Sweetgreen: A training ground for the elite
I’ll start this off by saying that I like Sweetgreen. I really do. I like it so much that in the rare moments I decide to acknowledge my piggly wiggly belly pressing up against the waistline of my pants, I convince myself that a bowl of Sweetgreen will make it vamoose! In fact, I like Sweetgreen so much that I proudly strut into the fast-casual chain despite knowing I’ll receive disconcerting looks from other patrons for being a chubby negress.
But alas, like many upper-middle class establishments of our day, Sweetgreen has effectively become a place for the young, beautiful and fairer skinned. And this isn’t hyperbole. If you’ve never been to a Sweetgreen, I implore you to visit one during peak hours. What you’ll see is every fit white woman in a five mile-radius swaying in synchronization as they wait for their bowl of over-priced cabbage.
In all seriousness though, there is a clear dividing line of haves and have nots in a place like Sweetgreen. It’s impossible to not see how white the patrons are versus how colorful the employees are. A counter is the dividing line between the served and servers and it looks a lot like it did 100 years ago.
To me, environments like Sweet Green serve as a training ground for how to numb oneself to this divide, if not become comfortable with it. A place where you go to flaunt your sameness and ability to participate in a culture that is, despite its subtlety, elitist. But I say this not as an indictment of others, but as a critique of my own willingness to participate in this culture.
While I’m a chubby negress, I’m fortunate in other ways. I make decent money, have an exciting job at a tech company and casually spend time with very well-known entrepreneurs and celebrities. This is what you’d call privilege and even as a chubby negress, one can have it. Moreover, the pull to participate in this privilege even further is strong, especially when you spend time with individuals who don’t think twice about that privilege.
The elitism creeps in slowly and innocently. You order an Uber despite knowing you could just as easily take the train. You order your groceries on Amazon Prime Now instead of doing your own food shopping. And you overspend on a salad at Sweetgreen despite knowing that its creators never really considered you when building the stores’ feng shui.
I say all this to say, that when you can…
Take the train, do your own groceries and make your own fucking salad, and take a break from the various training grounds of elites.
About the author: Lauren Philips is a PhD candidate at Wakanda University.
