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No. People within the same class tend to treat each other the best, and the general public seems to feel less favorably towards to poorest and richest classes.
Unless you're talking about service. Of course wealthy people get treated better because establishments expect more money from them.
That said, there are often more factors at play than just wealth. I come from a wealthy, black family. If we were in a scenario where my dad's worth wasn't immediately obvious (such as walking into a restaurant as opposed to having pre-booked nice hotel rooms), there were times we wouldn't be treated with the best service that ALL patrons, regardless of wealth, deserve. And I suspect that was due to some of the negative biases and expectations toward people of our skin color. But then again, when you walk into a restaurant or store how would one immediately know your worth anyway?
School is another great example. I went to a private school throughout grade school and a public school in a wealthy area for high school, and teachers still always expected me to underperform. They'd be surprised and become much more attentive and encouraging when they saw that I was a great student. I again suspect that there may have been a bias about my skin color there that transcended the matter of my family's wealth.
A lot of this comes down to people treating people as they perceive them to be. This type of behavior isn't limited to sales people or waiters/waitresses either. Who hasn't heard the stories making the rounds on the internet of a bishop or local preacher going into their own church disguised as a homeless person? Now if the peeps in the house of the Lord (good Christians that they are) will treat a fellow church-going soul like a plague victim based on appearance, why should we expect any different from the rest of the population?
Years ago, I used to work a very dirty but very well paying construction job. At Christmas time, the boss would always wait until Christmas eve day before giving out bonus checks........and we'd usually work a half day that day anyway. So I got used to doing my big ticket shopping between 1 pm and store's close that day. Being pressed for time like that, I never took the time to shower and get cleaned up before hitting the stores and each year, the results were predictable. Fine clothing stores, jewelry stores, electronics stores........it was always the same. I'd get the hairy eyeball from the sales staff until I pulled a giant wad of cash from my pocket and started buying. Then it was like I was the king of freaking Siam! You would think that at Xmas time, sales people would be on the look out for that kind of thing but the results were pretty much the same, year in and year out.
So yes. The perception of money will most often get you better treatment but a true flash of the cash will get them really attentive and willing to crawl on broken glass to make a sale.
Funny story in a similar vein: At some point back in those days, my mom was in the hospital for an extended time and when I'd go straight out of work (often after visiting hours) and I learned I never had to check in at any desk. There was construction going on in the hospital at the time and being a dirty construction worker made me invisible. I could walk through almost any part of that hospital and almost any hour of the night and just get a nod from security......if I was noticed at all. I've heard that the same thing can be accomplished if you carry a clipboard and wheel a hand-truck around. lol
It's all about perception. People use their eyes instead of their mouths and ears to judge other people......I've always tried to keep that in mind before making snap judgments on people I don't know, but even with that knowledge, it's still tough sometimes. As an old friend was so fond of saying when it came to people; For most folks, perception IS reality.
I have only seen this with the treatment of high roller in Vegas. Other than that, no. People can't always tell who has money and who doesn't. I remember when one of the richest men in our area was ignored by a luxury car dealership because he wasn't dressed like he could afford a $300,00 car. Bill Gates has been seen driving a 2008 Ford Focus. When it comes to nursing homes, I have a relative on Medicaid staying at a place where she is treated the same as the private pay residents paying almost twice as much.
Yes !
The nursing homes I have observed, the poor get treated just a well as the rich.
But I think that the assumption that better looking, better made-up, better dressed people are wealthier.
So I guess my answer is yes, they do, when they think you have more money.
Now you're just skewing words around to make "you need money" seem correct. Money does not always mean good looks; so no, you cannot draw that correlation.
School is another great example. I went to a private school throughout grade school and a public school in a wealthy area for high school, and teachers still always expected me to underperform. They'd be surprised and become much more attentive and encouraging when they saw that I was a great student. I again suspect that there may have been a bias about my skin color there that transcended the matter of my family's wealth.
Absolutely. I have a dear friend (usually referred to as my "brother") who is black, and also happens to have been educated at Exeter, Yale, and WashU Law School. He often gets the old "you're so well-spoken" comments/treatment, and we always say or think - well, yeah, they don't typically accept dummies into Exeter and Yale.
I had a friend who was always broke. He thrived off me buying him lunch and crap. I always drove etc. That lasted for only a little while as I didn't feel like he gave a crap about me.
I've noticed the rich and people with money get treated better and have a better deal in life than the have not. I've witness this in nursing homes, restuarants, schools, churches, Hotels, stores, the police and the judiciary system. Have you noticed this too? Enlightened us. Share your stories and experience.
I'd like to address the "...have a better deal in life..." portion of your post.
People with money get perks that others do not. One such example is with banks. If you keep a certain amount of money in your accounts, you don't pay a service fee nor any other fees. In fact, you are given interest on those accounts. Further, your cashier's checks, stop-payments of checks and other services offered for a fee to the general public are waived. Even notary service is often provided for free.
If you are a member at a yacht club, the local boating store will usually give you a hefty discount on a regular basis. If you spend over a certain amount of money in certain retail stores, they will award you with "points" equal to dollars that you "spend" in their store, which is free money. Some credit card agencies offer luxury items, sometimes engraved, at no cost to you as long as you regularly charge over a specified amount every year. And so on.
While it's understandable that these companies want to encourage their customers spending (or stable deposits in the case of banks), it's ironic that the very people who cannot afford the fees, full prices or to spend much in order to reach "perk" status, are the very ones who could use the breaks.
People in certain types of jobs grovel to money, in the hope of a big tip for instance... they get the best seats in the theatre or restaurants too so yes their treated different.. People who want to gain from wealth pander to them and always will...
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Kinda depends on what your "role" is. As a landlord, I find I get more respect if I dress the part, rather than dropping by in my usual comfy jeans and sweatshirt. And definitely not good when the tenants have much better cars than the ones I sometimes show up in (although at least mine are paid for…lol)!
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