He had shaggy brown hair that flopped like a mop on top of his head whenever he walked. He had two perfectly placed dimples and bright eyes and cheeks with freckles splattered across them like messy paint. Everybody loved him. He had 16 different people ask him to prom senior year. And now, 30 years later, he had a nice house, a beautiful wife, two kids, and a successful job as a doctor. And he liked his job as a doctor and had made it through medical school unscathed and engaged to her. And they truly loved each other and they loved their children and they went to Italy every year to celebrate their anniversary. 

He had gone to court not once, not twice, but three times for sexual assault accusations. All of which he should have been found guilty for. And he knew he cheated his way through med school, but didn’t even feel guilty enough to let that haunt him for the rest of his life. He hadn’t even called his mom on Mother’s Day since he moved out at 18 years old. 

He retired at 60 with plenty of money in the bank, a happy marriage, and a beautiful countryside home where his grandchildren would come visit him every Sunday afternoon.

It’s painful to see him live this life though. It’s agonizing to watch him squeeze fresh lemons into a jar every afternoon and stir in the water and sugar while he whistles an old show tune. And what hurts the most is the fact that he falls asleep every night in his king-sized bed without any worries in the back of his mind because he knows he will never be held accountable for anything. But this is his fate. This life of fresh Gardenia’s sitting on the dining table and hot coffee in a vintage mug while he watches the sunrise is nothing but fate. He didn’t do anything to deserve it. His whole life all he had to do was flash that charming smile of his and he would get what he wanted. 

Had he worked hard his whole life to earn this outcome? He started paying girls to do his homework for him in second grade. So what was it? Luck, chance, perhaps the odds were simply in his favor. But it must’ve been something more than that when the judges declared him innocent three times in a row. It wasn’t just luck of the draw that when he said he didn’t know how old she was everyone believed him. Did he do something to determine his own fate? Did he earn back a good life when he started being a decent father to his children? But what about the years of damage he had already done before that? It’s hard to look at such a man and comprehend how he got here. Some might think it’s jealousy of him that inspires this anger. And perhaps it partially is. Perhaps it’s jealousy of the privilege that he has had his entire life. Perhaps that privilege is the only thing that got him here today. 

The sole determining factor of this man's fate was the amount of privilege he was born into. And for so many people, lack of privilege ends up determining their fate. In a capitalist society where everything good must be earned, it’s extremely difficult to fully grasp the idea that oftentimes being born one way is the determining factor of one's fate. It wasn’t working hard or making enough money or being a “good enough” person that decided how this man would live out his life. It was the privilege he was born with and the privilege he continued to “earn” throughout his life. 

Fate can not be determined by coincidence alone. But fate can also not be determined by human action alone. Fate comes down to privilege, that which is earned and that which is born into. It’s somewhat of a disheartening realization to make. But the reason good things happen to bad people isn’t chance. It’s because those bad people have privileges.