goyim" is the Hebrew word for a non-Jewish person.
According to BuzzFeed News, the group is run by two YouTubers who go by "Handsome Truth" and "Sway Guevara."
"Brett Favre here with a shoutout to the Handsome Truth and the GDL boys," they tricked Favre into saying. "You guys are patriots in my eyes. So keep waking them up and don't let the small get you down. Keep fighting, too, and don't ever forget the USS Liberty and the men and women who died on that day. God bless and take care."
The coded phrases here include "small" for "small hats," a slur for yarmulkes, and the USS Liberty:
"The USS Liberty is a dog whistle referring to an incident in 1967 where Israeli forces fired on the US spy ship, killing 34, during the Six-Day War. In the aftermath, Israel said that its pilots had thought the ship was an Egyptian vessel, and apologized — the government eventually paid out $6.7 million in reparations to the survivors and families of the dead. Ever since, there have been unproven conspiracy theories surrounding the circumstances that question whether the attack was intentional. Both the Israeli and the United States governments have said that it was a case of mistaken identity."
Soulja Boy was also tricked by the group, recording a video saying "Shoutout to Handsome Truth and Sway at GDL," and "GDL for life, b*tch."
The head of the group, Handsome Truth, admitted to the deception in a Livestream on Wednesday:
"Here's the deal, guys, they can reject it if they don't like it, right, so we were trying to get it, like — we wanted to be cryptic enough to where they would say it."
@BuzzFeedNews Sellebrities. I feel bad for people who are forced to treat themselves as products.— TomCat (@TomCat) 1543635593.0
@BuzzFeedNews Only in America...way to go potus, maga sadly 😟😥😠!!!— S Johnson (@S Johnson) 1543677369.0
@BuzzFeedNews This is what happens when you’ll do anything for money and fame...— gwyn (@gwyn) 1543641284.0
@BuzzFeedNews What a load of garbage!— Klopezdranat Tagor (@Klopezdranat Tagor) 1543682300.0
"Soulja Boy was unaware that the video on Cameo was tied to a group that promotes hate," said a Soulja Boy spokesperson. "The promo video was what the Cameo had directed and in no way supports his personal beliefs. He greatly apologizes to anyone who may have been offended."
The malice of this particular incident runs deep.
"On or about November 22nd, Cameo talent received requests that appeared to be aimed at supporting the American military. After recording the videos Cameo learned that the request came from an anti-Semitic group and contained content that could be interpreted as anti-Semitic," Cameo said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.
"This was a blatant misuse of the Cameo platform and a violation of Cameo's terms of service. This is the first incident of its kind in more than 93,000 Cameos and a gross misrepresentation of the talent's political beliefs," the statement continued. "Cameo immediately removed the videos from the website, requested YouTube to remove the content and created new filters to prevent this from happening in the future. The user has been banned from purchasing Cameos."
But will it quell the hate speech? Racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and misogyny have become commonplace since the election of Donald Trump, and it seems there are weekly incidents of that bigotry. Patrick Little, profiled by the Anti-Defamation League for spreading anti-Semitic hate speech, ran for State Senate in California, winning less than 2% of the vote and being barred from all California Republican events for his gross anti-Semitism. He greatly endorsed the white supremacists' actions.
If historical signs are correct, this sort of speech is likely to be misunderstood and catch fire, thereby inspiring even more hatred. The fight against bigotry must get stronger.
It only costs $500 to get Brett Favre to say something on video. So white supremacists used him to endorse anti-Sem… https://t.co/VdkFnujxrK— Gabriel Snyder (@Gabriel Snyder) 1543780513.0
Alexa, show me 2018 in one headline. https://t.co/7HtmwySIU4 via @mashable— Will Greenwald is still spooky in November (@Will Greenwald is still spooky in November) 1543754183.0
@mashable @BrettFavre may have been tricked, but vicious @ScottWalker taught our children to be Nazis and the best… https://t.co/7gMTCQCmRV— Brian Keith O'Hara (@Brian Keith O'Hara) 1543758130.0
just alt right folks paying Brett favre to unwittingly endorse anti semitism, the world is definitely not fundament… https://t.co/JaeOo61dXJ— R Zach Lamberty (@R Zach Lamberty) 1543635101.0
H/T: BuzzFeed News, Mashable
Arkansas High School Suspends Student Paper For Publishing 'Disruptive' Investigation Into Shady Football Transfers
Halle Roberts is the editor-in-chief of the Har-Ber Herald, the school newspaper for Springdale High School in Arkansas. The 17-year-old student was suspended after she wrote an investigative piece criticizing the transfer of five football players to a rival school.
