People Share The Time Someone Was Condescending To Them For Appearing “Low Class”

It really irks me when some people feel the need to treat people merely based on what their looks imply regarding their level of education, career, popularity, and/or income. I get it, we all judge people, even subconsciously. But to only consider dating someone because they wear an expensive watch or even to only help out a customer because of the way they’re dressed is plain ridiculous.

Not to mention, the way we perceive others can be completely wrong. So what if the man in Story 17 isn’t the traditional age to be attending college? It doesn’t make him an unintelligent student. And so what if the people in Story 9 were dressed in muddy farm clothing upon entering a jewelry shop? What you don’t know is that they have “doe,” the money kind (see how punny I am?).

If you’ve ever been treated as if you’re less important, an outcast from the rest, or that you just don’t belong, you might just be able to connect with the following true stories of the times people were condescendingly treated like they were nobodies. The kicker is, these people should have never been treated the way that they were.

Many of them are actually very intelligent, well-educated, and/or work for or have a successful company!

28. She Proved Her Point And Got The Last Laugh

“I worked for a company that employed several thousand people spread across at least ten different offices. We had an online directory that allowed you to pull up an employee’s picture, phone number, department, and supervisor.

One day a case came across my desk that required me to reach out to a director in Operations in order to get it resolved.

A client was promised something and someone in her office never followed up. I didn’t point fingers or anything.
I simply sent an email explaining the situation and asking if the person who originally handled it in her office was out of town because he wasn’t responding to my messages. It was actually pretty friendly.

When she didn’t respond, I called her. As soon as I told her my name she went into a very long power tripped rant.

She told me that she instructed her employee not to respond because her office doesn’t answer to mine. She said that they would get to it when they got to it and that I had better not call her line again because she was a director and I was a customer service rep.
“Unless [CEO] himself calls, it will get handled when we get around to it.”

There was a brief pause as I tried to think about the best way to remain professional yet still give her a taste of her own medicine.

I said something along the lines of:

“I’m guessing you looked me up in the directory. For some reason, there’s a glitch that will not allow them to update my information. I haven’t worked in Customer Service for quite a while. You can, however, look up the extension that shows up on your caller ID. It should show that I’m calling from the Office of the Executive Vice President.

That’s who I report to directly. Mr. [CEO] asked me this morning what was going on with your office because apparently he knows this client personally and wanted to know why it was taking you so long to get this issue resolved.”

Dead silence.

“It will be done by the end of the day.”

“I’m sorry. That doesn’t work for me. I need this done within the hour. Thank you.” Ordale Allen

27. You’ve Got A Business Class Seat? Well, I’ve Got First Class

Okay, Mr. Business Class Man.

You’re not that special.

Singapore Airport does the security scans at the gate. Some airports do the security scans before the departure lounge, but Singapore does them after the departure lounge.
We were flying back to London straight from a meeting with a customer; my company had bought me a Business class ticket, but BA had decided that since I was in a suit, I was eligible for an upgrade to First.

As it was an overnight flight I took the opportunity of the Lounge to change out of my suit into jeans and a T-shirt.

Boarding is announced, and we all troop off to the gate, ready to do the security screening and get on the plane. The idea of boarding by group or class doesn’t really work when there are only two scanners, so we all line up in two big mixed class queues.

Ultimately we all have to get through security, as we are all boarding the same plane.

The couple in front of me are elderly, so I help them lift their small cabin bags onto the scanner belt, and I’m happily zoned out and sleepy ready for the overnight flight.

Then this sweaty oaf comes steaming up to the scanner, jumping the entire queue, pushes my bag out of the way and slamming his onto the belt.

“Excuse me, but I think you’ll find I’m in Business”. He then proceeds to wrestle off his jacket and belt. At this point I’m really not in the mood to start a fight – we all have to get on the plane and causing a scene will just delay us all.
But then he stands on my foot. I’ve already taken my shoes off to put through the scanner, but this oaf can’t balance to take off his belt and stands on my foot – and his shoes are hard.

Enough.

“Yes, you are in Business, but I think you’ll find that I’m in First, and the queue starts back there.”

I hold my breath, waiting for any angry riposte, but his in-built rules of class superiority kick in, and he takes his stuff off the belt and slinks off to the back of the queue. I exchange a smile with the elderly couple, and we all get on the plane.

It turns out that BA First really isn’t worth the extra.” Simon Parry

26. They’d Always Give Me Crap Service, But Then I Walked In With Nice Clothing

“I frequent a Japanese branded convenience store near my workplace to get cheap meals (like $0.50 cheap). The lines are always long and understandably, the staff is rather cranky, especially during the morning rush hour.

I’m not a top boss or anything, but I am in a position to be able to decide things in the company I work for.

The thing is that all non-executive employees need to wear some tacky as a **** uniform.
I usually get really crappy service, and my turn can go for as long as 10 minutes, with missed orders (yeah, you can order stuff like food in that convenience store), wrong orders, and even wrong prices rang up!

One day though, it was a rather cold day, so I wore some random cheapo jacket.

This jacket happens to be a corporate giveaway, and you guessed it, it bears the name of the brand of the convenience store. The thing about the jacket though is that it’s given to company executives and is not available to regular employees nor are they for sale.
It just happens that my dad was one of the top executives who brought the Japanese brand to the country, hence he got one.

It was just really tacky so he gave it to me, and I rarely wore it anyway.

I walk into the store as usual, and it also happens that I had a meeting to go to that day, so I wore a rather nice dress shirt and pants. Basically, I looked like someone from that convenience store’s company who can boss people around. To my surprise, the cashier called my attention, and asked what I wanted – with five people in front of me in the queue! I didn’t mind it at first, trying to think it wasn’t me, but then she went at it again and she made eye contact.

I refused politely, waving her off with a smile, but another cashier tried to get me into her shorter three-person queue with the same offer to already prepare what I wanted. It was embarrassing!

Noticing now that they probably think I was an executive of the company they’re working for, I tried to make a semi-stern voice and told them along the lines of “No, it’s unfair to the people who are in front of me in the line.

Serve them first.” That shut them up and their faces looked rather ashamed. I’m not sure it’s because they realized that what I said was the right thing to do, or their bones are shaking because they think they’re not able to prioritize a company executive during rush hour, which shouldn’t be an issue.
I finally arrived at the counter, and placed my items for checkout, and made a couple of orders too.

And this is the first time in three years going there almost daily that anyone ever offered me choices, and I was offered at least three when they’re not even trained to make such offers. I declined them all politely, and I just went about things as I would daily and thanked them for their service.

The next day, I didn’t wear a jacket, and I got the same crap service again.” Quora user

25. I Know We Aren’t Dressed The Nicest, But We Have Money, You Know

“This past February was my daughter’s 16th Birthday.

We had planned a big Sweet 16 party but not until June, when the weather would be nicer.

My husband and I had talked about what to get her for her birthday. We had decided on a necklace with diamonds, something she could wear even as an adult, which she was fast becoming, and a two week trip to Scotland.

We own a farm and like to do most of our own fencing and gardening but big jobs we hire out.

The night before her birthday we realized that neither of us had been to the jewelers (I don’t know how that got away from us.) We looked at the clock, we only had 20 minutes to get to the jewelers before they closed.
Jumping into our farm truck, we sped into town, making it to the jewelers 5 minutes before closing. We walked in with muddy boots, dirty jeans, heavy jackets, sporting windblown hair.

Needless to say, they did not like how we looked.

My husband informed them we were looking for a gift for our daughter’s birthday. Nervously, we were directed to a case that had not been put away yet. It was thin simple gold and silver chains barren of any gemstones, we told the sales lady again what we wanted. They pulled out trays with thin gold & silver necklaces and small trinkets on them.

The manager was standing in the background nervously watching us.

My husband was getting a little annoyed. He said to the lady, “Look, this my daughter’s 16th birthday, not her 6th. I don’t want to see anything under $500. And I want it to have diamonds on it.” She looked at him like a deer with headlights coming at it, then walked over to the manager. While they were whispering together, I said to my husband in an elevated voice, “Don’t get upset.

They don’t know we were working outside all day on the farm. We probably look like we’re going to hold up the place.” My husband snickered.
The manager overheard heard me, eyeing me to see if it might be true. He sent the woman back. He locked the door.

