"Steerage" is an old-timey word that means the lowest level of luxury on a ship, usually the bottom of it that's furthest away from above deck and being able to maneuver around. It was likely the worst part of a ship to be on, as Jack Dawson experience on the hit 1997 movie Titanic. It's also a great word for Jeopardy because of how obscure it is; it's a commonly understood concept and a word that makes sense and people have heard of, but not many can just outright name given clues. So perfect for trivia.
The modern day version of steerage is the economy section of an airplane, or for me more often, "basic economy." Where the general populace goes to travel and look longingly at the first class seats with more room, more service, more amenities, and more priority getting on and off the plane (first on to get priority of bin space, first off to get off the plane first). It's basically airlines' way of separating their best paying customers frmo the worst. MJ is really into this distinction; she often spends more time picking out flights and picking out seats than the whole trip would actually seat, meticulously checking to see if she got upgraded on Delta and trying to find a flight using Delta even if she has to make a layover, or pay extra. All those little inconveniences mean nothing as long as she can get into those coveted 10 or 16 seats on a plane that are quote-unquote "the best."
MJ and I got to sit in first class one one of our flights to Mexico, and it was......nice. The flight attendant came to us even before the other passengers had taken their seats to ask us what we wanted, there weren't other passengers tripping over each other to get through the aisles, it just felt like a unique experience. The best part of it really was that I felt....wanted, or respected at least. That's definitely worth something in this world; MJ probably places a little more weight on it than I do because she doesn't want anybody to LOOK DOWN upon her, but I've been looked down upon most of my life (first by bullies in elementary school, then by jocks in high school, more socially-acceptable ways of being looked down up on college like just ignoring me in groups, and finally in adult life just the judgmental eyes). I'm OK with it now. But it sometimes does warm the heart, or gives me a self-esteem boost, to be greeted warmly, to feel better. It's not that hard! In San Miguel de Allende, more of a tourist destination, I definitely felt this as the hotel service staff treated us very warmly, from the welcome drinks we received from the door man to the upper floor restaurant where we were served chilaquiles and fruit and Mexican breakfast while getting a gorgeous rooftop view of the entire city.... I felt like I was a first class citizen in Mexico. The wedding was also really nice, each table of guests had their own 2 waiters to serve mezcal, tequila, or any other drink that we needed on demand. And this wasn't the normal 6-10PM reception, this was 5PM reception begin with drinks and appetizers, up until 12:30AM and the party was still raging! What a night of celebration and food, and even a el pastore tacos served at like 11PM. Quite the upper-class service. It's just too bad I don't get that type of service everywhere I go, and not just because I have money that I am compensating this type of service.
Sometimes I really wish the world operated on a better system than money, that we're divided into first class and basic ecomony by anything other than money or something close to it like fame or good looks. I wish I could wear a sign that says, "I'm nice to people when they're nice to me, I pay all my taxes, I give to charity at the end of the year, and I donate blood/plasma almost every month. Please treat me well!" Unfortunately the world does not revolve around hugs and good feelings and social points, it revolves around money and benefit, what can someone else do for me. And often that something else is defined by money. And if you don't have it? Welcome to steerage/basic economy!
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