This one time I was traveling by a certain airline - lets call it Amirates. My flight was going to be more than 24 hours, so lets just say I was very comfortably dressed. Now I enter the airport and started walking towards the business class queue to check in my luggage. One of the staff members approaches me and tells me please join another line - the one for Economy Class passengers. I wouldn’t have had an issue but I had paid for this ticket and I did not find that reasonable. I let him know that I was heading to the correct queue. He asked me to show my ticket. I did. He says he’s sorry, puts on those happy faces, says a thing or two and tells me to have a pleasant flight.

While this might not be a big deal, I really felt bad that how people have this biased perspective on how rich and successful people are supposed to look and behave and would not accept that looks do not define a person.

SlowlybtSurely:
Mine is the complete opposite. The first impression people have of me is that I'm from a wealthy background. Them no know say shishi no gum me.

Even when I try to point out my #1,000 darling yaki hair and fairly used shoes/clothes, they go "yea right, you're just trying to be humble".

So here I am, enjoying my virtual wealth.

PaperLace:

aaargh! I can relate...Cc: IAmChar is

byvan03:
I don't know about wealthy but I went to buy kids' shoes and socks, I entered a certain kind of shop my friend recommended . She told me that they sell quality stuffs but quite pricey. When I picked a pair and I inquired about the price, the shop owner took a glance and responded " it's expensive ". I repeated " madam how much is it? ", she responded with " that shoe is 3k last ". I gave her a piece of my mind, dropped 3k on her table and threw the tiny shoes into my hand bag. I didn't bother checking out her socks. She was gushing out apology but I was already on my way.

I was a student and looked like one, so she assumed that I won't know the value of original kid's shoes or be able to pay for one.

Bisjosh:
First of all, u dress the way u wanna be addressed.

I have never been in that situation before.
though I dress good but many don't know how wealthy I am.

Modesty I guess...

SAMBARRY:
so because of 3k the seller was so rude?I'm sure she's a sales girl not eve the owner OF the supermarket. Anyway thats how sellers are.they judge you based on your outward appearance. Meanwhile you will see some ladies wearing wigs of 70k and they don't even have 10 naira in their bags yet people will be looking at them like they have millions

SAMBARRY:
abeg abeg abeg. That line is so Africanish.Mark zukerburg that came to Lagos who is worth billions of dollars came from one continent wearing shirt and jeans. If an African was worth that much we no go hear word.agbada flowing everywhere, sycophantic dancers hailing and all sort of craps that will inflate his ego

On several occasions which I later realised I have unknown walked by millionaires in just jeans shirt and palm slippers meanwhile the bank workers that earn 60k a month will wear designer suits looking like they own the world

If you judge people by how they look outwardly you will miss a lot of opportunities

My mom and I were jisting some time ago and she said millionaires, billionaires and rich guys love to dress like they're broke meanwhile you will see cleaners and low income earners in an organisation dressing like they have a lot.you will see a cleaner that earns 15k a month borrowing 40k TO buy clothes for owanmbe. Difference IS that the rich save give invest and look ordinary but the lower ones will be looking so expensive on borrowed everything

byvan03:




She was no sales girl ooo, probably she is used to seeing thick madams or pregnant women buying baby things . Also consider that it was 7years ago.

Ranchhoddas:
Make we here word abeg. Once something has become the prevailing narrative everyone starts to echo it not minding whether it is true or false. How many billionaires do you know that ''dress like they are broke''. What does it even mean to ''dress like they are broke''?

babyme1:
This happened to my elder sister few years ago. She booked to have her braided on a weekend, but bc of some things she went a lil late. D hair dresser had called n told her dt she will be attended to once she comes, though there were others.

When she finally reached n the lady started her hair, one girl finished my sis with insult. Even when d owner of the salon explained to her, she no gree o. It wasnt as if she wasnt attended to, she just felt that my sis just walked in n was given attention.

She even asked my sis who knows her in Uyo, a small rat like her. My sis nearly slapped her but others told her to ignore d chick. Na so monday reach, my sis went to work early bc she was the head of a team to conduct an interview that morning. Guess who waltz in for dt interview? Miss Saucy from d salon .

