A few weeks ago, our stroller was stolen out of the front of our yard. It was our fault—we knew not to leave it out and we did anyway. We weren’t completely surprised and, while it was a bummer, we had a backup stroller to use.
I had just gotten fed up with the backup stroller and was looking on Craigslist for strollers to buy. Did you know that some people spend $1,500 on strollers? I guess it’s a status symbol. All of our strollers have always been secondhand, either as gifts from families who had outgrown theirs or used ones we got off Craiglist.
ANYWAY, over the weekend I asked Will and Quinn to go bike around and see if they could find a bookcase for Quinn’s room from the furniture that people had put out on the street. They did not find a bookcase, but instead acquired a used BOB stroller in pretty excellent condition that the fanciest house in the neighborhood had put out for free. It is by far the nicest stroller we’ve ever had. It has cup holders! (The only issue is that the BOB is a jogging stroller, and, um, I don’t jog.)
Here’s the thing: I was about to lay down $200 for a used stroller on Craigslist. I had even looked at versions of this same stroller and wondered whether some imaginary future Jen would take up jogging.
I didn’t have to spend that $200 and instead I got a nice-ass stroller out of nowhere. You see, I have access to really nice free stuff because I live in a really nice neighborhood.
And do you know why I live in a really nice neighborhood?
Generational wealth. I have family that was able to buy property a century ago in the Bay Area that appreciated wildly and allowed us to have a nice ass house. 100% we would not live here without it.
And now, because of where I live, I got an awesome new stroller. Saving myself $200.
Like interest on money in the bank or the stock market, privilege compounds on itself, building the wealth and increasing the ease of the people lucky enough to have it.
So, today I’m donating an extra $200 (on top of my monthly commitment) to @reparationsfund.
Because I have opportunity and ease in my life and I understand that racist policies made that happen for me and not for others.
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