People who work in rich people's homes, what is the most out-of-touch thing you've ever seen?
I worked for a very wealthy property developer about 20 years ago. He was a self‑made billionaire, a hard‑bastard with a decent heart, and he ran his empire from a 15,000‑sq‑ft mansion that looked like it had a secret underground bunker.
The kid—his son, 16 at the time—was a total slacker. School was a drag, he had a “soft” attitude, and he didn’t seem to care about anything except video games. The dad, who had dropped out of school at 14 and was the eldest of nine, decided to give his son a taste of the real world.
He called me directly (a rare move for a guy who usually had a management team) and asked if I’d take the kid for a few weeks of work experience. The catch? Keep his identity under wraps. I agreed to pay him €80 per day—enough to buy a gaming rig in his room.
Every morning I picked the kid up at 6:30 a.m. and dropped him off at the gates of his mansion at 6 p.m. He did heavy lifting, got blisters on his hands, and drifted to sleep in my van on the way home. On his last day, his dad was there to chat in the van. He explained that his son’s €800 over two weeks was a small taste compared to the life he’d had to fight for.
The kid was respectful, did what he was told without complaint, and had no ego. The dad was simply trying to curb laziness. Fast forward—now the kid runs the family business with his dad in semi‑retirement, treating everyone with respect and chatting about sports with the crew on site.
Comments from the Reddit thread
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Motorcycle collection alert: “Dude had a motorcycle collection in his basement. Another wealthy customer straight up told me and my crew that poor people should be shot in the back of the head execution style.”
Picture a garage full of roaring bikes and a CEO who thinks a “shooting range” is a good investment. -
Historical oddity: “I knew someone who had a replica of the war memorial opera house and it was built in the 1920 so had a prohibition tunnel underground that went out to a lion cage (no lion).”
Because nothing says “I’m rich” like a 1920s opera house with a secret tunnel that leads to an empty lion cage. -
Lionless confusion: “No lion? What were they? Peasants?!”
Someone finally realized the irony of a lion cage with no lions in it. -
Pricetag humor: “I mean how much does a lion even cost? $10?”
If you’re going to build a lion cage, you might as well set a low price tag and sell it at the flea market.
TL;DR
A billionaire gives his slacking son a 2‑week internship, pays €80/day, and the kid ends up running the empire. Comments range from motorcycle collections and a 1920s opera house with a pointless lion cage to jokes about the cost of a lion. The rich life, as always, is full of bizarre side‑quests.