Comparing my problems to other people’s problems don’t make mine go away. A single purchase hitting a unit of percentage or more of anyone’s income is a large purchase regardless of what they’re making. Professionals being expected to shell out their own money to make their boss money is another problem entirely. A decent laptop is a big expense for me, their tools are an even bigger one for them, and none of these statements are contradictory.

Sure, maybe. In the end, what makes an expense big or not is which proportion of their income goes towards it. Most of the rest of the world has (much) lower salaries, and as you pointed out, often higher cost for equipment. Therefore, the purchase is/feels larger.