Nickel and Dimed: on (Not) Getting by in America

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America In the thought provoking novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores the life of low-wage workers in America’s society. While speaking with an editor one day, the question of poverty and how American’s survive off six and seven dollars an hour played in Ms. Ehrenreich’s mind. So as a journalist, Ehrenreich goes undercover working several minimum wage jobs and tries to survive off the earnings. Seeing and living the lives of these poverty-stricken workers, Ehrenreich learns that hard work doesn't always lead to success and advancement in today's society. This novel takes you on a journey, revealing the insights of how people strive to survive in America’s society working minimum wage jobs that do not suffice adequate funds to cover their needs and expenses. Ehrenreich begins her research in Key West, Florida. Her first task was to find a place to live. She opts out of her decision to leave in a convenient and affordable apartment for a five hundred dollar a month efficiency that is about forty-five minutes away from the employment opportunities Key West has to offer. Her next task was job searching. Ehrenreich applied for numerous jobs, and learns about the low-wage job application process. These job applications usually just involved several multiple-choice questions and a urine test. After not hear back from any of the jobs, Ehrenreich applies for a waitressing position at the diner â€Å"Hearthside,† (which is not the actual name as well as the names of associates she comes in contact with). Ehrenreich is offered the position of a waitress and is hired at Hearthside and works the night shift working from 2:00 in the evening until 10:00 at night for $2. 43 an hour, plus tips. If a person strives to make means off six and seven dollars an hour, surely $2. 43 is not sufficed, especially when customers do not like tip the waitress. During her time at Hearthside, Ehrenreich comes to despise management. She finds that while she must constantly find busy work to do, anything at all but being still, while her superiors are able to sit for hours. Management lacks the compassion for their employees and for their customers. They have only one concern in mind and that is make sure the restaurant makes money. I’ve personally experienced this on my job. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing else to do at work. Why? There is one simple answer; everything has already taken care of and much more. But, management will hassle you to keep busy even when there is nothing else to do. Once Ehrenreich gets a feel for the job, she begins interacting with her co-workers and learns of their poverty lifestyle. Her observation also revealed that most of the workers were minorities. Ehrenreich then begins to compiles a survey on the workers living arrangements: Gail, whom she becomes close to, shares a room with a roommate for $250 a week. Ehrenreich p. 24) Now if you access the situation and do a few calculations you can realize that Gail is strictly living paycheck to paycheck. Claude, a cook, lives in a two room apartment with his girlfriend and two other people. Others are paying to stay in hotels each night, some pay $170 dollars a week for a one person trailer, and others are living out their cars. Ehrenreich soon realizes that unless she wan ts to live out of her car she needs to find another job. She picks up a second waitressing job at Jerry’s. Ehrenreich comes to find out that Jerry’s is a ruin. The kitchens are a mess, the bathrooms are never adequately equipped, and there is no break room because breaks are hardly allowed. Ehrenreich is unable to juggle working at both the Hearthside and Jerry’s, so she leaves Hearthside so she can earn more money at Jerry’s. Ehrenreich is able to find a small trailer in a trailer park and moves closer to Key West. After a month of waitressing, Ehrenreich gets a housekeeping position in a hotel which pays $6. 10 an hour. Unfortunately Ehrenreich only lasts on the job for one day. After having a miserable days work at Jerry’s, Ehrenreich quits the job by simply walking out. Ehrenreich turns her trailer over to Gail and says goodbye to Key West. After departing Key West, Ehrenreich travels to two other states, Maine and Minnesota, in hope of finding better jobs as well as better pay. In the final chapter, Ehrenreich evaluates her observations and provides an overall study of her project and draws together her conclusions. She believes she has done a good job living under these certain circumstance. These observations open ones eye to how many people in the United States, not just the World, who are leaving in such poor conditions. An abundance of individuals do not realize the poverty that’s occurring at home (U. S. ). We usually think of third world countries (i. e. Africa). Volunteering my time at the community market has helped me realize how many people need assistance and who are leaving in conditions that are considered to most people as degrading. I know how hard it is to live of the earnings I make. My earnings approximate around nine dollars an hour and even with