I heard she couldnt even answer any question. She later wents to the salon to ask the lady to apologize to my sis on her behalf. Me sef follow learn lesson from that.

Onegai:


One month ago, Faded polo shirt, plain cotton trousers and leather flat slippers. He was a former CBN governor. Or all the Balogun lace Madams who have spent more money ithan the average overdressed office worker in his entire lifetime but wear nothing showy. Or the billionaire aunt who is always wearing Ankara till the day the driver went to pick me up and started asking if it was a Governor's house (all he saw was the garage). Or one of the quietest girls I know whose family lives in such a big house in Ikoyi that there is enough space for a football match. Or Himself who sounds like he went to Umuokoro Grammar School. Old money, big money doesn't make noise. Everyone I know with foreign citizenship who spent years abroad talk normally, people on visas will be killing you with some weird amalgamation of UK, US and Naija accent to form posh. Its upper middle class people and middle class people who do their best to dorm, wealthy people don't. I can tell you how some billionaire's kids sound like and trust me, no unnecessary accent or flashy dressing (infact one girl saw one and yabbed him as "irresponsible-looking", then found out his father was on the list of top richest men in West Africa, high up that list too).

Ranchhoddas:
Make we here word abeg. Once something has become the prevailing narrative everyone starts to echo it not minding whether it is true or false. How many billionaires do you know that ''dress like they are broke''. What does it even mean to ''dress like they are broke''?

SAMBARRY:
take 5.

I can authoritatively say those balogun women with expensive looking clothes fit borrowing pass Nigeria. They will borrow money to buy gold for owanmbe, borrow money to buy shoe and bag to match meanwhile they don't have savings

All their money na party and if you TELL them they'll start singing for you majaye orimi o miomeyin ola majayeorimi o titidojo ale

Interpretation- I'll enjoy my life, I don't care what happens timorow

Onegai:


The borrow-borrow people in Balogun are too many. It's the old mamas who started selling lace there, the big ones (SAS, Kubbis). Like I told a friend "is she bleaching, did she speak more Yoruba to you than English, did she wear slippers and it was a big shop? She's rich".

The day we went to order wedding cards from a Wedding store and 2 mamas came in. One dressed all corporate and flaunting Micheal Kors bag (biko Naija ladies, who told you MK is the SI unit of Designer handbag?? Why the shakara on top something you can buy from Macy's or even in sale from Ross/TJ Maxx, not even Bergdorf or Bloomies?!", the other in flowing bubu, headscarf and white bathroom slippers. The corporate one was the hanger-on, the other mama proceeded to order 2000 of the most expensive IVs with a bill of over N200,000 (just for wedding IVs). It was one of the BellaNaija society weddings.

Onegai:


One month ago, Faded polo shirt, plain cotton trousers and leather flat slippers. He was a former CBN governor. Or all the Balogun lace Madams who have spent more money ithan the average overdressed office worker in his entire lifetime but wear nothing showy. Or the billionaire lady who is always wearing Ankara till the day the driver went to pick me up and started asking if it was a Governor's house (all he saw was the garage). Or one of the quietest girls I know whose family lives in such a big house in Ikoyi that there is enough space for a football match. Old money, big money doesn't make noise. Everyone I know with foreign citizenship who spent years abroad talk normally, people on visas will be killing you with some weird amalgamation of UK, US and Naija accent to form posh. Its upper middle class people and middle class people who do their best to form, wealthy people don't. I can tell you how some billionaire's kids sound like and trust me, no unnecessary accent or flashy dressing (infact one girl saw one and yabbed him as "irresponsible-looking", then found out his father was on the list of top richest men in West Africa, high up that list too).

Ranchhoddas:
Nigerians and exaggeration. None of these people are billionaires. No CBN governor past or present qualifies as a billionaire(a billionaire is someone who has at least a billion dollars). That aside, who made these people the standard for dressing and behaviour? You?

SAMBARRY:


Google brothers (can't remember their name )
Prince of England's wife (always looking simple )
Mark zukerburg dresses simple
dangote
Bill gates

Onegai:


That's why I like NL! what you don't know, you can come and argue wella. Soludo is a poor man, so are Sanusi and NOI, infact they are hoping Buhari offers them a job soon so they can afford schoolfees money. Please send them credit, that's why we don't hear from NOI she can't afford Airtel N1000 to browse and be posting on Twitter. Be believing everything you read in papers, eh.

