Inside the Secret Lives of the Ultra-Rich: Shocking Tales from Luxury Hotels and Restaurants Revealed
I worked at the St Pete Florida Best Buy as a seasonal employee- part time way back in 2003/04 while I was in my first semester of college nearby.
I know- no high-brow fancy-pants place I worked… *but*- I did deal with a crazy rich customer.
About 3 days after black Friday- I had a guy in his early 30s come sauntering in to the store.
… He parked some kind of fancy-a*s bright yellow sports car sideways across three parking spaces- and I overheard some chatter about it as this guy enters the store. (To his credit- he parked as far from the store as humanly possible and walked. At least he didn’t pull that s**t in handicapped spaces like one might expect.)
Now, mind you, at the time- I’m freshly 21 and I don’t look a day over 13. Red-hair in pigtails, freckles- my nicknames at work were literally “Jail-Bait” and “Pippi”. I don’t look old enough to have a job, let alone to buy alcohol – but I s**t you not…
This guy walks in the store and turns toward the computer section- and he spots me and flags me doesn’t (he waves at me. At least he doesn’t snap or call me “babe” or “hon” or some c**p.).
Anyway- I’m thinking “Ohhh…. lucky me!” But I’m pretty good at appearing friendly while I’m crying on the inside and so I greet him with a smile and internally cringe bc this guy opens his wallet before he opens his mouth… and I’m expecting NOTHING good.
Much to his credit- he was actually VERY polite and seemed to have a sense of humor. He pulls a WAD of cash out, flips out 5 crisp, brand-new $100 bills and says “Before we get started- I have a favor to ask…. If you can get the Mexican place (he points across the parking lot towards the mall) to make me a couple marguaritas in to-go cups, so I can enjoy a drink while I shop- I’d really appreciate it, and you can keep the change.”
Now- the combo of his flashy car, his parking job, the way the guy looked and the butt-load of cash he pulled out and started to hand me got some attention and my assistant manager and a couple other employees are all staring at me and this guy in utter disbelief…
I mean- let me be clear- at first, I COMPLETELY did not believe him to be serious. When the guy takes out a THICK wad of cash and asks for 2 marguaritas- I’m like… Yeah okay…but I exchanged a quick look with my asst manager- fortunately he was an awesome dude and he actually just shrugged and let me go! (I’ll be straight up though- before I EVER CONSIDERED walking out of the store- I stopped at our front registers and ran one of those counterfeit detection markers across the 100’s to make sure they were REAL! I honestly was more stunned when i realized it was REAL- legit cash.)
ANYWAY…As soon as he assumes I’m on my way to handle his drink order- he literally starts pointing to stuff- sending everyone on staff scurrying- he’s asking for fifteen of this desktop computer package- twenty of those laptops over there- a dozen of that all-in-I’ve printer… a c**p ton of 19″ & 21″ monitors… A ton of plasma tvs… Digital cameras… Dyson vacuums…
Again… This was 2003. I didn’t even own a cell phone yet. I’d never seen anyone toss around cash like that and I had no clue who the guy was…. But it’s pretty clear he was serious and when the other employees found out that this guy had handed me $500 to go get him a couple of drinks- they all FLOCKED to see if they could cash-in on helping him out too.
So my manager DID actually let me go across the parking lot- and I sweet-talked the bartender into giving me two large kids sippy cups with marguaritas in them. I gave her a $50 tip and promised her I’d send the guy over for drinks after he was done shopping. (And yes, I kept my word. More on that later.) She even made me a baggie with a little cup of salt, one with sliced limes- and 2 little ketchup-cups filled with shots of Patron!
So about fifteen minutes has passed by the time I got back… And I walk in with one of those cardboard beverage containers and a little cardboard tote (think happy meal style) with the drink extras in it.
The guy was halfway done shopping by this point- or at least halfway done listing stuff he wanted- and now his girlfriend/wife/whatever she was is on his arm. She’s exactly what you’ld expect- bleach blonde, sz 2, in 5″ heels and a leopard miniskirt – but to her credit…. She was actually nice to all of us and she and the dude were actually fun and funny to deal with and to help.
So he took one of the marguaritas and -I’m not kidding… He offers me the other one. (That, unfortunately, my manager was *not* okay with. It sadly sat and melted until the end of my shift… So sad, it sitting on the Geek Squad desk mocking me.)
Anyways- I forget what huge tech company the guy worked for- I feel like the company had offices in Tampa or they were having a corporate event there (or both)- and that’s what he was shopping for.
But it’s been a long time and I definitely didn’t recognize him or his name- and frankly- I was more wrapped up in the craziness going on – I’m not sure I even found out exactly who he was…
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