these ages it is hard to survive. You have startup costs, deposits, power bills, water bills, food, telephone bills, car notes, etc†¦ the list goes on and on. It is difficult to even live off of halfway decent wages yet alone minimum wages of six dollars an hour. Gas prices nowadays, are about two-thirds of the wage amount. I feel honored and privileged to be able to volunteer my time to such activ ities and organizations as the community market and the community garden. It gives me assurance that I can help make a difference in my community and society. I hope that more people would become aware of these activities and help contribute their time to help cease starvation and poverty in the world. Ehrenreich does an excellent job of revealing the inadequate wage conditions of society. Her plan was to reveal and understand the everyday life of low-income people, how they survive on a daily basis and find out what wage workers really go through. Most people don’t know what is next for them or what the next day has in store for them. But the final conclusion is that low-wage lifestyle is unfair and impractical. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Imagination and research are the two important tools for a successful writing assignment. Research can be academic as well as practical. If the author/authoress is willing to live through the life of the subject matter of the book, and possesses the writing skill, chances are that it becomes a great book. The ‘suffering’ of women in any segment of the society is always something special—discrimination on the basis of gender (sex) as they call it! The modern materialistic civilization, the industrial and internet revolutions have thrown up innovative subjects for a writer. Some comforts and luxuries apart, the total effect of this civilization on the inner world of an individual is devastating. The standard of living has improved at the cost of standard of life. In the present book, Barbara lives through several self-created miserable and tricky situations, just to know what does it to mean to live under such trials and tribulations! It was not necessary for her to put her personal comforts at stake. She is highly qualified and the adage, ‘curry for the night is worry for the morning, and tomorrow’s bread is not assured from today’s labor,’ is not applicable to her. Like a true seeker, she decided to get at the truth of the issue, by experiencing it. So, this is the book written by an ex-waitress in Florida, cleaning woman and a nursing home assistant in Maine, the one possessing the   Wal-Mart experience, the humiliation of the urine test and what not! Barbara’s jobs hunt†¦.Getting Ready: So, her experiments with the truth of job-hunting and eventually getting it begin. What happened after a series of rejections, which had nothing to do with her merit for the post applied for as such is a revelation! She writes, â€Å"My next stop is Winn-Dixie, the supermarket, which turns out to have a particularly onerous application process, featuring a twenty minute â€Å"interview† by computer since, apparently, no human on the premises is deemed capable of representing the corporate point     of view. †¦.the interview is multiple choices. Do I have anything, such as child care problems, that might make it hard for me to get to work on time? Do I think safety on the job is the responsibility of management? Then popping up cunningly out of the blue: How many dollars’ worth of stolen goods have I purchased in the last year? Would I turn in a fellow employee if I caught him stealing? Finally, â€Å"Are you an honest person?†(p.13, 14) Ehrenreich has absolute command over the scenes and situations she creates for her and her writing style takes you to the spot of confrontation. The description is so realistic.   You feel, as if you are part of the drama. The story is interesting from the beginning to the end, without intermission. One feels sorry about the working conditions and the environment, and the humiliation that one suffers at the foul-mouthed, arrogant bosses. When one thinks that a worker has to spend his entire service life in such uncertain, difficult conditions—it is mind-boggling! And the fact remains that millions are undergoing such onerous ordeal. Suffering has become the badge affixed on them! The book contains 6 crisp chapters, Introduction: Getting Ready, Serving in Florida, Scrubbing in Maine, Selling in Minnesota, Evaluation and A Reader’s Guide: In the final evaluation, she experiences the academician in her come to give opinion and judgment. She brings the issues like class conflict and power dynamics. She has come out with some startling revelations. According to her no job is truly â€Å"unskilled† Some of the jobs she did had tremendous physical demands, and could damage to health if performed continuously. Her heroic performances had no corresponding rewards, which mean exploitation of labor is the common practice. She writes, â€Å" then trick lies in figuring out how to budget your energy so there’ll be some left over for the next day†(p. 195).She also comes to the conclusion that multiple jobs is the actual necessity as one can no survive   with the returns of one