When we're told we have privilege based on our demographics, we tend to immediately respond "No I don't!"
But it occurs to me that maybe we just don't see it because it manifests itself as everything going smoothly and normally.
This train of thought started with this article from last month about why some taxis refuse short trips. This surprised me because I had no idea short trips were less profitable. I'd assumed they were more profitable because the base fare made up a greater percentage of the total fare (therefore the driver earned more $ per km). It also surprised me because I use taxis for very short trips when I buy something big, and I have never - not once - got even the slightest sign that it was a problem. It's usually only a few blocks, costs me $4 which I've been tippin up to $5 or $6 if I have a loonie (although seeing in that article how little money they make, I plan to increase that), and since I thought the economics of the trip were different I've always brightly reassured the driver as I flagged him down that it was just a short trip, only a couple of blocks, would only take a minute of his time. And every single time not only has the first cab I spotted stopped for me and accepted my short and unprofitable fare, but every single time he was actively polite and gracious about it.
So why the gracious and polite 100% success rate? It would be ungenerous for me to assume it isn't because the vast majority of our taxi drivers are good and ethical and will take every fare. But I can't help but notice that I'm a white girl (perhaps an attractive and/or well-dressed white girl, depending on how together I am that day and the cabbie's standards of what constitutes attractive and well-dressed), in one of Toronto's better neighbourhoods, with a bit of a damsel in distress vibe going on (skirt, heels, scrawny arms, big heavy box to carry home).
If it is a privilege thing, it was completely invisible to me. When you flag down a cab and it stops and drives you home on what you thought was a quick, easy, and profitable-per-km trip, you don't think that you've just received privilege. That's just life happening normally and unremarkably.
Which makes me wonder what else I'm not noticing.
1 comment:
"But it occurs to me that maybe we just don't see it because it manifests itself as everything going smoothly and normally."
That's it! Exactly! Privilege is completely invisible to people who are using it, unless they consciously try to see it.
This knowledge might be helpful to people who tell other people they have privilege.
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