Players are not allowed to be transferred to a different school because they would like to play for a different team. They are allowed to transfer only for academic reasons. So Roberts got to digging. Her paper filed FOIA requests and received official information from the Arkansas Activities Association saying that the students were transferred for academic reasons. However, the students themselves said otherwise.
Roberts quoted one student in her paper saying:
"We just want to go over there because we have a better chance of getting scholarships and playing at D1."
Another student told Roberts:
"I just feel like it's better for my future to go out there and get college looks."
Soon after the report was published, the superintendent of the district, Jim Rollins, asked the teacher advisor for the school paper, Karla Sprague, to take the story down. She obliged.
Rollins wrote a letter stating that the piece was:
"intentionally negative, demeaning, derogatory, hurtful and potentially harmful to the students addressed in those articles."
Roberts, undeterred, is still working on a new edition of the story that includes the school's censorship.
Mike Hiestand of the Student Press Law Center had this to say:
"School officials at this point seem to me to have completely thrown up their hands and said, ‘we’re not going to l… https://t.co/PgVYFlVAlM— Amber Jamieson (@Amber Jamieson) 1543687827.0
And Halle Roberts, who dreams of being an ESPN reporter, stated:
“They are like ‘well you raised an uproar, we’re going to try and silence you,’” said Halle Roberts, 17, the editor… https://t.co/6dKFeF0so4— Amber Jamieson (@Amber Jamieson) 1543690272.0
People were impressed with Roberts.
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews I'm so proud of you! You're not just fighting for yourself, you're fighting for student… https://t.co/hjVIvzstZ1— 🌺Lisa Daily is writing⛱ (@🌺Lisa Daily is writing⛱) 1543718652.0
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews I shared your story on my Facebook page and am so proud of you kids for telling the stor… https://t.co/9gekpHSwey— Derryl Trujillo (@Derryl Trujillo) 1543694164.0
@hallecole21 @BuzzFeedNews Keep up the fight Halle!!— Katie Maner (@Katie Maner) 1543762811.0
Some had harsh words for the school's administration.
@BuzzFeedNews @KatinaParon The principal and the superintendent should be fired, not the teacher. And the students… https://t.co/AfE6JTmowp— Jody Beck (@Jody Beck) 1543754569.0
@ambiej @BuzzFeedNews Abuse of power by the school administration— Lovehersports50 (@Lovehersports50) 1543686742.0
@ambiej Hey @sdaleschools School board members. Why are you allowing Arkansas Har-Ber High School Principal Paul Gr… https://t.co/8pdT0St1FO— Nancy Levine (@Nancy Levine) 1543693785.0
And most had high praise for Roberts and the other student journalists working on this piece.
A great example of investigate student journalism, and why it needs more recognition. https://t.co/s4MBLn0HiN— Gabija Gataveckaitė (@Gabija Gataveckaitė) 1543692451.0
Much to appreciate about @ambiej’s reporting on this Arkansas school district’s effort to suppress a high school pa… https://t.co/fIk5vTaWCZ— Pat Berry (@Pat Berry) 1543688372.0
High school students do real journalism, school district immediately tries to shut them down, despite state law gua… https://t.co/HqOgXTv1bl— Jeff Amy (@Jeff Amy) 1543692270.0
Oh this is the good stuff. I love this editor. Great work. Stand for journalists. https://t.co/QlrTTzrqs8— Scott Lewis (@Scott Lewis) 1543693549.0
And Halle Roberts herself closed by saying:
thank you so much. #freedomofthepress https://t.co/LsjWT7nycD— halle roberts (@halle roberts) 1543685392.0
Fight on, Halle!