That Guy

You know That Guy. We all know That Guy. Because unfortunately, That Guy is all over the place.

That Guy has a trust fund or comes from a wealthy family or received some other source of unearned affluence. Maybe That Guy had to have a part-time job growing up to pay for his social life or whatnot, but that guy has never had to honestly worry about money. Even if he is forced to pay his own way after college or grad school, he always knows he has the safety net of his family's wealth to fall back on.

Because That Guy has never had to worry about money, he gets to do all sorts of noble things with his time. He gets to travel to Asia for months and study meditation and yoga. He gets to go to Africa and help with HIV prevention. He gets to go to South America and learn about "real" poverty. Then he comes back to the United States and complains about how disgusting our country is with our consumer culture and how going to the grocery store was so overwhelming. But despite his hatred for our capitalist country, he stays here, presumedly so he can flout his moral superiority at every opportunity. He likes to make the rest of us feel bad because we have never taken time out of our lives to see the rest of the world and learn the deep and meaningful lessons that he has learned. He points out how privileged we are, and how we don't recognize it and we take it for granted. He will condemn you for complaining that you are in a lot of debt, or don't know if you can make your next rent payment on time, or how you racked up a huge credit card bill from an unexpected medical emergency. You're lucky to be a US citizen, so stop complaining about your frivolous problems, he'll say.

I'm so sorry, That Guy. I'm sorry that I don't recognize my privilege. I'm sorry that I had to pay my way through my own higher education and am so far in debt that I can't afford to buy a plane ticket to another country or take time off work so I can see what you have seen. If only my parents paid for my rent or helped me with school then maybe I could have even a fraction of the deep insight that you have.

One thing That Guy will never do is denounce his family's money or give up the trust fund and try to go it alone. But he will continue to judge others and get onto his soapbox of moral superiority whenever he can so he can look down on the rest of us for being so spoiled and not recognizing how privileged we are. It must be so hard to be That Guy. Self-righteousness is so lonely...

P.S. From http://www.urbandictionary.com/:

Trustafarian: privileged white kids who subscribe to the hippie lifestyle (because they can) since they have no worries about money, a job etc. They can then devote their lives to eating organic, following Phish, and wearing dreadlocks (no need for job interviews).