The sales lady and manager brought out trays of necklaces more like what we were looking for. The manager explained to us that they had been closing up when we came in, they were sorry for the inconvenience.

We looked at the necklaces with diamonds picking out a sterling silver necklace with a heart with diamonds. It was $1250.

The manager apologized again, said they were having a sale starting in a few days for Valentine’s Day and would be happy to give us the discount for all the inconvenience, which was 25%.
My husband and I just stared at him, not saying a word. The manager became uncomfortable, stuttering and stammering.

He said, of course, he could do better than that because of the inconvenience, how long all of this gad taken, etc. We ended up getting 45% off.

When my husband paid for the necklace, he pulled out a stack of $100 bills. Many more than he needed. He handed the manager the money and said to me, I brought $1600, $100 for every year. Would you like something as a gift for being such a great mother for 16 years? I declined.

The manager was quickly realizing his mistake and was trying to backpedal, offering us their sale ad for Valentine’s Day, trying to get our email, offered preferred private buying times, asking me to fill out a wish list, etc. We declined everything, took our necklace, and left.

Our daughter loved the necklace and the Scotland trip is scheduled for the spring.” Kimberly Richard

24. He Looked Down On The Car Salesman Who Was A Secret Multi-Millionaire

“I got a lesson in modesty at a play my wife and I went to.

It was a small playhouse of would-be future stars and we were all crammed into the seats with no regard for who was sitting next to who.
My wife and I were sitting next to a nice couple we didn’t know but who was nice and clearly a little intimidated by the somewhat ‘effete’ crowd. I was a “semi-famous” reporter at the time and that added to their intimidation.

After a couple of jokes, at my expense, they relaxed and we had a nice conversation.

Anyway, I could hear one gentleman a couple of rows behind us talking rather loudly. He was obviously making the most of being with the “in crowd” and wanted everybody to know he also was an important person. A few minutes later another gentleman and his wife sat in the row next to him.

“Hey, ” Big Mouth said. “Come here often?” (Or words to that effect.)

“Yes, we really enjoy this. It’s live theater and it’s enjoyable.”

Big Mouth then explained how he had gone to some pretty fancy theaters in New York. He, too, enjoyed these “little theater” productions. But, of course, he was used to so much more. Then he said…

“What do you do for a living?”

The other man simply said, “I sell cars.”

Big Mouth then explained how good it was that there were people who sell cars and that people who sell cars are good people, and that car salesman shouldn’t be ashamed about what they do.

About that time, his loud voice and annoying manner got to me and I turned around. Sitting next to Big Mouth was someone I recognized. The “car salesman” was the owner of the four largest dealerships in town. He was a millionaire several times over. But all he had said in response to that question was – “I sell cars.”

I try to remember his simple response whenever I got a ‘big head’ about what I did as a “semi-famous” reporter at the time.

(My semi-famous days are long over, but his simple, humble response is something I wish other ‘celebrities’ would emulate.)” Michael Castengera

23. Shooed Out In One Store, Welcomed In The Other

“Go anywhere in Asia and this happens so often, you’ll lose track.
Forget being wealthy, sales reps will fawn over you as soon as they have an inkling that you will spend money in their store, or if you’re a foreigner, but they will treat you like crap if you don’t.

My laundry was being washed by the hotel after almost 2 weeks of traveling, so I was roaming about Hong Kong in shorts and a tank top, my preferred travel garb anyway. It suddenly started raining, not unusual in HK, so I ducked into a Calvin Klein in an artsy mall.

Calvin Klein is one of my favorite brands, but the HK reps were so rude, pretty much shooing me out of the store on the basis that I looked like a wet bum and telling me so.

Funny enough, this CK connects one part of the mall to another, so I could have just been walking past.

Whatever, I left to check out a bunch of luxury shops nearby. I ended up buying a mini wallet from Furla for less than 100USD and then strolled into Hermès in a hotel mall, whereupon walking in, the sales rep offered one of their orange shopping bags for my umbrella.

The luxury shops were surprisingly much more welcoming and helpful. In fact, the Prada reps suggested that I purchase certain items in the U.S. because the import tax to Asia can make some items cost hundreds more, info that was of benefit to me but not at all to them.
Hours later, I had a few small bags of gifts and I was back at the same CK.

I dreaded walking past them on my way back to the hotel. The same woman who shooed me out was now fawning over me and actually admiring all my bags, especially the Hermès bag, even though I didn’t buy anything there.

Since I wasn’t being kicked out this time, I figured I’d check out some of the prices. Everything was 2x more expensive than in the U.S.

and many of the styles were out of season. Meanwhile, this woman was chasing me around the store, asking what I did for a living and such.
This time, I shooed her away telling her that the selection was ugly and that I was just passing by. I didn’t bother telling her that she had kicked me out less than 2 hours ago, but she most definitely did not remember.

It was one of many experiences with the superficiality in Asian culture that I hear so much about.” Iris Yung

22. Change Your Tune When You Figure Out Who I Am? Not Cool

“To start, I’m not what you would consider to be wealthy or a celebrity. However, I have had interesting responses from people when they learned who I was.
I grew up in a town filled with farms.

Now those farms are filled with rather large, beautiful suburban homes. In NJ, it is known as McMansion town.

Several years ago a bunch of people who graduated in the 80s & 90s decided to meet up at one of the local pubs in our town. It’s one of those old rustic places that looks as though it was there before the first tractor was invented. While there, I met an enormous amount of people from my graduating class.

Needless to say, I was having a great time.

At some point, I went out back on the balcony.
I overheard I guy talk about his brother Cliff. Cliff was one year behind me. He was an extraordinary athlete. He and I ran track and played football together. Cliff is the second born of a rather large family. So I did not recognize the guy talking about his brother Cliff.

I walked up to him and said, “I heard you say your brother is Cliff. Tell him I said hi.” The guy looked at me with so much disdain. He said, “yeah ok”. He dismissed me and continued speaking with the man and woman in front of him. He was so dismissive that I never had an opportunity to tell him who I was.
Then someone comes out on the balcony and yells, “Hey, it’s Teddy Santos”.

And then he comes over to hug me. Then all of a sudden, Cliff’s brother begins his apology.

He said, “Oh my God, you’re Teddy Santos. I’m so sorry. If I knew it was you, I would have never responded to you that way. I’m so sorry will you accept my apology. I’ll let my brother know I finally met you. Man, you were a legend at our high school.

You left a **** of the reputation behind for the rest of us to follow. I can only say thank you.
I’m so glad to meet you. Wow, man!”

I thought he was going to get down and bow to me. Even I was surprised.

What made it funny was I was dating a woman much younger than me. On many occasions, she witnessed people responding to me in a somewhat similar way.

That night she happened to be with me. When she saw the entire interaction, she asked me, “why do so many people think you’re special? What’s the big deal? Everyone thinks you’re so tough. You’re not.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. It didn’t matter what she said. It still happened.”  Ted Santos

21. Wearing Jeans And A T-shirt Won’t Get You Served

“I’ve been fortunate to do well financially in my chosen field; not filthy rich but certainly well off (with some ups and downs along the way).

After a particularly large windfall when I was in my late 20’s, I decided it was time to treat myself to a nice luxury car. I had never owned a Mercedes-Benz and decided it was probably time to take a closer look at their offering.

One afternoon during the workweek, I left my office and went to the largest Mercedes dealership I was aware of in the area, Prestige Motors.

This place was a serious, high-end car dealership, looking more like the Ritz Carlton than your local Yugo showroom. As I had no business meetings that day, I was wearing my standard engineer/software programmer uniform; i.e.
tee shirt, jeans, and sneakers. While I was certainly clean, working 12-16 hours a day on technology I had little time or patience for worrying about my day-to-day wardrobe.

As it was mid-afternoon on a weekday, there were no other customers when I entered the dealership.

There was a “receptionist” sitting at a fancy desk facing the door. There were four or five salesmen decked out in Brooks Brothers suits, all working busily at their desks. As I walked in and made eye contact with the woman at the desk, I prepared myself to be embraced by the mystique of Mercedes-Benz. And, with a blank check in my pocket, I was ready to be wowed.

To my great surprise, the receptionist took one look at me and immediately broke eye contact, going back to whatever it was she was doing. I spent the next 10 or 15 minutes walking around the completely silent showroom, sitting in cars, checking out sticker prices and looking at brochures while not one employee acknowledged my existence. They didn’t even have the common decency to say a single word to me.

