Jeff Bezos and partner Lauren Sánchez's self-described 'pretty normal' routine sparks uproar: 'He's not at all like me'

Billionaires seem to have the ear of United States President Donald Trump. 

Five of the world's richest people attended the inauguration of the 47th leader of the country, while one of them, Elon Musk, is directly involved in policy through the Department of Government Efficiency.

With such involvement, it's fair that citizens would question the decisions and influences of people who do not have the same financial status, living standards, or day-to-day troubles as so-called regular people.

That divide was put into stark focus in 2023, when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — one of that quintet of wealthy individuals at the inauguration — and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, described their "pretty normal" lives in an interview with Vogue.

They said that their lives "revolve around their kids," which is perhaps endearing. Making coffee and breakfast in the morning, dropping your kids off at school, taking them to extracurricular activities, going to work, and then collapsing in front of the television at night is no doubt relatable. 

But if you take a step back, that familiarity fades away. Remember, this is one of the world's richest individuals. 

As the Vogue interview detailed, "she and Bezos spend alternating weeks with Evan and Ella [her children from a previous marriage] in LA, where both are in school, and at home, which has been Bezos' Tudor mansion on Lake Washington [in Seattle], though he announced that they are planning to move to Miami, where he has reportedly bought a waterfront property."

Let's just say Bezos and Co. aren't packing up the family station wagon for those trips. Last December, Yahoo Finance reported the Amazon executive chairman had four private jets and was looking to offload one. 

In addition to being worth millions of dollars, which is simply unimaginable for most people, those vehicles emit a significant amount of planet-warming pollution. National Geographic cited a study that said "those who regularly fly [in private jets] can produce almost 500 times more carbon in a year compared to the average person worldwide."

Then consider the fact that the family home is maintained by a team of housekeepers, as Yahoo Finance pointed out. Someone else is likely going to do the dishes and make sure the household is running smoothly, exempting the family from the time-consuming tasks that eat into the hours of our day.

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As an intended form of motivation, wealthy and successful people will often say, "We all have 24 hours in a day." But the makeup of those 24 hours is vastly different for those with significant financial resources and for those who don't. If you don't have to worry about money, you can also use your funds frivolously — and sometimes irresponsibly.

According to a study by the anti-poverty charity Oxfam, "the richest 1% of the world's population produced as much carbon pollution in 2019 than the 5 billion people who made up the poorest two-thirds of humanity."

So the "pretty normal" life touted by Bezos and Sánchez rings a little hollow, all things considered. That assessment didn't exactly go down well with the r/TrueReddit community.

"I'll give the guy credit for making Amazon into the behemoth it is today," one person began. "I also know he's not at all like me. Even if his typical day mirrors mine in terms of activities at no time during the day does he have to concern himself with the cost of anything. There's a lot less stress in your life when you don't need to worry about prices."

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