His research has surfaced this disdain in just a five-minute get-acquainted session. The more wealthy (at least among American college students) exhibit fewer signs of engagement like making eye contact, nods, and laughing — and more of those for uninterest, like checking the time, doodling, or fidgeting. Students from wealthy families seem standoffish, while those from poorer roots appear more engaged, warm, and expressive.
— Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence (Daniel Goleman), Loc. 1671–5
In other words, poor people pay more attention, as that what they need to survive. I bet the deep-down reason for that is that wealthy people are actually quite afraid of losing their wealth, and they believe treating poor people (or some activities they do associate with poor people, and be uncool) may make them lose their wealth. It feels like I felt that way, and today (and ten years later, upon re-reading this quote, too), today I think that’s just silly. I can lose any amount of anything, just one day, and there’s nothing you can do to truly protect yourself from all that. And the only thing you actually can do is to invest in yourself, so if you survive, you can generate wealth (if that’s what you care about).