I was a spoiled rotten child and also into my teen years. My parents bought me a brand new red convertible for my 16th birthday. I threw a fit over it because what I actually wanted was my brother's old car (that we still had) which was dark blue in colour. I was so shallow and a horrible person back then..

So what really turned me around? That next summer I took a job as a camp counselor at a local day camp. I did not have to work but I was bored and sounded like something easy to do. God, I was so wrong. This day camp was specifically geared to the lower classes who could not afford child care during the summer. We served them breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. For a lot of the camp kids this was all they would eat that day and on Friday's they would beg for extra food/snacks to take home for themselves and/or their siblings because they may not get to eat again until Monday. This really hit me hard but the part that got me the most..

This one kid (around 5-6) would refuse to take their shoes and socks off, even if we were going to the public pool that day. I couldn't understand why until one day he came in limping, like his feet were causing him so much pain. I convinced him to let me help him get his shoes and socks so I could see what might be bothering him. Once I did, it took everything in me not to break down right there. His socks were covered in blood. His poor tiny little feet were covered in sores and his toes seemed to curl under a bit. He was in so much pain from the state of his feet. As it turns out, he had been wearing shoes about 3 sizes too small. His family couldn't afford new shoes. I took my lunch break and went out to buy him new socks and a few pairs of shoes.

This broke me..which I definitely needed. It changed my way of thinking forever.

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James016

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Good for you for changing your ways and opening your eyes. Some people don’t and never will

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Sorry about the length.

I was a school bus driver in the 70s. During height of court ordered busing, so I ferried poor kids to the rich side of town, then rich kids the other way. Lots of entitled brats but one stands out. Super entitled kid, constantly defying rules. Eventually I caught him (with too many witnesses) attempting to set a bus seat on fire with his lighter. School officials were called.

Hearing with officials and rich dad -- and he's banned from all buses rest of semester. Dad offers to pay for the damage and quietly accepts the punishment. Then comes the surprise.

Next morning when I arrive at 6:00 am to clean my bus (regular task every morning), rich kid and Dad are standing there. Dad introduces me to my "new personal bus cleaner" for the rest of the year. He brings kid every morning and forces him to wash and clean the floors on my bus before taking him on to his school. By end of year, entitled kid is actually working hard, and being friendly. We're getting along pretty well and I help him out sometimes so he can get on to school. Kid turns out OK when all is over.

Good move by his Dad.

pullin2 , Johannes Thiel Report

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Chicken Nugget

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Aw! Parents should be like this, instead of just yelling at their kids. Kids aren't evil, but they don't fully get the severity of what they do.

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At 20, when I started dating my now husband. He was raised by a single mom who worked three jobs and they still barely got by, while my mom was a SAHM and my dad was/is successful in his line of work.

Husband and I went to high school together. At the beginning of every school year my parents would easily drop $15k on me and my sister for school clothes; my husband would go with our HS secretary to get clothes that were paid for by the school district. I didn't even know that was a thing....

Yes, I am aware and I agree that this is a stupid amount of money to spend on clothing. To clarify, a large portion of that amount was spent on designer items/accessories.

I have no idea why we went to the same school, I wasn't in charge of creating the imaginary dividing lines of our city.

My husband and I have known each other for years and were always friends. We got together a couple years after high school for a drunken night complaining about exes, and discovered we share a lot of the same ideals about relationships in general. We moved in together three weeks later lol.

Yes, he makes decent money now, and yes, he's handsome as f**k. Sometimes I just stare at him and I'm just like, "how?"

Also, my parents are wealthy, I am not. We live modestly, and have verrrrrry little wiggle room every month, but I truly and honestly don't give a s**t because we are really f**king happy!

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A rat

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That's good, you should always choose happiness over wealth 😈

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I grew up living in a huge hotel. Kind of like your Suite Life of Zack and Cody thing except that I was a spoiled young kid. When I was 7, I'd have a nanny put on my socks, wear my school uniform everyday etc. I had four nannies before that and they all left. I made one cry once because I yelled at her for not helping me with my math homework. I slapped another one. She left 3 months later.

