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While the world faces steady inflation and prepares itself for a probable global recession standing around the corner, all amid the shaky post-covid reality, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and all-consuming anxiety, there exist people for whom this chaos is a mere nuisance.

Welcome to the world of the super-rich that stand separated from all of the rest by a yawning wealth gap. Think of people with enormous fortunes, unimaginable extravagance and a lavish lifestyle that goes far beyond comprehension.

“What is an activity the ultra-rich partake in that regular people don't even know exists?” someone asked a while back on Ask Reddit. The thread amassed 23.7k upvotes and almost 15k comments from people who have experienced the life of the ultra-rich and the quirks that come with it, one way or the other. Below we wrapped up some of the most intriguing and juicy stories.

#1

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of I have a relative by marriage who buys land so no one can develop it.

witchwithflyinghead , Slava Report

#2

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Dated a guy who had a place at Ocean Reef (super exclusive, extremely wealthy community in upper Florida keys).

Sat with 5 other couples, going back and forth about whose mega yacht we should take out that evening.

Bob and Cindy's is the closest to the canal... but oh, Jim and Donna's is bigger! But, Mark and Tina's jacuzzi is already heated!... but Dale and Ira's has a full staff tonight!

I was just like... I have a kayak...

Ashleym527 , Viktor Ritsvall Report

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ToGo
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dale and Ira's. Surely you could just bell the staff and have them pre-heat the jacuz. Isn't it obvious, dahhhling.

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#3

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of My whole dad's side of the family is ultra-rich, they own a private pharmaceutical that supplies hospitals in small countries (mostly third world) also luxury real estate as well as offices. . I got to live with him while attending college in my home country. My uncle had his first kid while I was there, and my aunt made him hire a 24/7 maternity nurse to take care of the baby at all times. They didn't want anything to do with their baby until she was at least 3-4 years old and "active". It really open my eyes to why my mother choose to get separated and raise her kids in an average life. Made me really thankful for the life I had, to see in person how disconnected and spoiled my half-brother and sister were was a rude awakening.

Shinotochi , Solen Feyissa Report

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Bobert Robertson
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s disgusting. I can’t imagine not wanting to be a part of my childrens lives at all stages

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#4

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Seasonal furniture.

"Well, it's getting on into April so we better get the spring couches and chaise lounges out of storage, and swap out the winter dining table and china for the spring set. Better get out all the matching drapes, too."

7ofalltrades , Spacejoy Report

#5

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Go abroad for dinner.

I hear of wealthy Londoners (or nearby) who simply jump in their helicopter and fly to Paris for an evening meal, then come home again.

Eddie_Hitler , Ron Lach Report

#6

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Met a cool young girl at my college - she was like a princess - she said that was the closest English word to describe her status. Before coming to school, she had NEVER - dressed herself, bathed herself, walked up or down stairs without a maid holding her hand... I initially found this out when I heard her ask someone for help going down a flight of, like, 6 stairs. She was cool about it, though, and learning.

seeteethree , cottonbro Report

#7

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of My good friend works at a big mortgage company and the CEO has a huge house overlooking the ocean. His neighbor had a few trees that kinda sorta blocked parts of the ocean view so the CEO asked his neighbor if he could trim the trees. The neighbor politely said no. So the CEO bought the neighbors house for $15 million over market price and chopped all of the trees down completely.

bigjamg , Markus Spiske Report

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Keith O
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I just can't fathom this level of wealth. Like, eh, that's kind of annoying me. Ok, how many millions to make it go away? Done......gross.

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#8

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Well, one ultra-rich person in particular. The CEO for a company I used to work for put a giant tank (pool) with a submerged "sunken ship" inside of it in his back yard so that he could scuba dive around in it.

RedBarnGuy , 7inchs Report

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Winter
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That actually sounds pretty cool. I get a longing for some sort of... pirate or nautical adventure (for lack of better words) from time to time. I usually just watch Pirates of the Caribbean when that happens. This would be much cooler. I wonder if he has a treasure chest full of rubies and gold doubloons down there. I know I would.

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#9

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Using the term "Summer" as a verb.

pelican737 , MarcTutorials Report

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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, excuse me. I'm going to go summer in my private beach-side mansion in the French Riviera while I sit by the pool-side and am fed peeled grapes and am fanned by pool boys.

