Nickel and Dimed Cont.

Continuing my review of Nickel and Dimed I was asked to write a review on chapter two. This chapter starts out in Maine where Barbara finds herself “as clueless and alone as I have ever been in my grown-up life.” She starts out here time in Maine with $1,000, and few bills. Barbara also finds a hotel for an alarming rate of $59 a night. This gives here a scenic view of route 25, and a bed, TV, and phone. This location is now closer to a gas station, store, and restaurants. She decides though to go about 30 minutes away to a town called Old Orchard Beach. This is where she has decided to share an apartment for $65 a week.

When she arrives the place is “disturbing,” she can’t even go to the kitchen until the guy sleeping in there is gone. Otherwise there is no cooking in the kitchen. Her room only a bit smaller than the motels, having two twin beds and light in the ceiling, no windows. Next looking down the road at a nicer looking hotel ran by a retired cop. The place is nice but at $150 a week it’s too expensive. On the main street through the town she also finds a place where she finds to be not of her liking. $110 is the asking price but it offers nothing that she wants, linens, TV, or dishware. On her way back to Portland she spots a cute little cottage area of a hotel. $120 is the asking price a week and only asks for a $100 security deposit, which she produces at the spot.

Returning at the hotel to gather her things, she notices her key doesn’t work. Stating that’s managements way of telling her to pay the bills. Looking for a job was next on her agenda. First is a job at Goodwill which is $7 an hour, but it’s an awkward job. A man at the exit gave her an awkward swimming motion which was not easy to judge. Taking a test at Wal-Mart she is told she would be great in the women’s department, agreeing with the comment. Two job offers come in that afternoon, one about a nursing home only for weekends ($7 an hour) and a maid job ($6.65 an hour) both are accepted.

Starting the next day at the nursing home, she is met with the same requirements as a server. She refills coffee and tires to remember names. As all of them eat and return to their rooms, the clean up starts. Scraping off uneaten food into the disposal by hand. Then washing the dishes, and putting them away. Pete one of the cooks is met after all this on a smoke date. This is where Pete tells her about all the people that work there, and asks a few questions himself. The next day trying to be positive she laughs at the Barbara Bush joke, but gets juice thrown at her in the end by another resident.

Going to basically a church service she stands an actually goes along with the sermon. Even though she didn’t have her own bible and only did what the preacher said. After that night she packs up and moves into Blue Haven.

After the week she starts holly a fellow worker snaps and breaks a bone. Barbara then tells her she needs to get an X-ray. Blandly saying I can’t, I can’t. Here job also takes here to the bathroom, nasty jobs. This is the part I will skip due to explicit details. It is disgusting what people in minimum wage jobs have to stoop to get by.