It hit me hard a year or two later when my dad had to travel overseas to work so I was stuck with that one particular nanny named Tina. My dad didn't really send a lot of money back to us and so we had to live in a cramped apartment since we needed to move out of that particular hotel. I hated my nanny at the beginning because she was just so damn strict. Turns out that she was doing this because she wanted us to change, and we did.

Because my dad didn't send enough money and didn't want to (stingy guy), we had to ration our food on some days and I couldn't go to many school activities because we didn't have a car like we used to. And we didn't have enough money. This was hard on my brother and I because we went to a private international school so it was really hard not trying to show others our personal struggle. It was even harder on me as I was a prefect at that school, and so not attending school activities/extracurricular stuff was the worst.

During that period, I learnt so much and begun to empathize properly. I learnt to socialize with my neighbours, be independent, and this made me enjoy my childhood living in that apartment more than I ever did living in a hotel. I owe it all to my nanny to be honest. I consider her my surrogate mom now regardless of the rough beginning and I honest to god, would not have changed one single bit if it wasn't for her.

smoothbartowski , denisbin Report

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HarriMissesScotland

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What happened with the Dad? I am glad you had someone who truly cared for you.

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When I was working at a public library, we had a few local celebrities come in from time to time. Most of them were nice, but one had a real stick up his a**e. He would b***h about having to stand in line, and about late fees, and about everything else. We would just say "sorry, those are the rules" or "thank you for being patient" even though he wasn't.

One day, he and I were apparently both having a bad day, and when I told him there was a limit on how many DVDs or video games he could check out at a time, he slammed his hands on the desk and raged, "Do you know who I am?!" This is a grown-a** man, mind, I was a little college student who barely looked old enough to drive. I was sick of his low-key bullying, so I just looked at him and said, "Yes, I do, Mr. X, and the rules still apply to you. Which of these would you like me to put back?"

He was stunned. I don't think anyone had ever actually told him that the rules for everyone else did in fact apply to him as well. He was a little nicer after that. Not a lot nicer, but still.

jemmo_ , Eduardo Merille Report

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R Carson

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BURN!

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I was spoiled, a slight egomaniac, and raised in a upper middle class private school setting. I was the oldest grandson of a large Catholic family; and my mom would argue with my teachers in my defense even if I was caught cheating.

My reality check was a cancer diagnosis at 16. Having to truly suffer and watch other children suffer altered my perspective forever. I am eternally grateful for my cancer diagnosis for preventing me from becoming a terrible adult.

grobilio , esporter113 Report

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R Carson

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Most of life's lessons are not easy.

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I grew up in an upper middle class family near Chicago, IL in the 1970's-80's. In 1981 I was 8 years old and my family went to Mexico for vacation. We were in Mexico City and had just had a fabulous dinner where they even cooked part of our meal right next to our table on a cart. On the way out, I grabbed a lollipop from the candy bowl. We were walking back to our hotel, when we came upon a mother and daughter who were destitute and begging. I locked eyes with this little girl who was just about my age, and she was dirty and her clothes were in bad shape. I gave her the only thing I had which was the lollipop, and she smiled. This was the first time I had ever encountered someone who was truly poor. This experience left a very strong impression on me and it is something I will never forget.

virago72 , Deb Nystrom Report

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Mistralok

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I truly hope you still repeat this sort of thing today.

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My dad owns a bar, and one night there was this rich kid with his friends, boat shoes without socks, the whole thing. He was giving one of the bar tenders a tough time because he was on the shorter side. This kid was bothering the bar tender for about half an hour until finally he got my dad to come out. My dad basically yelled at the kid about how the bar tender enlisted in the military and fought in Afghanistan and how ashamed he should be to make fun of an honest, hardworking veteran for his height. The kid left the bar nearly crying, and I hope that experience helped him change for the better.

jeffbeezos123 , Martyn Smith Report

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Otter

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The rich douche is very fortunate that his wake-up call came in the form of words, not fists or worse.

