Privilege

When I was doing my bachelors degree

Nothing annoyed me more

Than the temerity

Of those mature age students

You know the earnest kind

That asked questions

Or wanted to discuss

the feminist perspective

that seemed interested in the actual course

like they may have done the actual readings

and wanted to actually discuss

the actual ideas

acting like they came here to learn

when the rest of us

just wanted

to go

to Shadows

and get

CRUUUUUUUNNNNNNK

wake up in someone else’s bed drunk

but it’s ok

because I can’t actually remember

how I got there anyway

and there are songs that tell me that I can

blame it on the a –a –a –a alcohol

I was doing law

and you KNOW there is nothing as arrogant

as a fucking law-student-straight-out-of-high-school

(the decile ten ones where everyone’s daddy is a doctor

or a judge)

who think they own the world

even when

they’re barely

scraping through

those golden children

who tell themselves their parents

should be grateful

because they are fulfilling

their dreams

who sit in class

playing candy crush

or waiting to see how many people like

their statuses

on facebook

and

who can’t wait

                    to cross-examine

the shit

out of someone

in real life.

But in real life

I work in a male dominated industry

And get paaaaaiiiiiid (hi 5 to me)

much more than my sisters ever will

despite their Masters degrees

in early childhood education

and I barely even have time

to reflect on that

or on life’s other little ironies

as I pass off my children off

to them

at 8am

and kiss their foreheads

and say confidently

“Mummy’s going out

to change the world”.

In real life

There are hardworking

intelligent

people

Who will never get the opportunity

To go to university

No matter how much we talk about equality

Who won’t know

that they are smart enough

Who haven’t been told

how clever they are

Because their mum’s busy mopping the supermarket floor

and their dad is going on another night tour

those kids don’t need

to learn humility

they see it

in the eyes of their parents

every

single

time

they get off the phone

with WINZ

so they can’t even imagine

taking on a loan

they just want to go out

and save

their family

from drowning in debt

and yet

When I was doing my bachelors degree

Nothing annoyed me more

Than the temerity

Of those mature age students

Acting like

they came here

to learn.