job. She has no hesitation in saying that the labor class of the lower rungs, whether men or women, are constantly suspected for one reason or the other. The employment tests and questionnaires contained strange enquiries. Her behavior was monitored in Wal-Mart under repressive surveillance by the designated staff both men and women and they were looking for theft, drug abuse, sloth and the like in her. She describes the different hurdles she had to cross to make both the ends meet, and issues related to luxury were out of question. She found out by experience how, necessity is the mother of invention. There are two options to meet the situation. Either cut down your expenditure, or spend more and also increase your income. When increment was not possible due to so many constraints, some came out with innovative ideas. She saw some co-workers sleeping in cars, to avoid huge rents, and some report for duty, ignoring their suffering due to back pain, arthritis, etc. She studies both the stands: The labor force which believes that the Management is the permanent enemy and the Unions should be at permanent war with it! And the Management that thinks innovatively to subvert the well-meaning labor laws passed for the welfare of the workers. She cites an example, when minimum wages were increased, management increased her workload, though it cut her working hours—the net result was that her paycheck showed the same figure. She made sincere efforts to live on the wages she got—without using her skills as PhD, lecturer or as an author. She makes the observation of an economist and socialist when she says, â€Å"Something is wrong, very wrong, when a single person in good health, a person who in addition possesses a working car, can barely support herself by the sweat of her brow. You don't need a degree in economics to see that wages are too low and rents too high.† (p. 199). She marvels at the strange working of American democracy. She clearly sees the dictatorship in the workplaces as for workers. Working poor have no other alternative but to submit to the systematic disempowerment on one pretext or other by the Management. â€Å"Someday †¦ they are bound to tire of getting so little in return and to demand to be paid what they're worth. There'll be a lot of anger when that day comes, and strikes and disruption† (p. 221). Conclusion: As for the evaluation part of her book, her observations demand attention. As earlier said, what she has written is the experienced research. Her findings are lessons for the economist, the sociologist, the politician, the management and for the union leaders. Solutions to various problems can be worked out. What is required is an attitude of sacrifice and compassion for the sake of the welfare of the needy. That is achievable by the genuine change in the thought process of concerned individuals. When the thought process changes, the action process will also change, hopefully for the better! .             Nickel and Dimed: on (Not) Getting by in America Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America In the thought provoking novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores the life of low-wage workers in America’s society. While speaking with an editor one day, the question of poverty and how American’s survive off six and seven dollars an hour played in Ms. Ehrenreich’s mind. So as a journalist, Ehrenreich goes undercover working several minimum wage jobs and tries to survive off the earnings. Seeing and living the lives of these poverty-stricken workers, Ehrenreich learns that hard work doesn't always lead to success and advancement in today's society. This novel takes you on a journey, revealing the insights of how people strive to survive in America’s society working minimum wage jobs that do not suffice adequate funds to cover their needs and expenses. Ehrenreich begins her research in Key West, Florida. Her first task was to find a place to live. She opts out of her decision to leave in a convenient and affordable apartment for a five hundred dollar a month efficiency that is about forty-five minutes away from the employment opportunities Key West has to offer. Her next task was job searching. Ehrenreich applied for numerous jobs, and learns about the low-wage job application process. These job applications usually just involved several multiple-choice questions and a urine test. After not hear back from any of the jobs, Ehrenreich applies for a waitressing position at the diner â€Å"Hearthside,† (which is not the actual name as well as the names of associates she comes in contact with). Ehrenreich is offered the position of a waitress and is hired at Hearthside and works the night shift working from 2:00 in the evening until 10:00 at night for $2. 43 an hour, plus tips. If a person strives to make means off six and seven dollars an hour, surely $2. 43 is not sufficed, especially when customers do not like tip the waitress. During her time at Hearthside, Ehrenreich comes to despise management. She finds that while she must constantly find busy work to do, anything at all but being still, while her superiors are able to sit for hours. Management lacks the compassion for their employees and for their customers. They have only one concern in mind and that is make sure the restaurant makes money. I’ve personally experienced this on my job. