I experienced thin privilege first hand yesterday, at a furniture store.

I needed to purchase a new rocking recliner, as the one I had was well over 20 years old and was becoming quite worn. I went to a local furniture store (not a big name brand place), and asked to see their selection. Despite the room having at least 10+ rocking recliners, she restricted my selection to two. When I asked her why she only wanted me to try these two, her reply was “These are the XXL versions, they can handle a lot of weight.”

I tried to explain to her that the recliner I had now was much smaller, and in fact she had several on the floor that looked similar, she would only say that these would “last much longer.” I still bought the recliner, but I can’t say I left there in a good mood.