My first job in NYC paid very little. I did something to my foot that required surgery and about 6 weeks on crutches. I ended up spending most of my paycheck at that time to getting car service from Brooklyn to Manhattan for work. During that time I was just spending whatever was needed to maintain the status quo. Only years later did I realize the privilege I was experiencing. During that time I remember colleagues remarking in disbelief that I was taking car service to work. My thinking was the only alternative was the subway and no way thought I was experiencing privilege. I was just trying to keep my job.

You were being taxied to and from work for what seems like a big distance ? Yeah, for sure most people can't afford that :-)

That was my point. One is struggling with life and it may not have to do with money/resources. The struggle removes the sense of privilege from the fore front of one’s thoughts. I was spending $40 a day while earning $70 a day. Later on I realized that for some people that would have ended their NYC experience.

$40/day on mass transit is not unusual either. If I commuted into the nearest major city (and, yes, it would involve a short drive and cheap parking( that's about what I would be.

True but this was 1992. I beleive subways were $1.25.

Certainly costs have gone up. But, throw in commuter rail as opposed to just subway (and maybe some parking) and round-trip costs can easily be more than just a few dollars.

I have no idea how much those things cost because I was taking the subway for $2.50 cents a day. I'm sure people could pay more to get to work but my pay scale didn't provide me many options.

I'm happy to say I wasn't privileged but fortunate if that satisfies you.

So you were netting $30/day? Assuming you worked 21 days/month, that's $630/month before other expenses like food and rent. How on Earth did you survive at that rate, even with early 1990s NYC prices?

My uncle was a kinetic sculptor in NYC and he bought a condemned building in right next to the Williamsburg bridge in 1978 for $10k. I graduated college in 1991 and he still had a condemned building and had made 3 of the 4 floors into apartments. The 4th floor was original meaning a dirty, dusty, with no real facilities. The apartment was full of old broken furniture and building supplies.

He didn't want to work on the building he was doing a lot of work for the Exploratorium. His idea was to put in the 4th floor and have me try to complete the building to get a certificate of occupancy. So that is where I lived.

Williamsburg at that time was very different. One could not park on the street with out a chain to hold your car hood shut. One's battery would be stolen otherwise. The office I worked in was full of people who were concerned that I lived in that neighborhood.

So I had a very good set-up and I felt a lot of gratitude for my situation but it didn't feel much like a privilege. Sweeping the floors of that apartment was almost pointless for the first year or two...

You were absolutely experiencing privilege. I know you recognize it now, but hearing this is scary. This is why folks often vote Republican - they have no idea what life is like for very hard working actual poor people who would need services after breaking an ankle.

Your comment really brought it home for me.

What can mask privilege was that I was raised by a single mother who had the privilege of trying to support 2 kids as a potter. We had good family support but it wasn’t glamourus.

> We had good family support but it wasn’t glamourus.

Now imagine that, but no family support and one of you has cancer.

It could always be worse.