After 15 minutes, I gave up, walked out the door, got into my Porsche (which was parked out of view of the main entrance) and drove a few miles north to the local BMW dealer, where I was treated with respect, regardless of my appearance.
An hour later I walked out with a deal on a top-of-the-line 740IL.

To this day, I’ve never entered another Mercedes-Benz dealership.” Garry Kitchen

20. He Thought She Was Flakey Until He Got The Full Story

“I went to law school at night from 1981-85.

During those years I was working full-time at Major League Baseball. I was the Manager of Waivers and Player Records for the American League. I kept the rosters, enforced the Major League Rules, recorded new contracts, handled trades, and other transactions, etc.

I got a call one day from the agent who represented a star pitcher who had just been placed on the 60-day disabled list.
He was convinced that his client wasn’t really badly injured, but that the club was improperly using the disabled list to get around the roster limits.

He was livid. He wasn’t very nice; in fact, he was supercilious and more than a little nasty. I made a point of being extremely polite. I told him that all disabled list placements were reviewed by the Commissioner’s Office within 24-48 hours and that if there was anything irregular it would be addressed. He said he would call back tomorrow.

I had class four nights a week beginning at 6 pm and it took me about 31 minutes to walk from 280 Park Avenue to 140 West 62nd Street (Fordham Law School), so I normally left the office by 5:10 – 5:15 pm.

That afternoon at about 5:30 the agent called back. It was a small office with no receptionist. We all answered the phone lines when they rang. The person who answered the phone that afternoon was a guy named Bob Fishel. He was the Vice President of the league, our head of communications, a longtime baseball guy, probably in his late 60s or early 70s at that time, and a very dear friend of mine.

The agent asked for me and Bob told him I had left for the day. As Bob reported to me the next day, the agent laughed and said, “Yeah, that’s the way it is with the girls in the office! They’re always out the door at 5!”

Bob was offended on my behalf and told the agent that I was a law student who had to leave at 5 every night to get to class, as well as a Yale graduate, an alum of the MLB executive development program, and probably a bunch of other extremely complimentary stuff he didn’t repeat to me later.

The next day when the agent called back he could not have been nicer. He asked about his client and then told me he had heard I was a law student. He told me he taught sports law as an adjunct at his local law school, asked me what courses I was taking, etc. The difference was unbelievable.

I had occasion to speak with that agent a few more times, and he was never rude to me again.” Stephanie Vardavas

19. This Couple Has A Few Stories To Share

“Two stories. First, how I discovered the secret of invisibility.

Second, how a car salesman refused to sell me the car I wanted.
Oh, and a bonus third car buying story too.

Let me explain.

Some years back, my then-wife and I traveled to London for a short break. We treated ourselves to a nice five-star hotel, and being long-time Seattle residents, had long since settled into the ‘Seattle casual’ dress code.

We were slightly disappointed in the quality of service at the hotel.

Like many English things, particularly expensive products/services, it seemed that the staff working as paid employees of the hotel thought they were grander than their guests merely because they worked there every day, while we’d stay there only for a few days. (This is particularly noticeable if you fly First Class on BA, where the stuffy flight attendants, instead of fawning all over you for spending stupid amounts of money to fly in their first-class section, act as though they are doing you a personal favor by letting you into ‘their’ cabin.)

We laughed to ourselves at the dysfunctional snobbery of the English and thought little more of it.

Then one evening we were going to Covent Garden to see an opera or ballet. I forget what, but we allowed ourselves to conform to the unwritten dress code and expectations of attending a Covent Garden performance in expensive seats, and broke out our ‘fancy’ clothes. An amazing thing happened.

We stepped out of the elevator in the hotel reception area, and it was like a spotlight was shining on us.

Staff stopped what they were doing, looked us in the eye, wished us a pleasant evening; a doorman leaped to the door and held it open for us, etc.

On our return at the end of the evening, the same happened in reverse.
Doors held open, even someone rushing to press an elevator button for us, people welcoming us back.

The next morning, we were again dressed very casually for a day of being out and about in London, and we had again become invisible.

No-one looked up, no-one acknowledged our presence, and the doorman ignored us.

Want to become invisible? Dress down at an over-priced pretentious London hotel.

2. The ‘Clever’ Car Salesman Who Wouldn’t Sell me the Car I Wanted

I had bought several cars over the years from the local Jaguar/Landrover dealership and consistently dealt with one particular salesman. He had come to understand my no-nonsense approach to buying cars and negotiating prices, and we were able to cut through the otherwise thick layer of nonsense and charades and quickly agree on pricing.

I wanted to treat myself to a brand new Supercharged Range Rover – at the time, about 2005, this was a $100,000 car. So I called him up.

Me: “Hi, Steve. I want to buy a new Supercharged Range Rover. Do you have any on the lot I can look at?”

Steve : (excited reply, details of the colors and configurations of the several such vehicles they had on the lot.)

Me: “Great, I’ll take the red one.

I will write you out a check on the spot and want to drive it away with me. Please get it ready – when is it convenient for me to come down?”

Steve : (even more excitement, suggests 10.30 am)

Me: “Okay, can do.
Now, there’s just one thing. I need your help persuading my wife that this is a sensible transaction. So when we arrive, I’ll act unsure and will feed you softball questions for you to answer, so you can sell my wife.

Then as soon as she has come around, we’ll complete the deal.”

Steve: “Oh yes, haha. I know exactly what you mean. Sure thing.”

My wife and I turned up at 10.30, and I allowed Steve to first show us some used cars, then first some new Landrovers ($35k – $55k) and then some new Range Rovers ($80k – $100k). So far, so good.
We ended up sitting in the Supercharged Range Rover I wanted to buy, with the wife sitting in the driver’s seat.

She liked the heated steering wheel, she liked the backup camera (unusual back then), and liked the car in general. We were almost there.

So I gave Steve the last question for him to answer.

Me: “So, Steve, we’ve seen a lot of different cars. I think we’ve all agreed that a used car would not be as good as a new car (wife nods in agreement – so far so good), but you are now suggesting this car to us – $100,000! That’s more than twice as much as some of the less expensive Landrovers.

Now I don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish about this, but I do need to be convinced as to why we should spend this much more money to choose this car rather than one of the others. Sure, I think we both like the extra amenities and options in this car – the heated steering wheel will be handy in the winter (wife nods) and the rearview video is a great safety feature (more nodding from the wife).

But, is it really sensible to spend all this much more money?”

So, there we were – the wife liking the car, me having already told Steve I’d buy the car, and Steve prepared to answer this exact question.
I waited for his response, already imagining myself driving the vehicle off the lot a short while later.

Steve looked at us, then his gaze shifted to out the windows and to another vehicle.

He cleared his throat portentously and said: “Well, David, you’ve been a good client for many years, and I’d hate to mislead you. I agree with you, this is a huge amount to pay for a car. If it were my choice, I’d buy the Landrover you looked at before, it is only $55,000. A much better value.”

OMG!

How could I possibly now buy the car I wanted to buy, the car I’d already told Steve I would buy, now that he had said that?

We bought the Landrover.

It has been a lovely car, but it is not the dream car I wanted.

3. The Car Salesman Who Tried to Sell a Brochure Rather than a Car

In mid-1994, I decided to be wild and crazy and buy myself a sports car.

I did considerable research, and at the end of it all decided a Corvette was the best choice for what I wanted and in terms of ‘bangs per buck’.

The Corvette I had identified from various research resources (this was pre-internet) seemed like it would cost about $35,000, and my main focus now was on configuring exactly the model options that were available.
I was going to place a custom factory order rather than buy one off the showroom floor because I wanted the car configured exactly the way I chose.

I knew from having done this with cars in the past that there was a veritable mine-field of options, some of which required other options, and some of which were ‘either/or’ choices and different ways of packaging the options, and so on and so forth.

So my wife and I went to the local Chevy dealership one Saturday afternoon. A lounge lizard of a salesman hurried out to ‘help’. I explained we wanted to buy a Corvette.
He nodded sagely and asked if I wanted to test drive one. “No”, I replied. “I’m sure I’ll love the driving experience. It isn’t necessary. I just want to go ahead and order one.”

The salesman nodded, and invited us to his little desk/cubicle thing, and pulled out an order form.

