Woman 'Privilege Checks' A Man Who Has To Sleep Outside In His Car Because A Lot Of People 'Can't Afford' Cars
Woman's "comeback" to a man sleeping in his car raises all sorts of red flags
TikTok We've come a long way as a society when it comes to recognizing and addressing privilege. But we still have a long, long way to go.
In the midst of many healthy and important discussions about privilege, there are a few people who have gotten confused about what exactly the term means.
"Privilege checks" are one of the internet's favorite means of calling out people who don't acknowledge their own fortunes but some of these checks have been misdirected.
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A woman on TikTok unfairly called out a man who is forced to sleep in his car.
The original video, posted on TikTok, shows a man answering a comment about parking overnight. Given how often authorities move homeless people sleeping in their cars along, forcing them to pay or park elsewhere, the man decided to get creative.
Responding to a question from a previous video about whether he is disturbed when sleeping in a hospital parking lot, the TikTok user shows the interior of his car, comfortably set up with a bed, parked in front of a hospital, and explains some tips.
“Staying in your car and need a safe place to sleep?” He begins. “Try a hospital. You don’t have to pay.”
The video is then cut off by a stitch by thetransitperson on TikTok, who quickly shuts the original poster down.
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“But the thing is, you did actually pay,” she comments while sitting at a bus stop. “You paid for the gas and insurance, and all of those things are very expensive. Not a lot of people can afford that.”
Her supposed 'gotcha' take has raised a lot of criticism from other users on TikTok and Twitter.
A duetter on TikTok said that “trying to 'check your privilege' someone that’s sleeping in their CAR is insane.”
A commenter agreed, saying “I… that’s literally homelessness???”
Another emphasized that she doesn’t necessarily know the original man’s situation, pointing out: “I like that she thinks that someone living out of their car is up to date on their insurance.”
This user turned off comments, and took down the original video, but still doubled down on her opinion in a follow-up video after a commenter called her take “privileged.”
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“It is a privilege to recognize and be educating that car ownership is normalized in North American culture,” she says.
She does some research on global car ownership using a program called ChatGPT, an AI program with a disclaimer that reads: “May occasionally generate incorrect information” and “may occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content.”
She shows off the statistics she gets, indicating that car ownership is much higher in developed countries vs developing countries.
“Car ownership itself is clearly a much bigger privilege,” she claims.
Many are still frustrated with her take on this.
One Twitter commenter responds to the follow-up with frustration. “'Normalizes car ownershi'” ITS NORTH AMERICA ITS NOT NORMALIZATION ITS AN UNHEALTHY DEPENDENCY AND MANDATORY TO GET ANYWHERE.”
Others agree, saying that America’s unreliable public transportation system makes it very difficult to live day to day without a car for many people. Even if it is an expensive investment, it’s necessary for many people just to get a job.
Equally, some people, only experience homelessness after purchasing a car. Sometimes a person’s car is the only livable property they have after experiencing a sudden onset of poverty.
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Many are calling the Tik Tok user 'chronically online' for this take.
The phrase refers to a phenomenon of people spending so much time online that their sense of reality becomes skewed, and their ability to handle real-world problems is hindered.
The term is mainly used by millennials and members of Gen Z, and definitely applies to this situation.
Sure, there are real criticisms of the way American society is largely structured around car ownership, and sure, many people can’t afford to own their own cars.
However, those larger systemic issues really have nothing to do with the actions of an individual person coping with homelessness and just trying to survive.
Hawthorn Martin is a news and entertainment writer living in Texas. They focus on social justice, pop culture, and human interest stories.