#1
-"where do you buy bottled water?"
-"I have to change my own sheets??" (This was in October. We moved in in August. Gross."
-Thought we had a maid... In a college dorm.
Another time she asked me to go to the ATM with her because she didn't know how it worked. She needed like $300 in cash to buy football tickets for her family. The withdrawal was declined because she didn't have $300 in her account. She looked at me and said, "Am I poor?" with the most heart breaking face ever. Turns out she thought her family's money was in some big account that they all had access to, bc she'd always had a credit card and that had never been declined. We had a lesson about personal finance and just the way that banks operate in general after that.
She ended up being a good room mate after she learned that we did not have a maid and she had to clean up after herself. She wrote me a sweet note when we moved out thanking me for my patience with her. She was entitled and spoiled but ended up just being a little spoiled by the end of the year. It was nice to see her become self aware and change for the better.
#2
I work at a car dealership and I was writing down some information while a customer was on the phone with their insurance. They were back and forth on hold, talking to different people, trying to figure out why their rate would go up so much. I'm there trying to finalize a few things. I guess she had to write something down that she was talking about.
She takes the pen I'm using to write out of my hand, takes the notepad, rips the page I was writing on off and throws it down next to her, then begins writing talking into the phone like "yeah, uh huh, mhm, right, right"
I'm sitting there with my jaw literally on the floor. Normally I wouldn't say anything but I made a little mention like "Oh, if you needed a pen I'd be more than happy to hand you one" and she looks up and goes "You are **MY** salesman, you are here to work for **ME**. You can do what you want to do when I'm done here."
Politely asked her to leave, told her to have a great day.
#3
This weirdo quit in two hours and then IMMEDIATELY took to Facebook to justify it. She claimed she had TOO MUCH EDUCATION for this job when she spent 5 years trying to get an associate's and never did. She called the job AN INSULT TO HER INTELLIGENCE! For God's sake- I know people whose families are THRIVING working at this same place. She doesn't have two nickels to rub together, and she's insulted by the job.
I just found it so disgustingly condescending considering I have a lot of blue collar friends who are smarter and more successful than she'll ever be.
Entitlement can be easy to recognize when it takes an extreme form, but the behavior often develops from a much broader expectation that a person deserves more than others. Psych Central describes entitlement as a belief that someone should receive special treatment, privileges, rewards, or exceptions without necessarily having to earn them in the usual way.
Now, the roots of entitlement can vary. Childhood experiences such as overindulgence, overprotective parenting, praise that is disconnected from effort, neglect, unfair treatment, or difficult family dynamics may all contribute. Personality and temperament can also play a role, while social environments that heavily emphasize status, achievement, or individual success may reinforce the idea that certain people deserve more than everyone else.
#4
There were people outside directing traffic it was so busy. We were at a stop and talking to one of the guys directing. He said that the day it opened, a lady was waiting in line spilling outside, and was yelling at him that she "could see an empty seat inside" and demanded him to let her in so she could "get her cheeseburger". He told her that someone else has waited for that seat and that she had to wait like everyone else, and she SPAT IN HIS FACE. Then he said "ohoho okay, now you're not getting in at all." And walkied everyone and told them what she looked like and not to let her in to any entrance or drive through.
#5
#6
Spoiler: it didn't work.
When those expectations are repeatedly met, they can become a person's normal baseline rather than something they recognize as unusual. Someone who has rarely had to deal with consequences, compromise, or disappointment may eventually come to see special treatment as the natural order of things. That can help explain why seemingly minor inconveniences sometimes produce surprisingly dramatic reactions.
If a person has learned that their wants are usually accommodated, hearing "no" is no longer simply disappointing; it can feel like something has gone wrong. Entitlement can also serve as a form of self-protection, allowing someone to compensate for feelings of insecurity or unfairness by convincing themselves that they deserve more. The problem is that this can create increasingly unrealistic expectations that other people are unlikely to meet.
#7
The funny thing is my Grandfather would have helped her in any way he could if he felt she wasnt just taking advantage of him. He helped me buy a car, helped some of my other cousins purchase a home, would gift you a new washer if yours broke, and was always there for our family in general.
After he turned her down she refused to let my Grandparents see their great grandchild for several years.
#8
But the one that sticks with me and bothers me is the dog. She had an older dog and two guinea pigs, one day I'm at her place and she tells me she's looking for a new home for the guinea pigs because she doesn't really take proper care of them much, her dad does all the work and everything. I think that's reasonable, best to give them to a loving home instead of neglecting them. But then her dad chimes in saying she can't just dump off her pets on someone else and that she needs to learn responsibility, which I consider to also be a valid and reasonable point.
