Let me guess, your biggest complaint every morning is that the lady at Dunkin Donuts made your coffee too light or too dark, right? Or maybe it's that Cassandra from Accounting stole your parking space today. And I mean God FORBID you don't have newest Iphone as soon as it comes out, am I right? I mean Iphone 6? How embarrassing. And HOW DARE someone say "Happy Holidays" to you instead of "Merry Christmas", I mean who do they even think they are?! Well allow me to let you in on a little secret, your privilege is showing.
I know, I know. It's a little embarrassing but trust me this is completely fixable and I can even set you up with a few helpful tips to ensure you never get caught with your privilege hanging out again. But first, for those of you who are still confused, allow me to further explain.
Now I'm not saying there's anything wrong with living a good life. And I'm not at all saying that sometimes people don't get worked up over the little things in life, I get it. Shit happens. My problem is people who don't acknowledge that there's a world that exists beyond their own white picket fence.
For example, don't you just hate when you're baking cookies for your kid's annual classroom "Christmas" party only to find out that little Jimmy celebrates Hanukkah so the teacher has decided to call it a "Holiday" party instead. Like how dare someone else practice a different faith than your own. You'd think that this country was founded on religious freedom or something. Well listen up, your privilege is showing again.
Just because you practice a Christian holiday doesn't mean everybody does. And I mean if you REALLY study Christianity didn't Jesus actually say "Love your neighbor as yourself; there is no commandment greater than this." I mean calling your child's second grade teacher to complain about how detrimental to your child's life it will be that for ONE YEAR he WON'T get to have his annual Christmas Party doesn't really abide by Jesus's whole "loving your neighbor" thing, now does it?
Here's a helpful tip! How about next time this happens, remember that Christmas isn't the only holiday in the world and that your child might actually benefit from learning about different religions so that way in the future your child isn't a culturally insensitive swine.
Here's another example of where you might be showing off your privilege a little too much. Don't you just hate when important social issues occurring in your country flood your social media outlet?! None of those issues even vaguely affect you, do they?! I mean who cares if your president-elect openly mocked a disable news reporter? This is America right? Freedom of Speech, right?!
Well no. See just because we live in a country that values "freedom of speech" doesn't allow making fun of a disabled person to be okay. If you genuinely do not see a problem with this, then there might not actually be any hope for you. People with disabilities do not choose to be that way. They didn't just wake up one morning and decide that that would be a "cool" lifestyle. If you cannot sympathize with those who live their life being outsiders, if you even dare use the "r"-word like it's cool or something, you're only proving how privileged you are to live a life where you genuinely don't have to encounter that struggle.
Here's a helpful tip! How about you just be a decent human being and not make fun of someone for a lifestyle they didn't choose. That would not only save you from being caught with your privilege showing but it would also save you the trouble of looking like an asshole.
Wow. Some pretty pressing topics we got into right?! And don't forget we only skimmed the surface there. There's a whole bunch of places you're unknowingly flaunting how privileged you are!! I hope that if you take anything away from this article, it's that it takes very little to just be a good person and acknowledge the world beyond your super cute Ray-ban sunglasses. And in all seriousness, I hope that you've learned that educating yourself just a littlebit more about the world you live in can save you from looking like a complete ass.
So in recap, remember that the whole world isn't here to please you and by maybe just acknowledging that a little bit more, you'll save yourself from ever being caught with your privilege out again.