I said ‘We want to place a factory order, and I don’t know exactly what all the options and option packs and requirements are. Can we have a brochure please to take home and work through the details, then come back tomorrow to confirm our order.” I pointed to the pile of Corvette brochures in a display rack.
The salesman frowned and said “We don’t give brochures away.

They cost money to print. We sell them for $5 each.”

I said “I’m about to buy a $35,000 car, and the only way I can know about how to configure it is with the information in the brochure. You are telling me I have to pay $5 for a brochure before I then pay $35,000 for the car?”

Salesman: “Yes, they are very expensive.”

Me: “I’ve never been charged for a brochure before, and if you insist on the $5, I’m leaving and not buying the car.”

Salesman: “Goodbye”.

And so we drove a mile to another part of the ‘auto row’ area, walked into the Jaguar dealership, and bought an XJS Convertible.
Sure, it cost twice as much, but – hey! The brochure was free.” David Rowell

18. This Guy Really Proved His Point After He Was Told No

“I heard a story about two guys that flew from Southern Oregon to some small town in California, there were only two hotels in the town.

so the pilot and his friend went to the front desk of the nicer one the pilot was dressed in a flight suit.

He walked up to the counter of the hotel and said that he wanted two rooms for himself and his friend. The clerk at the counter told him that there was another hotel that would be better suited for him and his friend down the street.

The pilot said that they didn’t want to go down the street and that they wanted a room at this hotel. The clerk again said that they couldn’t afford the rooms and down the street was a hotel that suited them better and that they would be able to afford that hotel.

The pilot asked if the owner of the manager was in and if he could please speak with him? The manager who was also the owner walked up then and identified himself.

The pilot asked if he could speak with him and they walked a bit away from the counter.
The pilot then asked the owner if he were going to sell the hotel what would he want? The owner thinking this was some sort of joke told him a price of several million or some very large sum.

The pilot took out his checkbook and wrote a check-in that amount and said that he was buying the hotel.

The owner laughed and said that it was a great joke and he knew the check was no good but it was a great joke. the pilot said to call the bank on the check, tell them the amount and see what they say.
The owner of the hotel did this and soon turned very pale as the check was good and they would absolutely honor the check also did he know who the man was that wrote the check? The pilot said as the new owner he wasn’t going to manage it and the old owner could keep his job at the same rate of pay and his first order of business was to fire the clerk.

The pilot was (supposedly) Jack Erickson of Erickson Air-Crane a worldwide company with hundreds of millions in aircraft assets and the owner of pretty much all the firefighting helicopters you see on TV, with government contracts and close personal friend of the other man who is the owner of a huge Oregon lumber/plywood mill with hundreds of thousands of acres of prime forest land in Southern Oregon, both of these men are very wealthy multi-millionaires who just like to fly airplanes.” Quora User

17. They Kept Confusing The Staff Because Of How They Were Dressed

“My husband and I don’t look like much.

We shop at Walmart. We both like to wear t-shirts. He wears super bright colors. I love graphic t-shirts (all the fashion sites say I shouldn’t wear them anymore) and jeans. I splurge on shoes in so far as I tend to wear Vibram products. He normally has on cargo pants or shorts because he likes to have pockets for his phones. We have no designer things.

I don’t wear makeup. We’re pretty plain people.

We do have a very good income. But we are big into living below our means. Neither of us is into fashion. We are not interested in status symbols such as vehicles or brands or addresses that say we must make at least X amount of money.
Whenever we go into car dealerships, it happens. No one approaches us. Eventually, someone from the used car area will approach us.

They will direct us to the back of the lot. If we try to test drive a vehicle they will insist on coming with us and in general treat us like we are stupid and wasting time.

We went on vacation to the Caribbean last month. We do this once a year. We had a tremendous time and I visited the island that my family is from.

But, looking like the islanders came with an interesting side effect. I kept getting blown off at the resort when I wasn’t wearing my fancy or obviously American clothing.
(The locals did a lot of plain t-shirts and jeans). That would be replaced by a horrified look when my husband came up or I corrected them that I was a guest. Horror because if I complained, they could get in a lot of trouble.

Looks should not matter but they do to many people. It is not just about being poor and wealthy. It is about the assumptions people make. In college, I was in a small, southern town with a big college. I was from the northeast. I went to my bank to get direct deposit information. I said, “I need a direct deposit for my job.” I had just been hired at Dominos Pizza.

The bank manager handed me a welfare deposit slip. I learned a lot about assumptions that day.” Mel Holmes

16. I Look Like A Rich Girl, But According To Him, I Can Only Be His Girlfriend

“For me, it was quite the opposite actually.

I am from an upper-middle-class family who doesn’t spend its money in vain.

Three years ago I met a man in Marrakech. The circumstances made him believe I was well off.

My friends and I had VIP tables in a famous venue for the weekend and after that, we were offered a two day stay in an upscale resort in EL Jadida.
coincidentally he was in both locations with different groups of friends.

In addition to the fitting context of our encounter I dress well when I want to put the effort, I am often complimented for my beauty, I speak four languages, I am well educated and lived and traveled abroad quite a bit.

In a nutshell, I can easily pass as a rich girl.

Other than that I never said anything or tried to portray something false about my financial situation.

I do not count on my looks or supposed money to acquire relationships be it with friends or lovers since in all modesty I believe I am an interesting person.
He was hooked but I knew something was off.

He always complimented my friend for her designer bags and knew a lot of things about grooming.

He himself was always dressed in high-end brands and occasionally visited spas. (I don’t see any harm when you have the means. I too do have fine tastes but I never wanted to impose them on my parents, I’m waiting to make my own money)

After some time we started hanging out a lot. I was head over heels since it was the first man I’d ever let in my life.

It seemed too good to be true and was, in fact, a mirage.
On a particular day when I was at his place, he asked me about my house and how it looked.

I told him exactly and I sensed he was a little bit disappointed when I said I lived in an apartment.

Since then his behavior changed. He stopped picking me up, take me out to fancy places or complimenting me (it didn’t even bother me since it was his company that I appreciated).

Eventually, he told me he was married and that he couldn’t keep going on with me like this lol. That I was the perfect wife but he wanted a girlfriend.
I was devastated.

Now I feel it was a blessing in disguise. I’m sure if I was as wealthy as he thought I was he could have led me on forever or maybe even dumped his wife. Who knows.. Now I’m busy making money and keeping myself far away from his semblables.” Anonymous

15. I Know You’re Jealous I Got The Job, But It Doesn’t Mean You’re More Qualified

We all need to learn to accept defeat.

“I had recently been hired to teach mathematics (under the auspices of a credentialed teacher) to the mathematically most gifted 5th-grade students when a mother of a child who was not chosen for the program, and with whom I had a shaky relationship because of some things the PTA chose to do when I was its president (things like fund an after-school program, get the bylaws up to date and to the state PTA standard and pay for field trip scholarships for kids who couldn’t afford to go otherwise) approached me.

She was livid that I had been chosen without her having had the opportunity to apply. Not my fault. I applied, I was chosen. Period.

At that point, she had the nerve to ask me if I even had a degree. I was flabbergasted. I have a BA in Mathematics, a BS in Computer Science, and an MS in Mathematical Computer Science. I got my undergraduate degrees in three years and graduated summa cum laude.

My Master’s was also with honors.

I worked as a mathematical computer scientist at a national laboratory for a decade and continued to consult for them for the past 28 years after ending full-time employment due to severe repetitive strain syndrome.
I told the woman (who, at the time, had only one bachelor’s degree but has since gotten a master’s in education administration) that I not only had a degree, but I would see her degree and raise her two.

She wanted details, but I told her it was none of her business. The school district had copies of my transcripts and was satisfied that I was more than qualified to teach the class, and it was excited about the program I had put together for the kids.

I taught those 10- to 11-year-old kids the 5th to the 7th-grade curriculum. Additionally, we covered eight weeks of special topics in mathematics from a hands-on and purely conceptual approach.

We touched on probability theory, number theory, topology, Boolean algebra and symbolic logic, and a few other topics. Additionally, every Friday after our weekly quiz we would play mathematical games and puzzles.

