Friday, January 11, 2008

A different kind of meme

POINT OF PRIVILEGE
I saw this over at Lemon Stand and found it interesting.

But first, a legal disclaimer:
Premise: bold each of the statements that applies.

Original source: The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.
So noted, and if anyone wants to participate, please do the same.

And now on to the list:

Father went to college (I don’t think he even began high school, but he provided for his family well)

Father finished college

Mother went to college (my mom earned her GED when I was in high school after my father died)

Mother finished college

Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor (no attorneys, no professors except by marriage)

Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers(I guess)

Had more than 50 books in your childhood home (we went to the library a lot)

Had more than 500 books in your childhood home (My children could bold this one)

Were read children’s books by a parent

Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (piano and saxaphone… I’m not very musical, can’t play either now)

Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 (and voice)

The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively (I guess?)

Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 (I got one when I was 18)

Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (about half, I had scholarships for much of it and I worked after my Freshman year)

Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

Went to a private high school (public grade schools, 2 public high schools and 2 private)

Went to summer camp (YMCA 4 years, canoes and horses, it was great)

Had a private tutor before you turned 18

Family vacations involved staying at hotels (we camped, a lot, even all the way to and in Disney World, we did stay at a hotel on one vacation to California when I was 4)

Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18

Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them (I didn’t have a car until my 3rd year of college, and that one had 100K miles on it)

There was original art in your house when you were a child (only the ones taped to the fridge)

Had a phone in your room before you turned 18 (lol)

You and your family lived in a single family house

Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home(my dad built our home from a kit, and it's a good solid little house that I went to visit a few years ago)

You had your own room as a child(Not all the time, my sister moved downstairs when I was about 10 and moved out when I was 12)

Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course (no, but I did have a hangover the day I took the test, luckily I still did well)

Had your own TV in your room in High School

Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College [lol]

Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 [once, to CA)

Went on a cruise with your family [went with another family when I was 18)

Went on more than one cruise with your family (I’ve never gone with family, but I’ve been on 3 cruises all before I was 21)

Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up (do science museums count?)

You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family(we had a propane tank outside, I have no idea what it cost to fill it up)

6 comments:

Lemon Stand said...

What a GREAT quote!!!

Lemon Stand said...

That's what I get for having more than one window open. I meant to say thanks for doing this meme. It is so different from the usual ones and I find it very interesting.

Buck said...

Well, it IS an interesting meme. Dunno if I'll play... or not.

I will say it took me some backtracking to get to the point... which wasn't quite clear to me in the beginning. I got the "privilege" thing OK, but I was curious as to the origins of the meme and why anyone would develop it, to begin with.

I'm enlightened now. So...were you privileged, or not, TripleE?

Susan said...

The answer to your question, Buck, is yes, and no.
We were by no means wealthy, and my family wasn't well-educated, but we had a nice, comfortable home, and all of our needs and most of our wants were met.
I don't think this is a very accurate test of privilege, but I think it's interesting, especially since Stuntman's answers vary from mine so.

Buck said...

I thought it was pretty interesting, as well, and have the same sort of thoughts about accuracy. But Hey!! Fun is fun, no?

wendy said...

That is a really interesting meme. Makes me realized how blessed I was as a child. Though with 6 sisters I rarely to never had brand new clothes or my own room. (not that those would be my only unhighlighted topics, though!)

Camping trips totally rock!