http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027439156Photographer (500 posts) Thu Dec 10, 2015, 04:36 PM
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/12/everyday-class-privilege/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SocialWarfare
When I landed my first-ever full-time, salaried job, I experienced firsthand what class mobility felt like. Just like that – in what felt like an instant – everything changed.
I could finally go out to happy hour without counting my drinks. I could budget to buy really good gifts for my family during the holidays. I could afford to buy fresh produce every week at the grocery store.
But I never stopped being aware of how different life had been when I was underemployed, underpaid, overworked, and stretched for cash.
Class privilege can show up in really big, visible ways in our world.
...
1. You Woke Up Well Rested
2. You Paid for Convenience
You’re running late, so you scrap your plan to make coffee and run to Starbucks instead. You’re working late hours, so you pay a little extra for Instacart delivery to grab groceries for dinner. You’re applying for jobs and going to interviews, so you hire a sitter. It’s late and you’re hungry, so you order take-out.
The ability to choose convenience – even in moderation – despite its added costs is very common in our culture.
Nobody thinks it’s gaudy to be seen with a pizza box, and people aren’t going to be shocked and awed by the fact that you hire a nanny for the weekends. These are seen as normal, everyday choices.
But for lots of folks, they’re experiences that are financially out of reach.
Most parents earning minimum wage or working in other low-wage jobs can’t afford child care. Some folks budget so tightly that even that $2.50 iced coffee will break the bank. And close to 50 million Americans are food insecure.
<SNIP> The entire piece at the above link. Worth the read if only for a reminder.
Cliff Notes:
1) 1. You Woke Up Well Rested
But for some people, sleep is a luxury – and data shows that folks who are disadvantaged socioeconomically are likely to suffer more from sleep deprivation.
2) 2. You Paid for Convenience
You’re running late, so you scrap your plan to make coffee and run to Starbucks instead. You’re working late hours, so you pay a little extra for Instacart delivery to grab groceries for dinner. You’re applying for jobs and going to interviews, so you hire a sitter. It’s late and you’re hungry, so you order take-out.
3) 3. You Called in Sick
For a lot of full-time, salaried workers, calling in sick is a matter of picking up the phone.
The only decision to make in the morning is whether or not we feel good enough to do our jobs (and how many sick days we have left for the year).
Waking up with a headache, having killer cramps, or catching a virus from your kids means staying home with some soup, opening up Netflix, and laying in bed until we get better.
But for some workers, waking up sick means going to work sick.
4) 4. You Used Your Car or Took Reliable Public Transit
5) 5. You Got Paid for All Your Hours at Work
Luckily, most of us can reasonably count on being paid on time and at the rate we agreed on.
But many people can’t be sure they’ll ever see their pay for a day’s work.
Across the country, workers are dealing with wage theft, which means they’re not being paid for the hours they worked in full.
6) 6. You Bought Fresh, Healthy Food at the Grocery Store
There are a lot of groceries stores in my neighborhood, and all of them carry fresh produce.
Ok all you people out there who PAY for quality vehicles so you can get to work, you have CLASS PRIVILEGE.
ok all you people out there who buy fresh veggies instead of a month worth of frozen mac n cheese, you have CLASS PRIGILEGE.
And so on.