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#10

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of About a year ago I started a job doing some demolition work. My first job was on the 34th floor of an apartment building in Melbourne.
The apartment was huge. Took up the whole floor just for the one apartment.
All external walls were glass so you had a 360 degree view of the entire city. Could almost see the whole state the view was that good.

Anyway, the apartment cost $4million and the owner didn't like the interior at all.
Our job was to remove EVERYTHING from the apartment. Walls, decorations, lights etc until it was a empty box. We took $80,000 of marble out of the bathroom walls and threw it in the bin! Went on to spend a further $2.5million and doing the place up again.

His reason for the purchase of the apartment?
"I want to watch the Grand Prix my own private box."
He wasn't using the apartment as a house. Just somewhere to watch a god damn car race.
Too much cash there.

PadreJengz , Stefan Lehner Report

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Vanessa Richardson
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Couldn’t they have kept/sold all the interior stuff that the owner no longer wanted? You know, “one man’s trash” and all that.

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#11

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of They buy fine art - museum-quality pieces - when it becomes for sale and hold on to it until it appreciates to a point where it's worth more to collectors than they originally paid for it.

That way, not only do they make a tidy profit, but they also get to enjoy the artwork in their homes as it increases in value.

Back2Bach , Andrew Neel Report

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Robert T
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They do the same with classic cars. Annoys the heck out of me, as I'm a firm believer that they should be driven.

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#12

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of My cousins have travel-around tutors that go with them when they travel around the world, so they technically never miss school. They aren't bound by the schedule of public or private schools in Texas, where they technically "live".

Also, they were just in South America shooting Dove (apparently) and they killed **30,000** in a single week, between my uncle, his 15-year-old son and his 12-year-old son.

My step-grandfather (uncle's father) was...displeased about the display, despite having been a hunter his whole life. Somehow, in his age, he's discovered the wrongness of some of the things he's killed. Specifically about doves he said, "I was at the [country club] last week and they have lots of doves out there. The regular gray ones and the white-wing variety. And they're just so beautiful and I said to myself, 'How could you have ever killed these magnificent things? How could you look at yourself in the mirror?'"

This man has been a hunter for most of his life and he's sworn off of it forever. He doesn't even fish anymore.

SheaRVA , Maxim Potkin Report

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Ashley Lynne
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good. Killing for no reason is evil. I understand eating meat. But killing for fun? Disgusting

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#13

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of A girl I know is a nanny for a very rich family and they flew her to the other side of the world to take care of one of their three kids. Just one. The other two have their own separate nannies.

mepulixer , cottonbro Report

#14

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Watching the weather report for multiple cities with ski resorts. If a lot of snow drops someplace, on moments notice a group of about a dozen will meet up at the private jet and go skiing for a couple days. During the trip, they might jet over to see a nearby sporting event. Then back to work as if nothing special just happened. A couple days later the designated accountant on the trip will send a spreadsheet around to everyone with their part of the bill for the trip. This bill can also include loses from the poker games played on the jet during flights.

Churn , PhotoMIX Company Report

#15

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Lived in Iraq, we had this super rich family that their kid got kidnaped, they paid almost half a million for him to get released. After a month he got kidnaped again.

They never left the country knowing they can afford to buy their lives. So they hired an entire squad to protect them.

momo88852 , Pixabay Report

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Karin
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even if I would be super rich and could pay for the release, I would die of fear for my child. It must be horrible to get kidnapped or have a loved one disappear.

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#16

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of My wife's grandmother worked as a personal assistant to a southern millionare. She said he used to have "poor parties" where him and his rich friends would basically LARP as their distorted impressions of common people.

tourettes_on_tuesday , Michael Discenza Report

#17

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of I had some family friends growing up that had a handmade monopoly table.

It was wooden with silver pieces, and they used real cash.

ohgreatitsryan , Suzy Hazelwood Report

#18

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of AFTERNOON Tea

Imagine drinking tea and eating little sandwiches and scones off of fancy cups and plates while in an extremely elaborate and ornate room with a view.

Now imagine spending between $2000 and $5000 on each of these teas.

Some people do it every. single. day.