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I was raised by my great grandmother. She was well to do, active well into her 80's and her world revolved around me. Ballet, gymnastics, all the music classes I could fit in my schedule. I had a menagerie of pets. Christmases were obscene. She catered to my every whim as a child.

Now that I'm an adult and my wonderful Gram has passed, I've learned that what I had was really unique. The world does not wait on me, I'm not special to everyone. I struggle with entitlement and narcissistic tendencies. It's isolating at times and I miss her.

Just_Four_More , Filipe Ramos Report

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Flopsy

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Who can blame a great grandma for spoiling her great granddaughter. This is so sweet, I hope you are doing well now!

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I grew up in Indonesia, a 3rd world country where you'd definitely have maids if you're posting on reddit. I grew up thinking it's common to have multiple maids.

Moved to Singapore, a 1st world country where people still have maids, but it's more of an upper-middle class & above thing. Got assigned to sweep the floors by the teachers, and that was my first time holding a broom.

Swept it back and forth like in cartoons, and everyone was looking at me going, "Er, what the f**k are you doing?"

Turns out I was just creating a dust cloud around me. You have to sweep in one direction and gather all the dust into the dust pan.

Mind blown.

eraser_dust , Chrisissy Report

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Jo Choto

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Wealthy parents think they are giving their kids the best by having everything done for them. The opposite is true.

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My parents owned a bookstore near the CBD of a major city.

One day a entitled brat drove into traffic, from a side street, without a care in the world. The car he cut in front of beeped their horn to which the entitled brat actually stuck his hand out the window and gave the car behind him the finger.
Lights starting flashing as the car that was cut in front of was an undercover police car; and it happened right in front of us all :)

Captain_Coco_Koala , GT#2...Off permanently Report

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R Carson

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YEA

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Up until I was 12, I got everything I wanted. Everything I pointed out in shops I got, everything I found online I got. I was ridiculously spoiled and I doubt I would have been able to even slightly take care of myself.

When I was around 10, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I still treated both of my parents like c**p and demanded everything from them. Eventually she was cleared but another tumour was found when I was 12. It was terminal, and she passed away two months later.

Going from having parents obeying my every whim to only having one seriously depressed parent who barely had enough money to cover basic needs was a huge shock to the system.

Everyday I regret the way I treated my mother because I was an absolute brat and she was an excellent mum who deserved better. Obviously after this I woke the f**k up and realised how spoiled I really was.

teganfruit , Jo Naylor Report

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Flopsy

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So sorry for your loss!

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My brother was the only one of us who was spoiled. He never had to do chores at home, that was for us girls to do. He went to college and called to complain about how expensive doing the laundry was. My parents could not figure out what could be so expensive about it, until he explained:

He was sorting the whites and the colors like my Mom had told him. It was very expensive to wash the reds, then the yellows, then the black clothes, then the blue clothes.... AND it was taking forever! We still laugh at this.

RedheadBanshee , Martijn van Exel Report

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Jo Choto

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I can't think of anything to laugh about, that the spoiled brother had everything handed to him on the plate at the expense of the girls.

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From the subcontinent, things went downhill after i got into an engineering university. Mom had to sell her wedding jewelry to get me through the semester.

Now here i am, thinking i should get her some gold jewelry because now i can. MOM, I LOVE YOU!

TestDoctor , Blake Handley Report

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R Carson

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Please do.

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I grew up very privileged. When I look back on it, I never even appreciated it. When I was 17 I came out and went from privileged to getting kicked out and living on the street.

That was some years ago now and I've made a pretty amazing life for myself. In fact, I'm almost 100% positive that I'm better off than if I kept on my previous track. In every way.

YVRYAN , Ted Eytan Report

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MJ

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It’s tragic that any person would be dumped on the streets by their own family; there is absolutely no situation on the planet that would make that ok.

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When I joined the Army. Guy who had the Infantry tattooed on him didn’t even last 2 weeks in basic training. He cried and yelled “I shouldn’t have to get yelled at to do something”

ohcallmeamazing , The U.S. Army Report

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Jo Choto

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I actually agree with him. The whole model of "breaking" recruits so they are mindless automatons who do whatever they're told is really horrible. It's all part of the macho idea that you can only be a "man" if you are tough and without feelings. No surprise, I have real problems with the military as institutions (though I appreciate the individuals who feel drawn to serve).