The students I taught all jumped straight from my 5th-grade classroom into Algebra and, since then, have all gotten degrees (and some have pursued advanced degrees) in STEM areas. They were the brightest, most motivated, wonderful kids I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

As for the kid whose mom accosted me, all I will say is she did not fare nearly as well. With a mom like that, I am not overly surprised.” Kathy Berger

14. She Went From Rude To *********** When She Found Out Where I Was From

“I went back to Vietnam one time (~10 years ago) for my older brother’s wedding; so I stayed in my birthplace, Ho Chi Minh City for 3 weeks.

This type of incident happened more than once when I was there. Come on! My Asian brothers and Indian friends, you should know what I am about to say by now.

In Vietnam, if you are from the US, you will be considered a rich person who barely works by a lot of people (especially country-side folks). And they want you to marry their daughter or sister.

And girls (not all) will flock all over you for a green card and money. I think it gets lots better now compared to 10 years ago.

When I was there, I always went to this one small coffee house every day (twice per day) with my childhood friends.
The funny thing was I was always under-dressed compared to them. They all wore jeans, a dress shirt whenever they went out; and I always wore shorts and shirts because it was **** hot and humid there.

To make matters worst, I borrowed my best friend his delivery scooter for my transportation. It was the Honda Dream and it was that beaten up too. So I looked like “hai lua len tinh”- “farm boy just got to the city” (my friend’s words). It was a perfect cover for me because no one knew I was from the US except my friends.
There was this one waitress at the coffee house, her nickname was Lan Dylan, and she was very pretty.

Lan was her real name (I think) and Dylan was her added nickname. She got that nickname because she was only friendly toward guys who drove Dylan scooter or above, and Dylan was a very high-end scooter.

For over two weeks I went there with my friends, she never paid attention to me, and she was rather rude instead. I went to that coffee house early morning by myself sometimes, and she always ignored me and asked other girls to take my order.

My friends even told me: “if you want her, you should let her know you are American and stop looking like a farm boy already.” I said: “No way!”.

Few days before I came back to the US, I went there in the morning by myself as always. The moment I walked in, she grabbed my hands and walked me to the best table by the balcony.

She sat next to me, held my arm, smiled and said: “Honey, do you want the same thing as always, milk coffee and 555 cigarettes?” I said: “Yeah, sure, the same thing”. Then she said: “it is free today for you only, honey!”

Then she came back with my drink few minutes later.
She said: “I did not know you were from the US,” and started asking about my personal stuff.

Oh well! I got busted so I just talked to her for a bit until she left to do other stuff. Then she kept coming back asking if I wanted anything. It was the best service ever.

I had no idea how she knew about me because no one knew, and I asked my friends to keep it secret. I texted my friends: “which one of you, ************ told Lan Dylan that I am from the US”? Then my best friend texted me: “this one did it.

Hey, I am trying to give you some before you leave.” I hated golddiggers more than anything in life. Whatever, I would play my best card with this one. Then I texted my friend telling him that I wanted to borrow his transportation for the day, so I needed him to come over to pick up the old scooter at the coffee house.

My friend came in, we exchanged keys, and then he left.

I asked Lan Dylan for the bill but she reconfirmed it was free; then she asked me if I wanted to go hang out later but I said “no thanks”.
I went outside, stepped into a friend’s Lexus in front of her. I rolled down the window and told her: “I am so sorry honey, I am just a guy who drives Lexus”, then drove off.

I never came back to that coffee shop after that.

The funny thing is there was a famous short movie that came out later in Vietnam named ” I am so sorry honey, I am just a guy who sell rice cake”. The movie is about a girl rejects a guy’s love or the parents stop them because he is poor, so he says sorry for disappointing her.
A little information: In Vietnam (especially 10 years ago), if you drive Honda Dream, you are considered poor.

If you drive Dylan, you are considered rich. If you drive a Lexus, you are almost at the top 1%.” Tony Le

Another User Comments:

“Love the story! People have the same mentality in most west African countries. If you visit from the U.S, Canada or Western Europe, you are expected to bring gifts and pay for everything while you are there. Family members constantly ask you for money throughout your trip.

They basically believe that once you arrive in a developed country, you automatically achieve success.” Christopher Marchand

13. The Entire Class Ignored Him, Then They Found Out How Smart He Was

“The best one I ever heard of was from my grandfather.
In order to receive a promotion at the company he worked for, he was required to attain a master’s degree. He was an engineer, of sorts, shall we say.

This was the 1960’s, and there was my grandfather sitting in a classroom with a bunch of 22-year-old hotshots, while he was 50 years old. For 6 weeks, no one spoke to him, he wasn’t called on, the professor ignored him, and whatever work he did received an average grade.

One day, a singularly difficult real-life engineering problem was presented in class from a local company called JPL.

When none of the students could correctly answer it, the professor asked if anyone had any ideas…..

I love this part….

My grandfather raised his hand and answered it.
The professor told him he was wrong. Mr. Professor then told the class the answer. Grandpa then interrupted the professor and informed him that the answer given to the class turned out to be incorrect for that particular alloy and that the week prior my Grandpa’s team had found that with a 2% increase of cadmium, the answer was as my Grandpa said.

The professor then asked Grandpa to come to the board and explain it in writing. He did. The professor then asked him who he was and what his job was.

After the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Manhattan, and other projects were thusly discussed, Grandpa never sat down in that class again.
Or any other. He taught the class as one who actually did these things…from Fat Man and Little Boy to the Saturn rocket booster and everything in between.

At the end of the semester, Grandpa received an “A”, and the professor informed him that he had received average grades before because his work just seemed too different than the textbook answers. The professor called a meeting of the department, and after a 60-minute interview, they gave him his master’s degree and offered him an honourary doctorate if he would teach there. He declined.

Six months later, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

Every July 21st for 20 years, a new offer was sent to Grandpa to receive his doctorate and teach.
He wasn’t ignored anymore.” Sverigielle Von Gothenburg

Another User Comments:

“Neither one of my parents is a doctor, but both of them worked in hospitals (outpatient surgical and OB/GYN nurse, radiological tech with managerial roles). I’m white. I grew up with the initial situation being very normal for me-for one reason or another, I’d find myself waiting or just hanging out in areas that were not supposed to be accessed by the public or patients, usually storage, offices, or lounges for the physicians and support staff.

Often in some situations, I became a familiar face so there was no reason why I would stick out-my dad’s secretaries would generally recognize me but I wouldn’t have any clue who they were.
But, even though to most hospital employees I was just some strange kid lounging in their space, I never, ever received the kind of treatment you’re describing. There were a few times when doctors gave me a funny look and asked what I was doing, but they’d wait for me to say “I’m John’s kid” or “I’m Sherry’s son” and they’d either nod and move on or stop what they were doing and engage me in conversation.

Speaking as a white person, I can tell you with the utmost certainty that the people commenting on this answer to defend the doctor’s behavior are making excuses for racism.
It’s quite possible that the doctor was only behaving in response to subconscious racism that’s sadly just an environmental fact of life in the United States, and that he’s not willfully malicious toward people of color. But anyone who thinks this type of behavior is justified by the circumstances is a bigot or a moron, plain and simple..” Seth Pace

12. Our Neighbors Were Snotty Until They Saw My Father’s Mercedes

“Yes.

My first house was a bit of a dump.

It was a 50-year-old house in original condition.

I introduced myself to the neighbor across the road (a lawyer who lived in a new house) after the auction and he immediately asked me was I going to bulldoze and build a new house.
No, I said, I loved the house as it was and I may eventually renovate.

“Good luck with that,” he said with a sneer on his face, “you’ve got a LOT of structural problems”.

Hmm I thought. Ok, a not so nice neighbor who’s annoyed he’s not getting a new house in the street.

Fast forward four years.

The same neighbor, his wife, and his kids have ignored my smiles on the street for four years. If I waited by my car door and smiled as they drove past me they would blank me. I was clearly considered worthless.

In addition, if my visitors ever parked out the front of their house they would deliberately reverse their family car almost to the bumper to act as a turf warning.

Until two things happened in year four …

My father visited in his new Mercedes. Then my mom arrived a short time after in her new Mercedes.
A building permit got positioned out the front of my house. (I had decided after all to demolish and build a new house as it was going to be cheaper than renovating).
I still remember watching this guy and his wife wander across the road and stand reading the permit.

Wow, they must have been thinking … she’s not a penniless renovator after all … and perhaps her family isn’t poor after all?

