I am privileged

I am a pretty privileged person.  I am white, heterosexual, middle class, able bodied, Christian, a US citizen, etc.  All of these have gotten me really far in my life and allowed me to do a lot of things and have a lot of resources.  But that is not the type of privilege I want to talk about right now (although I could go on about it for quite some time).

I am EXTREMELY privileged to work with these youth in the garden.  It is a privilege to cultivate and weed next to them, to have conversations with them, to learn from them, and to provide this service for them.  These youth are amazing people.  I have learned so much from them and it is such a joy to offer them a safe place for a few hours a day where they can get away from the big city and just relax and enjoy the plants.

A lot of people like to put me on some kind of pedestal because of the work that I do.  Like today I met like 3 new people at church and they of course asked me what I do.  So I told them and the reaction is always like WOW that is AMAZING.  You are such a great person.  etc, etc.  But really it is not amazing that these youth are homeless and not amazing that this program is needed in our world.  And I may or may not be a great person, but that has nothing to do with what job I have chosen.  Instead of putting me on a pedestal, but these youth on a pedestal.  That have dealt with so much and are still going.  They have definitely not been privileged.

They are the ones that are great people and it really is a privilege for me to be a service provider to them.