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing else to do at work. Why? There is one simple answer; everything has already taken care of and much more. But, management will hassle you to keep busy even when there is nothing else to do. Once Ehrenreich gets a feel for the job, she begins interacting with her co-workers and learns of their poverty lifestyle. Her observation also revealed that most of the workers were minorities. Ehrenreich then begins to compiles a survey on the workers living arrangements: Gail, whom she becomes close to, shares a room with a roommate for $250 a week. Ehrenreich p. 24) Now if you access the situation and do a few calculations you can realize that Gail is strictly living paycheck to paycheck. Claude, a cook, lives in a two room apartment with his girlfriend and two other people. Others are paying to stay in hotels each night, some pay $170 dollars a week for a one person trailer, and others are living out their cars. Ehrenreich soon realizes that unless she wan ts to live out of her car she needs to find another job. She picks up a second waitressing job at Jerry’s. Ehrenreich comes to find out that Jerry’s is a ruin. The kitchens are a mess, the bathrooms are never adequately equipped, and there is no break room because breaks are hardly allowed. Ehrenreich is unable to juggle working at both the Hearthside and Jerry’s, so she leaves Hearthside so she can earn more money at Jerry’s. Ehrenreich is able to find a small trailer in a trailer park and moves closer to Key West. After a month of waitressing, Ehrenreich gets a housekeeping position in a hotel which pays $6. 10 an hour. Unfortunately Ehrenreich only lasts on the job for one day. After having a miserable days work at Jerry’s, Ehrenreich quits the job by simply walking out. Ehrenreich turns her trailer over to Gail and says goodbye to Key West. After departing Key West, Ehrenreich travels to two other states, Maine and Minnesota, in hope of finding better jobs as well as better pay. In the final chapter, Ehrenreich evaluates her observations and provides an overall study of her project and draws together her conclusions. She believes she has done a good job living under these certain circumstance. These observations open ones eye to how many people in the United States, not just the World, who are leaving in such poor conditions. An abundance of individuals do not realize the poverty that’s occurring at home (U. S. ). We usually think of third world countries (i. e. Africa). Volunteering my time at the community market has helped me realize how many people need assistance and who are leaving in conditions that are considered to most people as degrading. I know how hard it is to live of the earnings I make. My earnings approximate around nine dollars an hour and even with these ages it is hard to survive. You have startup costs, deposits, power bills, water bills, food, telephone bills, car notes, etc†¦ the list goes on and on. It is difficult to even live off of halfway decent wages yet alone minimum wages of six dollars an hour. Gas prices nowadays, are about two-thirds of the wage amount. I feel honored and privileged to be able to volunteer my time to such activ ities and organizations as the community market and the community garden. It gives me assurance that I can help make a difference in my community and society. I hope that more people would become aware of these activities and help contribute their time to help cease starvation and poverty in the world. Ehrenreich does an excellent job of revealing the inadequate wage conditions of society. Her plan was to reveal and understand the everyday life of low-income people, how they survive on a daily basis and find out what wage workers really go through. Most people don’t know what is next for them or what the next day has in store for them. But the final conclusion is that low-wage lifestyle is unfair and impractical. Nickel and Dimed: on (Not) Getting by in America Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America In the thought provoking novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores the life of low-wage workers in America’s society. While speaking with an editor one day, the question of poverty and how American’s survive off six and seven dollars an hour played in Ms. Ehrenreich’s mind. So as a journalist, Ehrenreich goes undercover working several minimum wage jobs and tries to survive off the earnings. Seeing and living the lives of these poverty-stricken workers, Ehrenreich learns that hard work doesn't always lead to success and advancement in today's society. This novel takes you on a journey, revealing the insights of how people strive to survive in America’s society working minimum wage jobs that do not suffice adequate funds to cover their needs and expenses. Ehrenreich begins her research in Key West, Florida. Her first task was to find a place to live. She opts out of her decision to leave in a convenient and affordable apartment for a five hundred dollar a month efficiency that is about forty-five minutes away from the employment opportunities Key West has to offer. Her next task was job searching. Ehrenreich applied for numerous jobs, and learns about the low-wage job application process. These job applications usually just involved several multiple-choice questions and a urine test. After not hear back from any of the jobs, Ehrenreich applies for a waitressing position at the diner â€Å"Hearthside,† (which is not the actual name as well as the names of associates she comes in contact with). Ehrenreich is offered the position of a waitress and is hired at Hearthside and works the night shift working from 2:00 in the evening until 10:00 at night for $2. 