Privilege Slaps Me in the Face

Last week (during my cousin's Spring Break) I took a week off from school to chase the sunset out to Utah and Arizona with some of my good friends. [No I haven't forgotten to blog about my recent adventures to the Grand Canyon and back - this is a blog of adventures, after all - it's just that I have a digital pile of photos to sort through and edit before I could do such a post justice. Please have patience.] The trip was a wonderful success and oodles of fun. Now I'm back in Goshen, and it's my Spring Break. Oops. To help fill some of my time, I solicited one of my contractor friends for a bit of quality out-of-doors labor. He obliged.

Yesterday morning I found myself in his driveway, leveling and compacting dirt and gravel in preparation for laying paving bricks. At one point, while I was raking gravel, a man walking by stopped me to say hi and to inquire about my work. "You got your own business or you work for a company doing this?" He went on to tell me that he had been doing similar work for the past six years. Then the company he worked for downsized and he got the can. He still hasn't found work elsewhere. "Ain't no work anywhere." He applied for positions at numerous other building companies. Rejection after rejection; he was "overqualified." "Well, best of luck to you," he cheerfully yet somewhat resignedly called out as he walked on once more.

I paused for a moment to reflect. I've got a job. Granted, it's temporary, but it's a good job. And I have a different summer job lined up anyway. This is my official week off, and I decide to make a little extra cash on the side. I have connections - personal acquaintances who are willing to help me out, work with me a little. And it's not like I have tons of cash lying around. I think my actions are all fairly justified, if not wise/prudent. But what gets me is that while I blog about being concerned about money and finding work and all of my other petty woes I still found work - I pulled through and things worked out for me, almost as if by magic. And then little life episodes like the one I lived yesterday start to clue me in on what that "magic" really is. 100% middle-class white boy privilege magic. I was fortunate enough to go to college, I made connections all through it, and I now have all the right ins. Good for me.

Not that I'm going to act any differently, with regards to myself that is. I'm still going to make ends meet. I'm going to take advantage of every little opportunity that comes my way. But I am also realizing - I have to realize - that many people are not as privileged as myself. Some folks just don't have any luck! And here at the crux of my blog entry ... I utterly fail to provide a "call to action" - a crucial element I've been tutoring 6th grade English students to include at the end of their persuasive essays. That's just it: how do I act differently? For now, until I think of something else, I guess I'll just try to maintain a heightened awareness of my own privilege and an increased empathy toward those with less than myself. And hopefully some good will come of it.