I read the news, live in society, can't recall ever hearing that I should be grateful for my job. You?

Yes, very often actually. I live in the US. This is pretty much the attitude of all conservatives when talking about minorities making minimum wage or less. I'm a white male and have been told I should be grateful i have a job by my boss too. One of my friends I used to work with didn't receive a raise when almost everyone else did. He is Latino, and our white boss told him he was privileged to be working there at all. I'm happy for you for never having to experience that, but it is unfortunately all too common.