Nickel and Dimed

My sociology class was asked to start reading Nickel and Dimed by: Barbara Ehrenreich. This book so far has shown the views on how hard it is to live on minimum wage. Barbara actually ends up in a conversation about poverty, ultimately asked to do her own story. Barbara starts out with $1,300 to allow herself the essentials. Barbara also sets certain rules for herself; making the experiment more realistic. There are three main rules; 1st rule, not using any prior education. 2nd has to take the highest paying job, and 3rd take the cheapest, but safe accommodations.(4) But, Barbara also has certain advantages that an actual person on minimum wage wouldn’t have. Barbara had a car she uses, along with a credit card. She also has no kids, to be a financial drag; even fresh clean clothes. But Barbara set out to see if a person could actually live on minimum wage, and is it possible to get by in the work force. Her main objective through this whole thing was to see if she could survive a month in a new city, but be able to pay months rent at the end. During this experiment she finally gets a job at hearthside, where she was employed as a waitress. Most often she would pretend she was a princess to change her mind set; due to the lack of change in her job. (19) She also meets a lady named Gail, who is also a waitress in who looks in her fifties. (20) The become on the job friends watching out for each other. While Gail was taking an illegal smoke break, Barbara would watch out for her. Due to the fact when Barbara got busy and slowed her progress Gail would come in and help. Both of them had to suffer through the management, whom was cruel and unusual. Barbara would go out of her way every other night when she wasn’t busy to clean up tables so they look nice. But, every team meeting the management would say how awful everything look, stating that the tables needed to be cleaned up. Then, she also meets Joan a militant feminist; telling Barbara “men run everything-we don’t have a chance unless we stick together.” Her first day walking through the kitchen she meets Billy who throws a steak against the wall saying a couple curse words. Claude another Haitian cook is stuck in an apartment with two more unrelated people but, he’s forced to stay in the situation if he wants a home. (25) Then Barbara gets a job at Jerry’s, another restaurant. George another cook she meets is a nice guy trying to afford the essentials just like the cook from Hearthside. But when at Jerry’s Barbara gets a new home a mobile home. With no supermarket in sight and not being able to jump out of bed. This was a new time and place for her now. I couldn’t do all of this, the job the livening arrangements, on job relationships. This book and the insights so far are amazing at what people have to do to secure a steady life but it’s still not that easy. As, I read the book more I hope to see more and more. It might even be the same thing due to everyone with the same wage would have the same problems.