Guess who couldn’t wait to speak to me the next time I saw them on the street.
You guessed it. The lawyer and his wife, with cheesy grins on their faces like you’ve never seen before.

“I see your family are Mercedes people,” he says to me with a knowing smile of acceptance on his face (he too drove a Mercedes).3

“We’re SO thrilled you’re building a new house! It will be SO nice to have another new house in the street!”.

Guess who started waving at me from the steering wheel as they drove past after that.

I was never rude to them but I would never give them details about my life. I avoided them for the most part but on the odd occasion they would catch me on the street I stayed polite but distant.
It was the most blatant bigotry and change in attitude I’ve ever experienced when people realized I had some money after all.

A few years down the track they got divorced and their lives went to pieces so I figure their materialism and bigotry didn’t buy their happiness.” Catherine Diggins

11. He Tried Explaining To Us That The House Would Be “Out Of Our Price Range”

Or he could have just not made assumptions!

“Ooh yes! In a matter of seconds, my husband and I went from being the annoying couple to recipients of undivided attention.

Now we are not that wealthy but we were just better than what the concerned person had thought us to be.
When we had no children to hog our leisure time, my husband and I loved looking at houses. In this age of the World Wide Web, when “window” shopping has acquired a whole new meaning, we skimmed through real estate websites and occasionally inspected a house that caught our fancy.

On one such spree, we were checking out a massive 5 bedroom house… no, a palace! The floor was marble, the lounge had no end, multiple living spaces, multiple outdoor entertaining areas, the views, walk-in pantry… basically the works.

We were probably the youngest couple in a stream of interested viewers. The agent was trying his best to scan through the crowd and find someone who was interested enough to be considered a potential buyer.

He completely overlooked us and we really didn’t mind that. However, as we were inspecting the property we had questions and we kept going back to him while he was busy gauging everyone’s interest.

After a couple of questions, he was visibly annoyed. He walked over to us and said, “So is this going to be your first house? I must tell you the owner is expecting nothing less than a million for the property.”

Now we’d been to enough inspections to know that usually, agents wait for you to get emotionally attached to the property before touching vaguely on the price.

My husband said, “Oh no! We live in our own house and have a little investment property on the side.
We are not looking to buy yet but a bit of market research doesn’t hurt.”

He apologized for making the assumption and immediately his face became softer and charming. He started giving us a tour but we gently told him that although it was a dream home, it wasn’t for us, at least not then.

We never really discussed it and I don’t think either of us was offended. It’s almost as if we’ve agreed it’s bound to happen.

Whatever happened to ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’?” Ruchika Nayyar

10. They Called 911 Because They Thought I Got My Car Battery At A Junkyard

“I went to a local Toyota dealer to get my battery replaced under warranty.
I bought the car as a holdover, at another dealer and I guess the dealer replaced the battery before they sold it to me (the car was sold as new).

Not only did they refuse to replace or refund the battery, they treated me like a criminal, implying that I maybe picked up the battery at a junkyard or something, and saying that in order to get a warranty on the battery, it still has to be in the car (meaning I would have to pay for an expensive tow). I had taken the battery out and used another car to bring it in.

They asked me to leave and when I called Toyota corporate to complain, they had told me that the dealer had called the police on me as well. So, not only did they not take care of my issue, they had called the cops on me and I guess banned me from the premises. Corporate wasn’t any help. They are apparently powerless against car dealerships.

Luckily, I was able to find another dealership just a short drive away, that not only took care of my battery issue but gave me a check for the full amount of the battery.

I was only expecting a prorated amount.
Not only that, but they have a beautiful waiting room, wifi, coffee and bagels with cream cheese or butter, a ton of very comfortable seats and even little laptop tables.

While they haven’t been perfect, as on my last visit they tried to tell me I needed a bunch more services than I really did, their oil change prices are very reasonable and you get a free carwash with your service.” Ruslan Sivak

9. Treat Him Like He Doesn’t Belong? Don’t Take His Commission Then

“I had a friend who sold high-end vehicles; Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW’s mostly.

He’s spent his whole adult life as a salesman, high-end cars, artwork on cruise ships, jewelry, houses, even sports picks to gamblers while living in Vegas.
He has always been successful and has more stories and tactics than I’d ever thought imaginable. It really is a game of out-leveling your customer, hitting their buttons, up-selling, getting them “in the ether” and then convincing them to make a large, often careless financial decision with complete disregard for what they could afford or often even wanted.

This “treat the customer poorly” routine is often just that, a routine.

It’s like the Julia Roberts Pretty Woman effect, if the sales lady who shunned her actually owned the store down the street where Roberts went to blow twice as much money as she’d originally intended just to show the rude sales lady what a “big mistake” she’d made in treating her with such disregard.
My buddy and his partner ran this routine many, many times and I was surprised at how often it worked.

Like shooting fish in a barrel. A customer walks in and one of them would be clearly present on the sales floor, clearly helping no one….Often, there wouldn’t be another customer in sight. Yet the associate that was on the floor would act like the customer didn’t exist, wasn’t worth their time, couldn’t afford to buy a thing at this establishment anyway.

And then just when the customer had had enough, was clearly steaming at the ears, the other would come out and offer the best, most attentive service right in front of the associate who had been so rude.

Of course, the rude associate would then hang back on the floor, look over the shoulder of his co-conspirator, act as if he was concerned he might have made a mistake; perhaps this customer could afford to buy something after all.

Of course, the customer, wanting to prove to that rude, presumptuous associate they could afford anything they wanted in that store, begging to show them what a “big mistake, HUGE” they had made, would buy pretty much whatever was put in front of them, especially when the associate helping them called for the associate who had been rude to fetch said items from the back, or from another part of the store, or wherever.

The customer would look on with positive glee as the rude associate wallowed in the realization that they had missed out on this huge commission, and if only they’d treated them like the customer they deserved to be treated, it could have been theirs. Except the customer was still the mark, getting played like a fiddle by two salespeople who’d done this routine twice already that day.

They’d always leave the store the same way, smiling, smug, acting as they’d really showed them. And to end this little number, the “rude’ associate was always standing there waiting to open the door for the customer as they left the store, so the customer could get one last, “big mistake” smile in as they left with their shopping bags they’d dropped a small fortune on not because they particularly wanted anything they’d purchased, but because they wanted to show they could afford it, they did belong, and next time the rude associate had better remember it.” Jade Lane

8. First They Treated Me Like A Nobody, Then They All Wanted My Business Card 

“I am a consultant and my current client is a company in the “show biz.” I am working with the top leadership to formulate their strategy for the next few years.

Part of the workstream was to interview the ‘creative’ people about the trends in content (e.g., movies, TV shows). I was scheduled to talk with a director, but my trip to Burbank from LAX was a disaster due to traffic and there was no way I could make to the interview on time. Called the director’s assistant to reschedule, and it turned out he had free time later that afternoon.

I decided to head to the studio and wait there.

There was a casting that day and that building was full of people; I called the assistant and told him I was there.
While I was waiting, I tried to make small talk with the guys and girls around me, just asking how they are doing and what role they are trying to audition. The tiredness from a 6-hour flight and my 12-year-old roller bag definitely portrayed me as some sort of ‘loser’ and I got a lot of blank stares and rolled eyes, following by comments from some pretty attractive females saying things like “where is he coming from”, “he thinks he has a chance?” (not to me, they were talking with each other but definitely did not trying to be discrete).

I just laughed it off.
A few minutes later, the director’s assistant came and said, “xx (director’s name) is running late, can you still meet with him?” After I confirmed yes, he said: “I will show you the meeting room and I will make sure he comes ASAP.” The air around me froze and people just stared me with disbelief.

It gets funnier. A few minutes after my interview with the director started, he opened the meeting room door and started yelling across the hallway “xx (the casting director’s name), come here.

You need to meet this guy. He is asking the questions that you talk about every day!” The casting director came to the meeting room and stayed for the rest of 50 mins while everyone else waited outside.
We shook hands, said goodbye and I started to head for the door. This time, almost everyone was smiling at me and making friendly eye contacts. While I was almost out of the building, the casting director sprinted towards me and called my name, asked for my business card, and yelled something like “I have more thoughts to share, I will send you an email, and please make sure the higher-ups hear them.”

That made sure I got all the attention I could on my way out.

Many attractive females (and males) approached me asking me for my business card.

