I was watching an episode of Sense8 on Netflix, a new original series. There are many interesting scenarios going on in that show, but one in particular stood out for me. If you don’t know the series, it’s about 8 people that are connected around the world and they can visit each other in form but no one else can see them.
A young woman from Iceland was flying in a plane from London to Iceland. A young man from Africa popped onto the plane and was so excited about seeing clouds below him. He had never been in a plane before. He looked at her and said “You are so Lucky!” She thought about it for a second and said “I am not Lucky. I am privileged, but not Lucky.”
This really hit the spot with me. I always say my children are spoiled. I also know that I am the one that spoils them (along with their grandparents). Are my children spoiled, lucky or just “privileged”?
Is there a difference? After reading the definitions below, the word spoiled makes me sad. It seems that lucky and privileged are close in definition. Lucky is fortunate where Privileged is favored.
Thoughts?
http://www.dictionary.com defines these words as follows:
spoil
verb (used with object), spoiled or spoilt, spoiling
1.to damage severely or harm (something), especially with reference toits excellence, value, usefulness, etc.: The water stain spoiled the painting. Drought spoiled the corn crop.
2.to diminish or impair the quality of; affect detrimentally: Bad weather spoiled their vacation.
3.to impair, damage, or harm the character or nature of (someone) by unwise treatment, excessive indulgence, etc.: to spoil a child by pampering him.
privileged
1. belonging to a class that enjoys special privileges; favored: the privileged few.