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When I found out that people on my basketball team considered going to McDonald's "a once a year special treat." From that point, I began to appreciate my gifted financial circumstances and always try to accommodate ideas for those with less money when going out with friends.

The_Wholigan , Mike Mozart Report

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Don't Look

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wow.

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As a teen, one day I was being a little s**t as usual and dad got pretty upset, he blew up and said "you're never thankful for anything I do for you, are you? I never get any thanks for the things I do around here." After that I was sure to try and express my gratitude for his hard work keeping a roof over our heads. Tell someone you love "thank you" because they need to be appreciated.

krnichin , Michael Coghlan Report

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R Carson

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YES PLEASE!

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Military bootcamp. Wanted to eat an orange, didn't know how to peel one. Slyly waited for someone else to start peeling before emulating him. End up with a badly squashed, untidily peeled orange ball that tasted like sour reality. BOOM. Evolved.

This was Basic Military Training in Singapore. During training, boy was I hungry like a vampire at a bloodbank. And the fruit of the day was oranges. Whole, unpeeled orangey balls of untouchable glory. The trick was to eat my food relatively slow enough (which is still pretty damned fast considering mealtime was borderline 10 minutes) so that I didn't finish my food too early and end up staring at my orange as if it's an alien's testicle.

And I can peel oranges by hand with relative ease now.

Jaeshin , Toshiyuki IMAI Report

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Mermaid Elle-Jaye

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I love this story 😂 it’s so real and raw

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I grew up in Japan/Hong Kong and always have maids to take care of my stuff. When I went to boarding school in the UK, I realised I don't know how to change my bed sheet , and have no idea how to use the toaster.

Majestic_Gyoza , aco pbc Report

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R Carson

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SAD

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Spending $50 on food a day is not normal. College girl got cut off from her parents (drinking and not going to class) and had to get a job. She put on Facebook about how she’s gonna go hungry and needs money. People offered her food and to make her dinner. She said “that’s okay I just need about $40 to get through the day I don’t like to grocery shop”.

if you’re wondering how she went through that much a day she always ate out at a restaurant and had Starbucks twice a day. Add in snacks and alcohol and there’s $40 in one day.

[deleted] , Jacob Roeland Report

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Steffen Rehm

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If i would refuse to cook, or going to the grocery shop for basics, i personally would spend roughly like a max of 4-5 dollars per day. A big Kebab cost that much and would fit for the whole day. Wonder where you can spend 50 Dollar a day on food and not explode soon after. O.o

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When my rich mother lost her high-end job and my father had to go into rehab. Suddenly I went from being totally set and carefree to having to start working while studying. Eventually I dropped out of college because the I couldn't handle the never ending school-work-sleep cycle, with literally zero free time and zero money (everything I earned covered just the most basic life expanses and tuition). I matured a lot during that year.

Sangwiny , Andy Rogers Report

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Jo Choto

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Ironic, since most of the people I know in full time education live that school-work-(study)-sleep cycle for all the years that they are in college/uni, because there's no other way for them to achieve it.

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My friend will tell you (He's the son of a multimillionaire) it was when someone hit him in the face. Always on his best behavior after that stunt. He really thought just because he was the rich guy buying drinks, someone in the group wouldn't hit him from talking s**t

[deleted] , Karl Baron Report

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Forrest McCanless

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"Everybody got a plan 'til I hit 'em in the face." Mike Tyson

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I realized that some people really struggle with money. I thought people didn't buy things they need (cars, appliances, clothes, a nice house) because they were really frugal and saving up. It's not even that I didn't know about poverty but I thought it was a third-world thing and that everyone in the US is pretty comfortable.

This didn't sink in until college. I'm terrified for after-college.

[deleted] , Bradley Gordon Report

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Rijkærd

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Yep..you are gonna get real terrified for after college...

