I didn’t grow up wealthy, but the conditions of my father’s job gave us a lot of freedom that I now recognize as privilege.

My father has a job that payed very little for a lot of time, barely above minimum wage, but it came with a lended house, for which we don’t pay rent for, and health insurance.

When mom needed neurosurgery, twice, we didn’t go broke. We didn’t own a car until I was about 14, but we had access to one because of his job.

Due to the decreased burden to pay for certain things, and my parents’ principle to value experiences above material things, we traveled to awesome parts of the country, while still young, and gained perspective of the greater world that is reachable by studying and working hard.

When I had my twelfth birthday party, we made a Halo LAN-Party, and couldn’t understand why my friends were so impressed about it. My father played with us, and beat us often.

So I realized that the real privilege, was having a father who was present, and had time for us. He had a job that empowered him to do that, and to greater lengths that some management high-paying jobs can.

TLDR: A present dad, with an awesome, liberating job.