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No, customer service workers do not have it easy: Every once in a while, one of my fellow Americans blows my mind with her assumption that customer service workers get insurance, paid sick days and paid vacation, and at least $10/hour. These assumptions are often of no consequence, but on some occasions they’re offered in justification of why no one should be trying to improve working conditions for minimum and near-minimum wage employees, or why we should feel free to take out our frustrations on $6/hour clerks. That’s when ... READ MORE

College has become a barrier for smart poor kids: ETA: This post is US-centric, and I should have made that clear. How much or little it applies to other countries, I can’t say. As soon as employers made college a necessity for jobs of any significant income (and even some of shockingly low income, such as “receptionist”) back in the 80s or 90s, college started increasing tuition costs into the stratosphere. The cost for a four year degree at even a modest state school is now, in technical economic terms, ... READ MORE

Non-survivor privilege and silence: While it shouldn’t be a privilege to escape abuse in this life, there are trappings of privilege for those who have been so lucky. I know it’s an odd thing to say, and it’s a realization I’ve been slowly moving toward since childhood, but it works like this: Once you survive abuse or violation, you have a knowledge of the human capacity for nastiness that others around you don’t share. It is your duty to keep them blissfully ignorant at the expense ... READ MORE

Criticism, hostility and non-support: three different animals: If you find yourself in agreement with a dominant belief – the most popular religion in your culture, a love of the favored local sports team, or the belief that life is mostly neat and people are mostly good-hearted – you may occasionally have trouble distinguishing someone who doesn’t lick your butt in agreement from someone who is actually attacking you. This post includes tips on how to tell various members of “Them” apart. First of all, let’s discuss the source ... READ MORE

Privilege means never having to explain why it doesn’t work for Others: One of the most annoying privilege memes I’ve ever dealt with is “Anyone can get rich in this great country; if they don’t, it means they’re just not working hard enough.” I encountered this meme almost daily as a kid growing up in a highly conservative “red state” in the US, but I imagine there are variations of it all over the world. The basic idea: “This society is working out great for me; if it’s not for you, that ... READ MORE

White Trash Blues: Class Privilege v. White Privilege: If you blog about white privilege, you’re probably sick to death of people playing the “white trash” card in your comments. Their argument usually goes something like this: “Being white didn’t give me all these privileges you’re talking about.” “I know plenty of [minority] people who are better off than I am.” And the advanced version, which I’m guilty of using myself: “It’s really more about class than it’s about race.” I am “poor white trash”. I can relate to all of ... READ MORE

Extroversion privilege: (This post has a definite US slant, simply because that’s the only country whose culture I’ve experienced firsthand. I suspect it’s different elsewhere – feel free to comment.) This all started from a comment made by DNi on my post, Personal Privilege List. I started thinking about it, then some stuff happened, then I thought some more, and then I reached a conclusion: yes, there is a definite privilege extended to extroverts for no good reason. First, a definition session since people ... READ MORE