Tarheel6793 , Jelleke Vanooteghem Report

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Giovanna
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my most cherished memories of my last trip to London. But we paid 10£ each. And it was superbe and held in a very fancy hotel.

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#19

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Legally watch current theatrical films in the privacy of your own home theatre.

pokerstar420 , Pavel Danilyuk Report

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Paul C.
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

TBH that must be nice, not having to sit with..........people, 'cause let's face facts, people are tw@ts.

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#20

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Old money in my part of the world have a thing for fully restored private railcars, with all the modern amenities of a high end RV. They pay to have a track branched to their personal storage shed and then take them out maybe once every other year. Of course the process of taking them out involves paying a company such as Amtrak to haul the thing to their main line, hook it up to a commercial passenger train, and then lug them around the country to their destination. Get a handful of private railcar owners together and they hitch up, rent an engine, and tour the country with close friends the old fashion way on entirely private luxury train.

NathuramGodse , Michal Matlon Report

#21

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of There's a company that hires male models to just hang out naked on a few islands for a while. The customers (almost entirely old, wealthy gay guys) take pictures of them from a distance. It's pretty much like that Pokemon Snap game for gay fellas. The models get paid a few thousand and the customers pay far above that.

The_Brain_Fuckler , Aman Upadhyay Report

#22

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of One of my best friends owns over 33 fast food locations in Texas. They were constantly having theme parties where they would hire a company to come in and completely redo their house. They had a casino party where the company they hired removed all furniture from the first floor of the house and put in blackjack tables, slot machines, roulette wheel, etc. They had a complete Vegas-style buffet, 3 bars & they gambled with real money, not chips.

Every year before Christmas, Neiman Marcus comes out with a catalog of insanely expensive items. One year they had decided to buy a Lexus convertible that was being sold in the catalog. When the catalog came out they were on vacation and somehow they both ended up ordering the Lexus convertible. Not too sure why they didn't check with each other first to see who was going to order it but I guess when you have a lot of money it really doesn't matter. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with this family. With all that said, they were the nicest, sweetest, most caring family I have ever met. They didn't let the money go to their head and that's very hard to find these days.

Chocolate_Eruption , Javon Swaby Report

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Ashley Lynne
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like wealthy people who are kind and are Appreciative of their good fortune

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#23

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of I work retail in a really rich area and you'd be surprised at the amount of obviously rich people who steal just for the thrill of it.

Being a salesman, I can usually spot a wealthy person based on their clothes or how they talk or even how they walk.

A fair amount of these people, from 11 to 60 years old, will just straight up shoplift just because they think they can. Partially because they dont think a 60 dollar item has any real value.

BlatantConservative , KoolShooters Report

#24

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of I just learned the other day that wealthy families go on "shopping trips" to other states just for shopping.

Never considered that some people might say "hey this weekend, let's fly to New York and get some new stuff." without having an underlying reason to be there (visiting family, business, tourism)


Also, my friend growing up had another friend who had a legit Giraffe taxidermied (?) in his bedroom that was multiple stories.

haffbaked , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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ejfs
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I live in Europe and I went to school with a single child of a single parent who would randomly jet off to New York for a weekend of shopping. They once had to buy SEVEN extra suitcases to bring all their new clothes back....

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#25

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of My mother was the private nurse for a family that owns the companies that make hospital beds, service equipment (like bedpans) as well as caskets. They also owned the companies that made the stuff for the products, like the screws. The whole supply chain. AFAIK, they are one of the largest makers of these products in the world. Good chance that anyone you know that stayed in a hospital used their equipment in some way.

The kids of the families would have piñatas filled with candy just because. They had birthday rooms. Like rooms in the mansions reserved just for birthday parties for the kids. When I visited, I would drive my "personal" corvette big wheel they got just for me up and down their hallways..

They are super Catholic. When the matriarch of the family died, she was buried in a marble and gold casket. They took the roses from her funeral and had them compressed into beads, which were made into rosaries.

The family was also super charitable and generous. Incredibly virtuous and friendly. Ran several soup kitchens, donated beds to people for in-home care. Usually anonymously.

My father said that they'd have parties and the men would go into the "Library" and drink liquor that cost $4k per pour.

I remember watching Disney films that were in the theater still in their own personal theater.