43 an hour, plus tips. If a person strives to make means off six and seven dollars an hour, surely $2. 43 is not sufficed, especially when customers do not like tip the waitress. During her time at Hearthside, Ehrenreich comes to despise management. She finds that while she must constantly find busy work to do, anything at all but being still, while her superiors are able to sit for hours. Management lacks the compassion for their employees and for their customers. They have only one concern in mind and that is make sure the restaurant makes money. I’ve personally experienced this on my job. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing else to do at work. Why? There is one simple answer; everything has already taken care of and much more. But, management will hassle you to keep busy even when there is nothing else to do. Once Ehrenreich gets a feel for the job, she begins interacting with her co-workers and learns of their poverty lifestyle. Her observation also revealed that most of the workers were minorities. Ehrenreich then begins to compiles a survey on the workers living arrangements: Gail, whom she becomes close to, shares a room with a roommate for $250 a week. Ehrenreich p. 24) Now if you access the situation and do a few calculations you can realize that Gail is strictly living paycheck to paycheck. Claude, a cook, lives in a two room apartment with his girlfriend and two other people. Others are paying to stay in hotels each night, some pay $170 dollars a week for a one person trailer, and others are living out their cars. Ehrenreich soon realizes that unless she wan ts to live out of her car she needs to find another job. She picks up a second waitressing job at Jerry’s. Ehrenreich comes to find out that Jerry’s is a ruin. The kitchens are a mess, the bathrooms are never adequately equipped, and there is no break room because breaks are hardly allowed. Ehrenreich is unable to juggle working at both the Hearthside and Jerry’s, so she leaves Hearthside so she can earn more money at Jerry’s. Ehrenreich is able to find a small trailer in a trailer park and moves closer to Key West. After a month of waitressing, Ehrenreich gets a housekeeping position in a hotel which pays $6. 10 an hour. Unfortunately Ehrenreich only lasts on the job for one day. After having a miserable days work at Jerry’s, Ehrenreich quits the job by simply walking out. Ehrenreich turns her trailer over to Gail and says goodbye to Key West. After departing Key West, Ehrenreich travels to two other states, Maine and Minnesota, in hope of finding better jobs as well as better pay. In the final chapter, Ehrenreich evaluates her observations and provides an overall study of her project and draws together her conclusions. She believes she has done a good job living under these certain circumstance. These observations open ones eye to how many people in the United States, not just the World, who are leaving in such poor conditions. An abundance of individuals do not realize the poverty that’s occurring at home (U. S. ). We usually think of third world countries (i. e. Africa). Volunteering my time at the community market has helped me realize how many people need assistance and who are leaving in conditions that are considered to most people as degrading. I know how hard it is to live of the earnings I make. My earnings approximate around nine dollars an hour and even with these ages it is hard to survive. You have startup costs, deposits, power bills, water bills, food, telephone bills, car notes, etc†¦ the list goes on and on. It is difficult to even live off of halfway decent wages yet alone minimum wages of six dollars an hour. Gas prices nowadays, are about two-thirds of the wage amount. I feel honored and privileged to be able to volunteer my time to such activ ities and organizations as the community market and the community garden. It gives me assurance that I can help make a difference in my community and society. I hope that more people would become aware of these activities and help contribute their time to help cease starvation and poverty in the world. Ehrenreich does an excellent job of revealing the inadequate wage conditions of society. Her plan was to reveal and understand the everyday life of low-income people, how they survive on a daily basis and find out what wage workers really go through. Most people don’t know what is next for them or what the next day has in store for them. But the final conclusion is that low-wage lifestyle is unfair and impractical.