Sambarry, one last one: my aunt's driver, tall big, goodlooking fellow who used to buy nice shirts and have his suit fitted to his body. Plus some ties her hubby gave him, he was set. He used to carry her jeep and go to Unilag to pick babes it was so wrong but once the girl sees fine boy and jeep and hears he works for a big company (technically true but...), na to spread legs be that. Chop and clean mouth fellow.

Ranchhoddas:
Larry Page and Sergey Brin(Not brothers though), Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have an appearance of simplicity that stem from from their NATURE- they are techies/nerds. They will always appear 'simple' no matter how rich or poor they are. You should do a search of these people and see the kind of 'inanities' that these 'simple dressers' spend their money on. People derive their pleasures differently. My overall point is that we should not attack people who derive their own pleasures from 'dressing extravagantly' because a microscopic number of billionaires have decided to do otherwise; it has been the trend for the past few days and Nigerian celebrities are taking the most flak. I don't know much about Kate Middleton and I know that the Windsor family are not a billionaire family; they are millionaires at best. Dangote is always either on suit or that Hausa kind of dressing and there is nothing simple about any of that. You want make him wear chain?

SAMBARRY:
LMao

That one is an old common trend Na.company drivers been using company car to be defrauding stopeed restless undergraduates of their v@gynas sine 1749

You no even happy say he no thief your aunty money or company money go fok ashewo or use it to pay ashewo for short time to fok inside company car

Onegai:


No-one is saying dress this way or that, please dress freely and decently. But in Nigeria, if you don't look a certain way, people treat you somehow. Which is wrong. Why am I deploying a fake accent, why am I carrying fake designer bags proudly (almost all the Hermes in Nigeria is fake. Trust me, like 90% of them are fake). It happens everywhere around the world but it's worse in Nigeria.

Onegai:


That's why I like NL! what you don't know, you can come and argue wella. Soludo is a poor man, so are Sanusi and NOI, infact they are hoping Buhari offers them a job soon so they can afford schoolfees money. Please send them credit, that's why we don't hear from NOI she can't afford Airtel N1000 to browse and be posting on Twitter. Be believing everything you read in papers, eh.

Sambarry, one last one: my aunt's driver, tall big, goodlooking fellow who used to buy nice shirts and have his suit fitted to his body. Plus some ties her hubby gave him, he was set. He used to carry her jeep and go to Unilag to pick babes it was so wrong but once the girl sees fine boy and jeep and hears he works for a big company (technically true but...), na to spread legs be that. Chop and clean mouth fellow.

Evolg, it's our way to sum up people by appearance. It is what it is.

Ranchhoddas:
More exaggerations. Even with twenty million dollars; a person especially one living in Nigeria would have an appearance of wealth that would boggle any mind. Do these people that you know own any jets; do they ownae liners perhaps? Do a google search of rich people and really rich people and see the difference in lifestyle and stop saying what you think you know. It pathetic that the names you are dropping are those of people like Soludo and NOI. I'll wager all I have that none of these people have 200million dollars(Feel free to include the money they stole from government).

SAMBARRY:
dangotes traditional dressing is always simple o.you can see an aura of simplicity around him.he doesn't do too much unnecessary flashing like the likes of davido

Bottonline is no one is attacking no one but Nigerians need to learn good customer relationship irrespective of the way customers dress and thanks for reminding me of their names

Ranchhoddas:
Davido's profession requires him to 'flash'. You do not expect a hip-pop artiste to put on shirt and trousers, neither do you expect Dangote to put on 'bling bling'...Even American artistes dress like that why should ours be different.? About the customers; I cannot disagree though I don't think it's a Nigerian thing as I remember clearly that Oprah had the same experience in Switzerland when she went for Tina Turner's wedding. The salesperson offered her a cheaper bag I think when she looked at Oprah and concluded that she would not be able to afford the one she requested for. Now this is one of the most popular faces on the planet. So you see...