Girl then yells "I don't need to learn anything, I'm an adult!" (she was maybe 19 or 20 or so at the time for reference) at which point I immediately stop considering her argument as reasonable, and it turns out the whole reason she wanted to get rid of the guinea pigs was because she wanted a puppy. She got the puppy because her mom said so. Still had the guinea pigs and the older dog too.
Fast forward a couple weeks, I'm getting married in about a month and this girl calls me up asking me if I can keep the puppy at my place because her family's going on a week long cruise. You fools caved and got a very young puppy who couldn't be left unsupervised with your other pets yet weeks before a cruise you'd had planned for months, and your plan is to drop the thing off on me, while I'm doing last minute setup for my wedding. Also I have a cat that would eat the poor thing. No. I don't talk to that girl anymore, I just hope she's treating all her pets alright.
#9
She was in her 30s, had gone to a private university, racked up a six-figure debt in student loans and working a low paying job (not minimum wage, just tight budgeting-level). From her monologue about herself it was clear she bought new clothes and electronics every week. Her parents were covering half her student loan payments each month, plus helping her out with 'unexpected' expenses.
She matter-of-factly explained she was doing her parents a favor by making any payment towards her own debt.
"If they had forced me to go to a public school instead the one I chose, I wouldn't owe so much. It's their fault!"
Apparently her parents had almost lost their house after her mother had a severe health crisis. Despite this her father had also been secretly helping with her rent until her mother found out and put a stop to it. Girl was pretty pissy that her mother would *dare* prioritize food and shelter over subsidizing another adult's lifestyle.
She was also pissy that her parents had recently bought a trampoline for her brother's kids, saying the money they 'wasted' should have been put towards her loans.
There was more but my brain shut off as a survival mechanism.
That dynamic can become especially damaging once it enters close relationships. Talked explains that entitlement can replace fairness, empathy, and shared responsibility with an imbalance in which one person's needs consistently take priority. A favor can gradually become an expectation, and an expectation can eventually turn into a demand.
Instead of appreciating someone's time, money, attention, or effort, an entitled person may begin treating those things as obligations. Over time, partners, friends, and relatives can feel used or unappreciated because the relationship no longer feels reciprocal. What was once generosity starts to feel like a requirement, with one person continually giving and the other continually expecting.
#10
...Coming from the girl who's parents pay for her ...everything.
#11
#12
That imbalance can also make relationships increasingly exhausting for everyone involved. When people feel that they must constantly anticipate another person's reactions, avoid disappointing them, or give in simply to keep the peace, resentment can build quietly. The entitled person may believe they are simply asking for what they deserve, while everyone around them may feel that they are being asked to sacrifice far more than is reasonable.
This is one reason entitlement can be particularly difficult to deal with: the person demanding more may genuinely see their behavior as justified. Meanwhile, the people around them can gradually become less willing to offer help or emotional support because every act of kindness risks becoming another expectation.
#13
#14
He proceeded to tell me that he now wears his hat in every class as "an act of defiance".
#15
There is also an important distinction between entitlement and simply standing up for yourself. Verywell Mind points out that confidence involves having a realistic sense of your abilities and worth while remaining capable of accepting feedback, taking risks, and learning from mistakes. Healthy boundaries work similarly. They allow someone to decide what behavior they will accept and what they will do when those limits are crossed. Neither requires controlling another person's choices.
Entitlement can look similar on the surface because an entitled person may also insist that they know what they deserve, but the difference becomes clearer when their expectations require everyone else to accommodate them. Asking for respect is different from demanding obedience, just as protecting your time is different from assuming everyone else's time belongs to you.
#16
#17
#18
The distinction becomes particularly important when someone reacts badly to boundaries. A person can reasonably say they will not lend money, take on extra work, tolerate disrespect, or change their plans for someone else. An entitled response is to treat that refusal as an offense that needs to be punished. Psychology Today notes that entitled behavior can provoke anger because it violates people's basic expectations of fairness and treats them as though their needs matter less.
When ordinary limits are interpreted as betrayal, the person setting the boundary may face guilt-tripping, insults, sulking, or anger simply for refusing to accommodate an unreasonable demand. This can create an impossible situation where giving in leaves one person feeling used, while standing firm makes them the target of accusations about being selfish or unfair.
#19
She's on her own now, but has more than enough money to get by. I know this because she won't hesitate to tell me. She complains about a 2 bedroom apartment being too expensive, but she needs the room for all her clothes and refuses to live with a roommate. Meanwhile, I'm working full time and have just enough to pay rent and groceries living with a roommate, and most of our mutual friends have to work two jobs or live at home after college to save money.