PRESENTLY IMPERFECT

According to Buzzfeed, social arbiter and internet source of all wisdom extraordinaire, I am somewhat "underprivileged. This is the result of taking one of their tests, which are not to be taken seriously.
Here: How Privileged are You?.


Cite:
You live with 22 out of 100 points of privilege.
You're underprivileged. The world is not a fair or ideal place and you know that because you grew up with several identities that the world is not kind to. You had a lot of challenges to overcome simply to get on a level playing field with most people in the world. It is not your job to educate the world about its injustices, but if you choose to, go ahead and send them this quiz. Hopefully it will help.
End cite.


Eh? That's a load of crap. I'm white, and of Northern European Protestant derivation. What probably skewed the results were all the questions about accent, income levels, and religious hatred.
The first and the last are the direct result of having ended up in a provincial Dutch town when I was a child, where being an American of a creed the locals did not know put me 'in Dutch' with the natives. Many of whom in consequence did not recognize me as human.

Being an American, as well as Anglican (sort of), were grievous sins.
Personal omissions, despicable life style choices.


When the parents of one or two classmates said that I spoke such beautiful Dutch, like a native of Het Gooi, that didn't help either. Most of the kids at school spoke absolutely shitty Dutch with horrid caveman accents and diction -- "ooh, argh" -- and probably proudly still do.

My English was always excellent; we spoke it at home.
Which many local people refused to believe.
Americans can't speak English.

My accent in English is slightly uppercrustian, Oxford Cambridge, and in Dutch it's Den Haagian. Which makes people think I'm arrogant. Which I probably am. In Cantonese if I sound like anything at all, it's Kowloon in hue. Movie Cantonese. Tsim Sha Tsui dockworker.

[In German, Yiddish, and Malay, I sound like a Dutchman. A 'Double Dutchman' Okay?]


I'd never describe myself as "underprivileged".
Perhaps "less than fully actualized".




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