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Dad worked for someone and that someone promised to sell him the company. When the day actually came, he sold the company to someone else and my dad quit his job. We were broke and I could no longer ask for things. We almost went bankrupt and nearly sold the house. Dad started his own company and we're still in debt. Haven't had enough money for anything and I have to make do with 12 bucks for a week or even 2 sometimes. I'm in college now and it's still the same. We live in Malaysia btw. I remember when I was 12, my dad was broke and we sat in a small stall to eat. He didn't have enough money to eat but promised me that we would have a life that's secure. I'm in college today and pretty thankful for that despite the lack of money, I tend to make do here and there.

harjin23 , Kevin Dooley Report

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R Carson

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That's what it takes. Tough times don't last-but tough people do.

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When I lived on my own the first time. Cable, Internet, Utilities, Cell Phone, Health Insurance is $450 by itself. Throw in food, rent, haircuts, clothes, entertainment and you bankrupt. Forget having a car.

tommygunz007 , Tom Taker Report

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Naesil

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This is the thing lot of people dont understand when they first move out, you dont magically have all the utilities, fridge doesnt fill it self up.. and everything is more expensive than you think if you never had to pay for them yourself.

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I never had a job until the age of 19. Up until this age I assumed people started working when they felt like it. As in, you wake up one day and say 'hey, you know what? I feel like working now. I'll go sign up to this company of my choice, and I'm going to choose to work this amount of hours per week.' Fast forward 3 years and due to parental abandonment I have no car, no education, will soon have no place to live, no licence and no work skills. Because I never had to

mansonfairy113 , VSPYCC Report

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Jo Choto

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If you are now 22, you are an adult. There is no parental abandonment when you are an adult! If you have nothing, it's because you have chosen not to work or make any effort to take care of yourself.

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Got to college and my roommate washed his plastic silverware for reuse.

He'd never held an actual metal fork. Plastic was cheaper.

M1k3yd33tofficial , Steve Snodgrass Report

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Otter

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Metal is cheaper in the long run. And that's why it's so expensive to be poor, you can't afford to buy the things that last. (Sam Vimes theory of economics!)

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3rd grade I was being a little b***h to my mom and she, being the very Irish lady she is, lost her temper and started googling pictures of homeless kids from around the world to show me while screaming stuff like, "look at this girl, she sells bracelets to support her family!!!!". Not to say I became perfect overnight, but the realization that I was part of an upper-middle class family with happily married parents with no medical issues did start to sink in.

[deleted] , Joe Green Report

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Chicken Nugget

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I mean, you were like 8 years old at the time. Not justifying your behavior but it seems a pretty 8 year old thing to do.

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When the high school principals daughter who previously got away with all kinds of garbage behavior ( vandalism, dinking, major. bullying ) got caught vandalizing a lecture hall in uni she was unceremoniously dumped and banned. Parents whined for months on fb about their poor baby’s unfair treatment and the fact that her applications to other uni’s were being denied.

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Paddling Panda

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All three of them sound entitled.

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When I was removed from my parents and put through a year of foster hell. Sadly, my brother didn't get the same rude awakening I did.

Spez: We were in the same foster house, it's just he didn't fully grasp that the world doesn't revolve around him, while I mostly have. I'm still trying to fight off some demons from both eras.

dorkdiariesisforboys , Ken Lund Report

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WilvanderHeijden

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In reality, the world revolves around you. You need to learn how to handle being the center of your life.

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When I was 18 and got arrested. I didn't get a ride back home. I went to jail.

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R Carson

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Tough love.

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First time I went a week living on beans and ramen because that's what was in the house and I didn't have any money I learned that in the real world, everything is not just handed to you.

I'm still a bit spoiled and I still have issues with prioritizing expenditures, but I'm much better than I was when I was 21.

dragsys , Amy Ross Report

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M O'Connell

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What flavor are the 'sadness noodles' up there?

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When I was 30 and wanted a divorce and it didn't happen magically by writing a check to a lawyer.

witchwithflyinghead , Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos Report

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M O'Connell

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Who decided to use 'word art' for those signs?

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