Do you feel awkward around high net worth people?

[Anonymous]

Not at all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only when they ask for Gray Poupon and I don't have any.

It's Grey Poupon you losers! Just kidding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t feel ackward around very wealthy people. I also don’t feel ackward around very poor people since I grew up very poor.

I wouldn't say I grew up poor, but I'm the same. I don't feel awkward around wealthy or poor people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It can be a bit awkward if the people are not sensitive. For instance, we had several friends over and they were discussing their family adventures through Europe last summer. I get why they talked about it, I enjoyed hearing about their trips, but it felt weird for me because I couldn’t really contribute- we did a staycation to save money.

Did you mean it can be awkward if you are sensitive? You enjoyed hearing but felt awkward?

Different PP here. I don't think that has to do with net worth. I have friends who have kids, and when they go on and on about their kids, I don't have kid stories to share, but I ask questions and show an interest.

Why can't you just ask them questions and be curious? Why is there this need to have had an equivalent experience to contribute?

Sometimes it's great to swap stories with people who are in the same place you are (similar experiences). But it's also nice to be around people who have completely different stories to tell.

[Anonymous]

I don’t feel awkward around rich people as I grew up with them. Private school followed by Ivy League education. But wasn’t wealthy growing up, just middle class on financial aid. Now that I’m UMC, what I find awkward is other people who feel awkward around those with money. For example, a group of college friends were out in London one night and one individual brought along his girlfriend of a few months who from small town Illinois. First time she ever left the US and first time on an airplane. It was clear she felt so out of place based on her demeanor, nothing to add to the conversation, and most awkward: she was a 40 year old dressed in clothes from forever 21 without the figure to pull it off. She really thought nightclub attire is what is considered dressy clothing for dinner with friends at a posh London restaurant.

[Anonymous]

I feel awkward around very successful creative people - people who are totally winning the game of life by writing books that people read, producing shows that people watch, designing coats that I see worn every day. But an investment banker who makes a living by skimming off his clients or a rich plastic surgeon who exploits women’s insecurities? Yuck, I feel sorry for them.

[Anonymous]

I feel awkward around high accomplishment people and it has nothing to do with money. Creators, inventors, philanthropists, first responders, disability overcomers and others leave me in awe. Money doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel awkward around high accomplishment people and it has nothing to do with money. Creators, inventors, philanthropists, first responders, disability overcomers and others leave me in awe. Money doesn't.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t feel awkward around rich people as I grew up with them. Private school followed by Ivy League education. But wasn’t wealthy growing up, just middle class on financial aid. Now that I’m UMC, what I find awkward is other people who feel awkward around those with money. For example, a group of college friends were out in London one night and one individual brought along his girlfriend of a few months who from small town Illinois. First time she ever left the US and first time on an airplane. It was clear she felt so out of place based on her demeanor, nothing to add to the conversation, and most awkward: she was a 40 year old dressed in clothes from forever 21 without the figure to pull it off. She really thought nightclub attire is what is considered dressy clothing for dinner with friends at a posh London restaurant.

Can’t say I blame her for feeling awkward around such a judgy, arrogant person like you. Yikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t feel awkward around rich people as I grew up with them. Private school followed by Ivy League education. But wasn’t wealthy growing up, just middle class on financial aid. Now that I’m UMC, what I find awkward is other people who feel awkward around those with money. For example, a group of college friends were out in London one night and one individual brought along his girlfriend of a few months who from small town Illinois. First time she ever left the US and first time on an airplane. It was clear she felt so out of place based on her demeanor, nothing to add to the conversation, and most awkward: she was a 40 year old dressed in clothes from forever 21 without the figure to pull it off. She really thought nightclub attire is what is considered dressy clothing for dinner with friends at a posh London restaurant.

Can’t say I blame her for feeling awkward around such a judgy, arrogant person like you. Yikes.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t feel awkward around rich people as I grew up with them. Private school followed by Ivy League education. But wasn’t wealthy growing up, just middle class on financial aid. Now that I’m UMC, what I find awkward is other people who feel awkward around those with money. For example, a group of college friends were out in London one night and one individual brought along his girlfriend of a few months who from small town Illinois. First time she ever left the US and first time on an airplane. It was clear she felt so out of place based on her demeanor, nothing to add to the conversation, and most awkward: she was a 40 year old dressed in clothes from forever 21 without the figure to pull it off. She really thought nightclub attire is what is considered dressy clothing for dinner with friends at a posh London restaurant.

Can’t say I blame her for feeling awkward around such a judgy, arrogant person like you. Yikes.

This.

+1,000

And while I've always been MC to UMC, I've been in her relative position. It's not fun. And the people were just a$$holes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what net worth do you start to feel awkward?

Probably in the 10M + range.

Under 10M is still kind of UMC who just got a few lucky breaks (we are among those and we are no different from any other MC people).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel awkward around very successful creative people - people who are totally winning the game of life by writing books that people read, producing shows that people watch, designing coats that I see worn every day. But an investment banker who makes a living by skimming off his clients or a rich plastic surgeon who exploits women’s insecurities? Yuck, I feel sorry for them.

I feel the exact opposite. Artists and designers are a dime a dozen. Tons of talented people who have not become well published, famous, or successful simply because they have not been discovered or have not done some immoral thing to be referred by an established person in the society. The arts/design/creative field is an artificially maintained circle of exclusivity, giving rise to such hacks as JD Salinger.

On the other hand, someone who is in finances, investments, or a plastic surgeon is doing something methodical, rigorous, and practiced, and the only way they succeed is by being good at what they do. The occasional conman like Madoff are eventually discovered and hauled off to jail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It can be a bit awkward if the people are not sensitive. For instance, we had several friends over and they were discussing their family adventures through Europe last summer. I get why they talked about it, I enjoyed hearing about their trips, but it felt weird for me because I couldn’t really contribute- we did a staycation to save money.

Did you mean it can be awkward if you are sensitive? You enjoyed hearing but felt awkward?

Different PP here. I don't think that has to do with net worth. I have friends who have kids, and when they go on and on about their kids, I don't have kid stories to share, but I ask questions and show an interest.

Why can't you just ask them questions and be curious? Why is there this need to have had an equivalent experience to contribute?

Sometimes it's great to swap stories with people who are in the same place you are (similar experiences). But it's also nice to be around people who have completely different stories to tell.

PP, look at the post after yours. It's a perfect example of a person being judged negatively for not being able to contribute to a conversation because she didn't have an equivalent experience to contribute. I'd have felt incredibly awkward in her situation.

[Anonymous]

Nope. I don't feel awkward around rich, poor, accomplished or not. They are all just people.