Yesterday I realized how rich people get themselves into trouble by saying stupid things. It’s surprisingly easy to do when your life is much different than others who might hear you.

I’m certainly not rich by the American definition, but I don’t spend all that much money and due to certain (legal) things I’ve done in my past, I don’t really think about money much most of the time. It’s just not an immediate and pressing concern in my life these days.

So one of my co-workers asked, “Have you noticed if your bonus has been deposited yet? I’ve been looking for it in my account and haven’t seen mine.” And if I’d thought even for a fraction of a second before I said this and hadn’t been busy at the time, I wouldn’t have said it.

But I said, “No, I haven’t noticed or looked at my account in a long time.”

Then my co-worker kiddingly (we get along well) but understandably said, “Look at Mike, working with us peons — he doesn’t even need that bonus!”

And that’s how rich people easily get themselves into trouble. Not that I am defending their idiocy. I am not rich by American definitions, and unlike seemingly most of the rich I have empathy and want a strong and non-stigmatizing social safety net, etc.

But when your life is very different from those around you, sometimes you don’t even realize how what you are saying or doing might be taken the wrong way.