Last week I was really hard up for some cash. I was racking my brain...what do I have left, that I haven't already sold over the past 2 years, that somebody might be willing to pay a few bucks for? And then I remembered...my White Privilege. The hunt was on. I knew I had it somewhere...out in the garage with all of "that stuff." I'd already sold most of my backpacking gear...haven't used it much since a hip surgery ten years ago. Still, I hated to part with it. I still have the tent...because one never knows.
It took me the better part of two hours to find it, but there it was...just where I had tucked it away. In a wooden box that once held an old wedding gift...a nice bottle of Armagnac. I drank the Armagnac years ago, but kept the little wood box and the nest of wood shavings because I just knew it would come in handy for safe keeping something of value down the road. It's where I kept my White Privilege. Through all of the moves, and over all of the years, it held it safely and prevented it from breaking.
When I finally found it a somewhat sad smile crept over my face...it was late in the afternoon by this time and the light was getting dim in the garage. But as I slowly slid the lid back on the top of the box and gazed at the treasure that lay inside, nestled in its bed of spaghetti-like wood shavings, it filled the garage with a warm, golden glow. Not at all unlike that scene in Pulp Fiction when John Travolta opens the briefcase.
I admired it for a long moment before carefully closing the lid, and thought to myself..."this ought to fetch a pretty penny on Craigslist." I was already counting my money and planning a trip to the grocery store, because the freezer is looking pretty bleak, and to the DMV, because my car registration is due.
I went to the computer and typed up an ad on Craigslist: "Lightly Used White Privilege...the first $50 gets it"
To my dismay there were no takers. I had one lady call and ask a bunch of questions, but she was reluctant to cement the deal. She called back later and offered me one dollar, and asked if I could deliver it to her, as she didn't own a car. She lived 35 miles away. I protested, and told her she really didn't appreciate just what a value this White Privilege was at the price I was asking. She told me that she had had her own White Privilege once, and had let it go for less than what I was asking 18 months ago. She was mildly interested in replacing it, but not for anything close to what I was asking.
Nobody else responded, and I let the ad expire.
Not even Godfather's Pizza will accept it. I tried to order a pizza just yesterday, and when they asked me if I would be paying with Mastercard or Visa, I told them to put it on my White Privilege. The snippy little 17 year old curtly informed me that they don't accept that, and hung up on me. It seems the Shell station down the street has the same restrictive policy.
I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for the registration renewal next month. And the freezer is still looking a little bare.
But I'll be damned if I'm just going to give it away. Hell no. It's all I have left, and it's gotten me to where I am today. I know it's gotta be worth something.