The coolest thing I ever received from them was a nice check that covered 1st year expenses and a letter congratulating me on my enrollment into college. My family never told them I got in. They just knew. That's also when I found out that one of the dormitories at the school is named after them.


Unrelated, a brother in my fraternity is so wealthy, that they bought the mansion next to theirs to turn into a garage to house their hundreds of motorcycles and F1 cars, mostly Lotus and Ferrari.

Another brother had no idea how to mop floors because the maids always did it at his house. We found out when he just poured the bucket of water onto the floor.

Third, a friend was so wealthy that the super-snooty, top-donor society to belong to at my university was named after his family.

I also went to a high school that the majority of my class had kids that drove Mercedes, hummers, cadillacs, etc. the occasional Bentley. sons and daughters of factory owners, athletes, etc.

And I drove a 1994 Ford F-150. Which I upgraded to a 1992 Smurf-blue Ford Escort. Being surrounded by wealth and wealthy friends, but never being wealthy is an interesting feeling. Generally positive, because I know that I have the connections and support to get out of a bind if absolutely necessary

fosh1zzle , Studio Michael França Report

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Flash Henry
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really relate to that last one. We shared a high school with the town next to my hometown, and most of those kids came from super wealthy families. Senior parking lot was a sea of Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, and the occasion Porsche.

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#26

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of There's a Russian mobster who lives in either Great Neck or King's Point (two towns very near one another on Long Island), I forget which, who designed his house to be a miniature version of the Palace of Versailles. My friend and his daughter drove up to look at it when it was still being constructed, and two heavily-armed guards came popping out of the bushes at them. My friend's daughter speaks Russian, so she says something like, "My dad and I just wanted to see the house", so one of the guards gets on his walky-talky, and then comes back and says to them, "My boss says the girl can come inside, but her father has to stay out here."

My friend's daughter said HELL TO THE NO, and they drove off.

I've never seen the house from the front, but I've kayaked past it and the guy has giant statues in his backyard.

transemacabre , STEVE CHAI Report

#27

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Having house managers at all of their properties. These people coordinate all the domestic staff, and manage the properties so that they are instantly liveable at a moment's notice (down to the flowers of choice in every room) even if the owners only come in for a week or two in a year.

Their secretaries will usually call the house manager the day before saying "oh they'll be in london for a few days" and the manager will arrange everything from the pickup from the airport in the cars he knows each member prefers, coordinate with the secretaries to figure out any appointments they may have, instruct the chef to make their favourite menus.... all of this is done without any input from the owner. That's what they pay for.

all-you-need-is-love , LinkedIn Sales Solutions Report

#28

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of I used to work for a travelling Performing Arts company. We had a performance in Boston and while there a board member wanted to take the entire company of about 20 people to her favorite Italian restaurant. At the same time there was a boil order on the local water because of a broken water main. Even though the pasta would have been cooked in boiling water and therefore been safe, that was not good enough. Instead, all of the pasta was boiled in Perrier. Let me tell you, that was some of the best damn pasta I've ever tasted!

AspenTD , Jason Jarrach Report

#29

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of Buy property in London and dig out the basement 2-3 stories for conversion to luxury living.

LazerBeamEyesMan , Serhat Beyazkaya Report

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Pat Bond
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's well known and really not that easy anymore. An ex city trader has just been awarded £533K from the builders of next doors iceberg basement as it encroached on his land and did damage to his property. I expect that firm to go bust and like a miracle, the phoenix will rise again from the ashes debt free with a slightly different name. Robbie Williams & Jimmy Page went to war over Williams' plans for an underground complex, the judge ruled he could have the swimming pool but the excavations must be done manually (by hand) so as to not damage Jimmy's Grade 1 listed Manor house.

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#30

"Poor People Don't Know How It Works": 30 Wild Activities That Only The Filthy Rich Could Even Think Of The following is a true story based on real events

"Hey -whostolemyusername- you wanna fly down on my jet to Myrtle Beach and Golf tomorrow?"

"uh...I have work...sorry"

Some context: This was years ago. I was 17, the kid was 19 and his Dad owned an oil company - yes, an oil company. They were going to Myrtle Beach for business and invited my Dad and I who couldn't go because we actually had to work for money.

-whostolemyusername- , Yuri G. Report

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