The events related in the book took place between spring 1998 and summer 2000. But human rights have always had to be fought for by the dispossessed and those who were right beside them. These jobs require a lot of mental and physical stability that has been overlooked for generations. Another glaring thing you've missed that you are dealing with people who are barely eking out a survival. It seemed to me that many of the people whe met didn't have family they could fall back or, or they had a husband or boyfreind that was employed.
This book constantly reminded me of Margaret Atwood — there was something about the voice, something about the themes, something about the tone. The photo of Christianson was taken in 1986 for an unrelated cover. And even if they were, if there are kids in the picture, it's tough even when both parents are working. On page 25-26 of the book, she describes the living conditions of a few of her employees in Florida. What interested me about her life was that her father started the cycle of obtaining a higher education.
I can name a dozen firms that have helped the vastly rich escape enough fair taxation to provide every working poor person the same housing subsidies produced by home mortgage tax exemptions. It seems to me that you simply skimmed through it and found every opportunity you could to inject your own viewpoints and opinions without really looking at the details or making any real conclusions about what is right there in her account. So, she does not have the average structured job, and her job is to speak her mind and say whatever she wants however she wants. And I asked this one girl. Or the pilot of your next plane. Allow me then to suggest some ways to give such workers more control over their lives : 1 Privatize Social Security : Let these workers take control of their own retirement money and manage it.
I the 15+ years since this book was written, I believe it is only harder to try to squeak out an existence - economically or otherwise - working for such low wages. After a while, the pigs look exactly like the human men they had replaced in their rebellion. First, she would always have a car. Well who ever said it was? We see this trend when we look at the income of actual individuals over many years rather than merely drawing conclusions from categories, which do not represent people, because people move between categories over a lifetime. I hope the housing she would of found had heat paid, because heating costs will break even a middle-class budget when the weather drops well below zero.
An enjoyable read but sadly it misses its mark quite often. The main way that wages are kept low is by reinforcing the low self-esteem portion she found inherent in each job. Even in America people live. The statistics presented only mean one thing—the state of the American economy has taken a turn for the worst. If having a job and doing it well can have such a positive effect on peoples' lives, how much more empowered will they feel when they are providing for their own retirement, buying their own houses, paying for their own health care, and deciding how their own children will be educated? Her job is in ladies clothing, picking up dropped clothing and taking clothing from the dressing rooms and put them back on the racks.
I believe she ended up not being able to walk. The restaurant, like most of the places she works, is not revealed by its true name in her book, nor are the people she meets. It is neither Christian nor conservative to refuse responsibility for the well-being of one's employees or others less fortunate. I understand that we should allow people to be human and enjoy working with each other. People live their whole lives that way. Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly unskilled, that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. Whether you are nodding your head because you know what it's like to live in this kind of hell, or whether you - like Ehrenreich - are shocked and appalled by what is really going on with the poor in America - this book is a great read.
As I recall, that's the extent of breakfast. Ehrenreich set out to be one of the working poor to see if she could secure adequate housing and food on her wages. I do think it could have been done better, and maybe different conclusions drawn from the experience, but definitely a good start. After one day of completing both jobs, Ehrenreich quits the housekeeping position. The first city chosen was Key West, Florida, due to the proximity to her home. In the end Ehrenreich - making less money at Wal-Mart than she was paying for living quarters, food, and necessities - quit and went back to her normal life. I was forced to read this book by the Liberal University I attend, and I can see why.
Furthermore, since she only stayed in each town a month, she would only be joining the church to take advantage of its members. Before I get flamed — Australia is just as bad, one would only need to go to Bali for proof of that, and we also treat single mothers, Aboriginals, selected migrants and an endless string of others with utter contempt and loathing. Though for much of the book Ehrenreich engages in navel gazing that will only appeal to her hardiest fans, in the closing pages she offers a truly moving assessment of how she did, and the pride she takes in having, for the most part, succeeded is genuinely effecting. Worried about being too overqualified for the job, she then feels underqualified as the job is revealed as being difficult and physically demanding. If you had you would have felt half of the things that she felt. If the server does not provide a quick download, then we remove it from the list. So, it was with gritted teeth that I started this one.
I've had a lingering dislike for the book ever since. Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich puts that theory to the test. Take your conservatism and stuff it!! Being lucky to live at home rent-free, my expenses were minimal. Most of the big hotels run ads almost continually, if only to build a supply of applicants to replace the current workers as they drift away or are fired, so finding a job is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time and flexible enough to take whatever is being offered that day. She found that employers used many tricks in order to keep wages low and employees coming back to keep their jobs.