Privilege

Shopping at Rainbow, a nearby grocery store, often proves to be a humbling reminder of how privileged a life I lead. A few weeks ago, the cashier asked the gentleman in front of me if he wanted to become a Roundy’s Reward member: ‘It only takes a few minutes and all you need is a name and phone number’. “Well”, he replied, “that answers that, I don’t have a phone.” He seemed like a very nice guy, it’s hard for me to imagine, though, what that life would be like not being able to afford a phone. Admittedly, I could be wrong in assuming that - he may very well choose not to have a phone, I’m just drawing my conclusion based on his state of dress, and also that he paid with cash and not plastic.

I rarely see plastic cards used at Rainbow, it seems like most shoppers are 'just getting by' financially. It’s strange, picturing that, because I’ve never needed to worry about having money to buy groceries - on this particular day I remember I didn’t even look at my total bill, just swiped my card and moved on. Definitely a life of privilege.