Wealthy individuals share one eye-opening experience that made them realize they were crazy rich

Not everyone is born with privilege, but most people have the resilience to rise to the top. Whether starting their journey to prosperity or already wealthy, many take their loved ones for granted. While some lose their humility, others devote their lives to what they do, forgetting the little joys. However, when u/stoicjewel on Reddit asked the affluent class if they had an 'I’m privileged' wake-up call, a flood of responses followed. Members of the online community not only shared their own eye-opening moments but also recounted wonderful and empowering stories about how they dealt with their inner crises.

From “obscenely rich” vacations and spending time at weekend summer homes to everyday expenses like college tuition, people realized how much better off they were than some of their peers. And all it took was one “epiphany” moment that had a major impact on how they perceived their privilege. Not only did this mindset change bring a fresh perspective into their lives, but it also made them much humbler. Calling it a spiritual awakening might be far-fetched, but these wealthy individuals finally showed gratitude for what they were blessed with. So, no more complaints—it was time for them to actually grow rich in life. We compiled a string of their unique experiences, presenting the 20 most eye-opening privilege checks that would inspire anyone to walk the extra mile toward self-awareness. 

1. Growing up obscenely rich.

"My parents loved to travel. By the time I was 16, I'd been to every continent aside from Antarctica. I didn't realize this was privileged behavior until I went to college and found that most of the guys I met had never left the country before. In fact, I grew up thinking I was less privileged since everyone at my school was obscenely rich." -u/abal1003

2. Impressing childhood buddies with family wealth.

"When I was a kid, my best friend came to our house for the first time, and he kept saying 'wow.' He was really impressed that we had two TVs. It embarrassed me enough that I didn't tell him we had four."
-u/Underwater_Karma

3. Seeing poverty for the first time.

"My family was solidly upper middle class, but as part of my job, I do home visits and have many poor clients. When I first started my career in my 20s, I was shocked to discover there were people in the US who lived in homes with no indoor plumbing or electricity, had dirt floors or had outdoor kitchens (like cooking on an oil drum because they didn't have an indoor kitchen). Before my job, I had no idea that was happening."
-u/hotlettucediahrrea

4. Perks of a rich company.

"When I was younger, my friends and I wanted to try the new rail transit system. One of my friend's drivers dropped us off at one station so we could get tickets and ride the train. When we got to the next station, we got off and proceeded to find our friend's driver, who was waiting there to pick us up and take us home."
-u/fluffymcflufffluff

5. Family-sponsored college education.

"Realizing how having my college tuition covered by my parents put me so much farther ahead than everyone else in the long-term." -u/fattychalupa

6. 'Freeloading' grandma's inheritance.

"At this point, I already knew I was very well-off, but after I'd gotten laid off for the first a few years ago, I took a month-long break before diving into a job search. I was at the self-checkout at the grocery store next to a woman paying with food stamps. I had recently gotten $100,000 from my grandmother's inheritance, and it hit me: I was unemployed, not even trying to find a job, and I just got a boatload of money because somebody else died. Yet, the woman paying with the food stamps would be someone many people think is a 'freeloader.'" -u/RamblinWreckGT

7. College road trip saga.

"In college, I went on a road trip with friends, and one asked how much money he should put in the gas tank. I told him to fill it up, but he kept asking, 'OK, but how much should I pay?' I just kept telling him to fill it up! It turns out that he had only ever put $15 of gas at a time. It had never occurred to me that some people never filled their gas tanks to the top." -u/atXNola

8. Summers exclusivity.

"When I learned that not everyone has a summer cottage or trust fund, and not all grandparents have weekend and summer homes." -u/SkyTrees5809

9. Learning the hard way.

"When the only reason I got student loans was to build credit." -u/DiabeticSocks05

10. Crunch for the basics.

"I couldn't understand why people were so sensitive about bathroom-use timings. I always wondered, 'What's the matter if someone takes too long? Just use the other bathroom.' Then, I discovered that many people don't have multiple bathrooms." -u/gioselva3

11. The rich school story.

"I was staying the summer at my grandmother's house when I was 10 or 11 and was hanging out with her best friend's granddaughter, who was my age. She asked me what my dream car was, and I said the name of a supercar. I asked her the same thing, and she said a Range Rover. I told her she should pick a less boring car, saying it was a 'mom car.' She asked me to clarify what I meant, so I told her that everyone's mom at my school drove one, which is why it was so boring to me. Her eyes widened, and she asked me where I went to school. Before that conversation, I had no idea that my family wasn't middle class." -u/Litwickey

12. Flying on a plane.

"A friend in college told me they'd never flown on an airplane before. I straight-up did not believe her. Another person had to break it to me." -u/ORD2414

13. Parents' 24/7 efforts.

"My parents are wealthy, but I grew up in a place where many of my peers' parents were super duper wealthy, so I had a really skewed understanding of wealth. It was really eye-opening for me when I went to college. I didn't have to take out student loans; my parents were able to pay for it, but I had friends who, even with financial aid, had to work their butts off year-round to cover the cost of tuition. I realized pretty quicky just how privileged I was, and that I did, in fact, grow up with wealth." -u/LilAsshole666

14. Bittersweet memories from work.

"I've had many realizations, but a particularly memorable one was when a guy at work I'd been flirting with (I was 19, and he was 25, so in my naive mind, I thought he was financially set, even though we both worked the same shitty retail job) told me he'd signed a lease on a new apartment. I asked how many bedrooms it had, just for the sake of conversation. He laughed and said, 'Five — it's a penthouse suite.' I was impressed and thought he was doing pretty well for himself! A couple of weeks later, he brought me back to his new apartment. It was a 300-square-foot studio. At this point, it occurred to me that he'd thought I was making a joke when I'd asked how many bedrooms the apartment had." -u/Haldoldreams

15. The everyday privileges we take for granted.

"When I threw something into my friend's sink drain, and his mom had to tell me that they throw their trash in the garbage can. I proceeded to ask why they didn't use their garbage disposal, and it turned out they didn't have one. It became solidified in my mind that many homes actually don't have one." -u/siteofsanity

16. Mom's bizarre hunt.

"I was in eighth grade, and my mom flew on a private jet just to get a purse for a wedding accessory." -u/walleyetalker22

17. Seeing things from the underprivileged lens.

"I wasn't wealthy compared to national averages, but my parents made about $100K in the '90s, and I lived in a small and economically disadvantaged town, so I was definitely part of the 1%. In middle school, my friend lived in a trailer. I had stayed the night at her house, and while I was surprised by the inconvenience of how small it was, that actually wasn't the wake-up call since I'd been in trailers before. When she finally came over to my typical '90s-built home (a two-story with three bedrooms), she said, 'You can't even see the whole house all at once! It just keeps going!' I had never seen my life through someone else's eyes before, and it definitely made me more grateful." -u/AssortedGourds

18. Another childhood story.

"I took my friend to my parents' cabin, and he said, 'Wow, this is nicer than my house.'" -u/flpacsnr

19. Self-reflection.

"I remember having a love interest over, and I asked which living room he wanted to hang out in. I'm grateful to have a bit more perspective now—and my own home with only one living room." -u/tellmetaradiddles

20. Realizing different social and cultural references.

"When I was confused about people on 'Maury' complaining their spouse was at 'the club,' and I couldn't figure out what type of country club would let people like that through the front security gate." -u/Popular_Course3885