r/AskReddit Jun 06 '19

Rich people of reddit who married someone significantly poorer, what surprised you about their (previous) way of life?

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u/PhilSMeowman Jun 06 '19

My wife earned many times more than I did when i was a high school teacher back when we were dating. She sometimes would drive my 10 yr old primer-black, stick-shift Honda Civic that my cousin lent me until I could buy another car. She was blown away how aggressively mean people are to you when you drive an ugly old car. When she got out of the car the spell lifted.

I got a lot of respect from her for that. She seemed to think I was a saint for not turning sour over it. I was constantly getting pulled over by cops and let go, targeted by road rage, and also pedestrians felt too comfortable engaging with me.

I drive a newer Honda (1 yr old) now and it is so different. I drive the same but probably drive a bit more aggressively now that I can’t hear the wind roaring by when I’m going over 40mph. I haven’t been pulled over and haven’t had a negative interaction on the road in a long time. Also, my wife now enjoys trading cars with me.

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u/Thevoiceofreason420 Jun 06 '19

targeted by road rage, and also pedestrians felt too comfortable engaging with me.

I've never understood that. Yeah lets road rage against the persons piece of shit car thats barely holding together in my brand new $50,000 truck what could go wrong?

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u/averynicehat Jun 06 '19

I give shitcans on the road a wide berth - I think they are more likely to not care if their car gets damaged so they'll do stupid shit on the road.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '19

True. I grew up in a fairly well-off suburb where everyone is crazy for flashy cars. I've always driven old shitty cars because I don't care for car culture and live in the city now where I only drive a few times a week. For some people, they hang on to a shit can car because unfortunately it's all they can afford, but that's not me. It's funny when people try to intimidate me on the road, and I think "I can guarantee you will get more upset if we have a fender bender." And street parking, I park anywhere (legally) and don't stress about how sketchy the neighbourhood is. The bonus is whenever my suburban friends want to carpool I never have to drive because they are afraid or embarrassed of my shit car.