PS: if you wondered, no, I did not give them my card.
Not sure if they need a consultant anyway.” Quora user

7. He Told Me I Wasn’t Supposed To Be There, Then He Saw My Lanyard

Way to jump to conclusions, dude.

“This was about five years ago. I worked for a very big company at that time.

The side that I worked in dealing with tech and online business. However, this company also had a movie studio. All the employees of the company had access to perks, and one of these perks was being able to watch movies for free at the movie studio.

I took advantage of this perk when I had the time, and there was always a routine to it.
You drive up to the front area, show them your badge, they scan your badge and you go to the employee parking lot.

From there, you can wander around the main plaza looking at the small gift shops and other front-facing buildings, or you could sit next to the movie screening center (theater) and wait for them to open the doors. There were studio lots behind all this that we were allowed to see by appointment only. I only went to see these once and I was satisfied with what I had seen and hadn’t returned there again.

One day, I decided it was time for me to see a movie.
I had been working all day, and our company has a casual dress code, so I drove straight from work to the studio in my T-shirt and jeans. No problems at the front. The security guard scanned my badge, then told me there was an issue with the movie and they were pushing the showtime back one hour.

He then suggested I go to the coffee shop that was on the grounds if I wanted to kill some time there. Sure, sounded like a great idea!

I parked my car, walked out of the parking lot and over to the main plaza.
I had been there before, but I had never been to the coffee shop, so even though I had directions from the security guard, I wasn’t entirely sure where it was located.

I spot a different security guard approach me, so I decided to ask him. The exchange went as follows:

Me: Excuse me–

Him: *stern tone* You’re not supposed to be here.

Me: Oh? I was looking for a coffee shop? I was told that–

Him: *louder* You. Are. Not. Supposed. To. Be. Here.

Me: *bewildered* I’m sorry, but I’m looking for the coffee shop.

Him: There is no coffee shop here. YOU are supposed to be over THERE.

NOT HERE.

As he is saying this, he is pointing in my face, then pointing at the direction of what looks like a tour group of some kind? Maybe extras? They appeared to be high school students, some even younger. At this point in the story, I am around 27. I get mistaken for younger a lot, even now when I am 32. Still, I’m confused about what he is insinuating.

Maybe the rules have changed on the lot and there is a new waiting area. Maybe the plaza is now closed to everyone, etc.

I am a woman and I am 5′5″ and pretty slight, and this guy is big and he’s up in my face, and it’s causing me to stammer at this point because he won’t stop glaring at me.
I try to be as calm and polite as possible, even though it seems pretty apparent that he has mistaken me for someone with a different purpose.

Me: I’m sorry. So people who are waiting for the movie need to wait over there now?

Him: What do you mean? What movie?

Me: *holds up my badge, which has been dangling at my neck on a lanyard the whole time* The movie for people who work here. I am an employee of *insert company name here*.

The man’s demeanor changed, and he smiled at me and started speaking to me in this really friendly, sweet tone.

Him: OH! You work HERE! *laughs* I thought you were with THEM.

Me: Yes. I was told by security in front that there was a coffee shop that I could go to while I wait?

Him: Yes! It’s right over here. Let me take you to it.

He was very nice and talked about how the movie was great, wonderful, I was going to enjoy it, blah, and gave me a mini-tour of the main plaza and then walked me to the coffee shop.

The experience left me feeling more than uncomfortable. I don’t remember returning too much for movies after that. I dislike confrontations, and I didn’t want any chance of something like that happening again… Not sure to this day who he mistook me for, but I’m glad I wasn’t one of “them”… I guess?” Reddit user

6. She Finally Realized How Successful And Hardworking I Was

“I used to be friends with this girl whom I met when I was 19 and she, 17.

Her mother held a position of importance at work, and she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

When we first met, I thought she was nice enough, but as years went by I realized she had this condescending and patronizing attitude. I was overweight while she was petite, so naturally, she looked more fashionable back then. I dressed simply, and because in our family, we valued education, hard work, and personal achievements more than status or image.

She was taking up her bachelor of arts in Communication Arts while I was completing my Career Diploma in Short Story Writing + Freelance Journalism.
She went on and on and on about wanting to become a writer, and at one point, even became arrogant because she claimed a job after graduation was “a sure thing” for her because of her mom’s connections. I simply kept my mouth shut and spent time honing my writing skills.

Fast forward to our 20s. I was able to finish countless essays, poems, and articles, and uploaded some of them onto my own website. My friend struggled to land a job but was eventually employed because she was recommended by a relative.

She again felt superior to me because she was making money, while she thought I was just sitting at home doing nothing.
Out of the blue, I asked her, “Would you like me to send you a collection of my poems?” She absent-mindedly said yes.

My friend didn’t expect to receive a collection of poetry that looked professionally bound from the mail, and she admitted over the phone, “You’re better than me.” And why wouldn’t I? I was already writing since the first grade while she only decided on a BA because it had very few math-related subjects.

But things didn’t stop there. I went on to pursue a career in freelance writing and proofreading, got paid for my services, and even launched a home-based business in 2006.

So what happened to my friend? She’s still stuck at her entry-level job, making a salary that’s only fit for a recent graduate, and getting brattier and bitter each day.” Ronali Dela Cruz

5. She Took No Interest In Me Until I Opened My Wallet

Sad that all she saw was the money.

“Preface: This story is from when I was 24ish and had really only been making big money for a few years and of course still growing up.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a gambler to the fullest. So it was the eve of my Birthday and of course, I hit the casino, great luck!!! I doubled my money and had about 30k on me after my win.
I was with a friend and we decided to go to a club, something I rarely do, but what the heck it was officially my birthday and I had just won 15k within an hour.

My friend and I are just hanging out and aren’t big drinkers. All of a sudden 2 of the most jaw-dropping, beautiful ladies walk into the room. Now I don’t wear jewelry or high-end clothes, I’m zero flash or show. These women, however, are most certainly escorts.

I have a side bet with my buddy; I bet him that not only could I get a phone number to one of the girls, BUT I could get her to buy me the first drink.

I forget the amount of the wager but it was gentlemanly and probably $10-$20

So I approach the women and ask some random question about what song it is or where to find something…. I can’t remember – the plan was just to get a conversation started. She answered but couldn’t care any less if she tried, and most likely only answered as it was the quickest way for me to get out of her way.

I immediately called her out on being rude; sarcastically and with a smile, I said “You know, a guy like me doesn’t get to see a woman as beautiful as yourself very often, and never gets to speak to her.
What if you hurt my feelings?” Still unimpressed and growing increasingly agitated, but I quickly follow up with “Hey I mean no harm, but what if it was my birthday or something and you just ruined my night? You wouldn’t want to ruin someone’s birthday would you?”

At this point, she was done with me saying “It’s not your birthday – have a good night.”

Me – “That’s cold it could have been, I’m just saying that if it was my birthday after all that you’d have to buy me a drink just to make it up.”

Her – “If it was, yes I would bu….”

I whip out my driver’s license and smiles.

She smiles too and says, “I guess my friend and I have to buy you a drink, come on.”

After she buys me the drink I thank her and tell her “Listen I’m not the kind of guy who can just let you walk away without returning the gesture, I’m going to buy you and your friend a drink.”

Now here she is along for the ride and at best just trying to ‘get through’ this experience.

I know these women are only after one type of guy. I reach for one of my 10K stacks and make it seem as though I’m intentionally reaching for it out of sight from her but what I really did is wait for her posture and eyes to be facing the direction of where my money will be counted and by pure ‘coincidence’ she would see it.

Me – “Excuse me, Bartender!! Can I get these beautiful ladies a bottle of Dom?”

Then I count my money.

I face the lady and I say, you made my birthday amazing and I just wanted to thank you and sorry for giving you a hard time.

Her: “Take my phone number down, and if you don’t call me tomorrow, don’t ever call me.”

Queue 4 months of great “friendship.” Warren Kean

4. That Day, I Learned That Your Clothes Speak

“It happened with me today.

I’m a civil engineer and have recently started with my own contracting firm. Contracting is one business in which you require a constant supply of capital at affordable rates to earn profit and increase your quantum.
So I thought, why not open a cash credit account with my bank. The rate of interest would be quite low and I can withdraw and pay back the sum of money any time I wish and interest shall only be levied for the time and amount of money I had withdrawn.

