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...