I went to my bank to see the manager. There was already someone seated inside his cabin. I inquired about the person sitting inside along with the manager. Is he a client or an employee? The accountant with whom I’m in friendly terms with said you may go in, he’s an employee from another branch.
I knocked the door and went in, greeting the manager politely (after all, I need to be as polite as possible as I’m there asking for a loan) and said I’m here to enquire about cash credit (cc) account.

Now, those who know how most of the civil engineers on site are dressed and groomed, I was representing the exact image. I’d come to the bank directly from site, all sweaty and a wee bit tanned. In my plain tee shirt and cargo pants with numerous pockets (hey, those cargo pants with pockets are pretty useful on a construction site) and a lil worn out safety shoes.

He gave a look of disgust to me and said quite curtly, “Go, wait outside. Come in once I’m done talking to sir (the other person sitting in).”

I came out, took the clumsy cover off my iPhone, tidied my hair, straightened my limited edition Tissot watch, made my 2-carat diamond engagement ring look prominent on my finger and sat in a carefree manner like I own the place.

I went in once my turn came, placed my phone on his table, sat comfortably on the chair and made sure he notices my ring and watch. I took my Mont Blanc wallet out and offered him my card and introduced myself.
I told him I recently opened an account in hi bank for my newly formed business. Carried out about the equivalent fo $40k USD transaction in 1 month’s period and my intended turn over for the year will be about ~500k USD.

Now I had his interest.

$3 million USD per annum. I gave him the details of the security I would be provided if the CC account is granted to me and he was impressed.

He offered me tea, snacks to which I politely declined (all this while, I was very polite with him yet letting him understand that I’m not a time waster but a potential client).
He offered me his card and gave me his personal mobile number, personally helped me with the list of documents I shall be requiring and saw me off right to the door of the bank when I was leaving.

He also apologized for keeping me waiting earlier.

Today I learned your clothes speak too! ” Quora user

Another User Comments:

“Coming home from work one day, in my jeans a t-shirt and jacket. (Wore an overall at work on top.) A young man, wearing a suit and tie turned around and demanded that I give up my seat for another person who had boarded the bus.
I suggested that he should do so instead.

He replied that he had just finished work. I told him that I have also. He screamed that I had never done a day’s work in my life! I was a female that he had never seen before. I looked at him and said “Judging by the way you’re dressed, you’ve had your feet stuck under a desk all day. Some of us have been unloading lorries.” He shut up speaking and just mumbled to himself and gave me daggers for the rest of the journey.

Years ago I was getting odd looks in a shop from the staff – they didn’t think I could afford to pay when I went to the counter and was going to cause a scene or pinch something.
I calmly handed them my credit card at their attitude changed. They weren’t as common then.” Carol Katrawitz

3. She Assumed She Wanted To Make A Small Withdrawal

“We live in Mexico, a country that mostly thinks that if you are a well-dressed, blue-eyed Caucasian, you’re obviously rich.

People with this kind of phenotype are called ‘güeros’ (approx. translation: blondies).
My mom is blonde (not blue-eyed though), but she usually wears cheap jeans, homemade blouses (she likes to sew and put lots of flower patterns in her clothes!) and I also am a “güero” (more like light brown-haired guy), who always wears cheap jeans, old flip flops and cheap, second-hand t-shirts bought for about 2 or 3 USD in “tianguis” (flea-markets).

So this day we were in one of Mexico’s most important banks. We were going to withdraw a slightly high amount of money in cash (I escorted her because I’m a big, tall, bearded guy who is kinda intimidating-though I don’t really know how to fight.) We weren’t going to take credit, nor a loan, just some of my mom’s own hard-earned money.

As soon as we walked into the bank we received disgusted looks by the employees.

We asked one of the bank secretaries where we could get help and he, really annoyed, gave us a ticket and sent us to some chairs to wait for our turn in the bank booth.
We waited for about two hours, while “premium” users were attended in a few minutes. When our turn came, my mom said to the bank employee “Good afternoon miss, I’d like to withdraw money from my bank account”.

The girl who was attending her asked, with a condescending look, “How many bucks would you want? 100 dollars?” (about 2000 mxp). I got kinda angry. I don’t like people being ******* with people I love… But my mother kept her cool and said “No, miss. I’d like to take (about) 20,000 USD in cash.”

Maybe it’s not a lot of money for some readers, but the girl was dumbfounded, she called her clerk to check out the records.

A few minutes went by, while the other employees learned of the amount of money being handled. After that, my mom was treated like: “Excuse me, Ma’am or My lady. How can I be of service? Can I help you with anything?”

She was offered lots of benefits for getting more accounts in that bank and got a better treatment. Yet my mom just said respectfully as always: “It’s very kind of you, but I’m not interested.

Thank you very much”.

We drove in our old Chevrolet and went home.” Fabrizio Zuniga

2. He Didn’t Realize That My Father Was A Doctor

“I’ll never forget going to the hospital with my father during my high school years in the ’90s.
He’s an obstetrician/gynecologist (ob/GYN) and he had a delivery. He brought me to the doctor’s lounge/sleeping area on his floor so that I could watch television. He left me behind and went to deliver the baby.

About an hour into watching television, a doctor comes into the lounge where I am watching television. He immediately asks if I am the father of the child he just delivered? He doesn’t give me time to respond. He then proceeds to ask me why I am in the doctor’s lounge/sleeping area? Again, he doesn’t give me time to respond. Then in an angry and irritated voice, he begins to rant about how I lack respect by watching television in the doctor’s area and how I am just like all young fathers.

He wonders why I am not in the waiting room? At no point does he allow me to speak. Finally, he tells me to get my a** back to the waiting room.

I’m scared and I get up to leave. I’m about to walk out of the room when a nurse leaves her station and comes to speak to the doctor. She explains to him that my father is delivering a baby.

His anger and body language change once he realizes that I am not a good for nothing father and that I’m the child of a doctor. He softens toward me and wants to know about school and my extracurricular activities.
He ended up talking to me until my father finished his delivery.

Later, my father comes back and the doctor explains what happened. He’s laughing and telling my father that it was a simple mishap.

My father sees the humor in it too, but I later fill in the blanks on our drive home. I wasn’t happy, but it was a great life experience to learn at such a young age. Some people will view you as worthless, useless and treat y*ou like *** when they believe you are nothing. Then, their tune will change when they find out your father is the chief of staff of ob/gyn at the hospital.” Jeremy Markeith Thompson

1. Tell Me I’d Have To Put Down A Deposit First? I Don’t Think So

“Just recently actually.

My twin’s birthday is coming up.

And I was thinking of rewarding the missus by upgrading her car to something better.

A Range Rover Evoque.

So the search started, and I finally scored a good deal on this particular high spec (and a higher-priced) Evoque that’s is in a dealership nearby to my house.

Off I went. Arrived in my old e46, and I asked to see the car. This local Chinese chap took one look at me, and probably deduced that I was too young, or too shabby looking to even qualify to get an Evoque, and decided to reject me.

He told me, put a deposit before even thinking of sitting in the car!

Before you think I made drama, let me tell you that the opposite happened: I smiled and walked back.
I don’t necessarily like to deal with idiots, so I don’t mind looking for another.

For some reason, just as I was about to leave, another salesman from India who is working there came to me, apologized profusely and told me that he can serve me better.

I accepted.

I went to see the car and told him that I would love to take it for a test drive 5 minutes away to my house to show it to my wife to ask her opinion on the spec and color. This guy agreed and said we could do a short run.

So off we went.
The moment this Indian guy saw the neighborhood and my house, and the cars parked in there, he realized that he scored a lottery prospect.

After that, I was practically given free rein to do unlimited test drives and checks on that car, unaccompanied.

I saw the car on Wednesday. Thursday I contemplated on it with the missus between that or Cayenne. She wanted Range Rover, so be it.

On Friday I agreed and signed the papers in the AM. That evening the bankers called to tell the dealer that the loan passed.

This coming Monday I am taking the car, once paperwork’s is completed.” Suthan Mookaiah

I think if we treated all people with respect regardless of how they presented themselves, we’d all be better people! But for now, we must accept that car salesman, restaurant employees, store staff, or even your average Joe might just treat you differently based on your appearance.
The latter stories prove that to be true.

Ever gone through a similar situation? Let us know what you’ve been through! Tell us everything!