telynor's Full Review: Barbara Ehrenreich - Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Ge...
I had an inside joke that I would pull on my employer when I was laboring away at a major newspaper. On May first, I'd come trotting into the office whistling the Internationale. Every now and then one of my co-workers got the joke and fell over laughing. Most didn't however.
The next time you check into your hotel room, think about the person who was in there cleaning a few hours earlier. It's pretty likely that they're female, might have a high school diploma and is probably working a second job as well. Or that waitress in the diner, able to bring you your coffee with a smile. If you're lucky enough to have a cleaning service come to your home, keep in mind that those who labor there pay for their own transportation, will usually have their checks withheld for a week or two, and put in hours of work that would cripple most of us.
And do it all for around $12K a year. If they're lucky.
Writer Barbara Ehrenreich decided to write from the bottom up, spending several months on the road and in several states in this personal chronicle of life at the bottom. It's a life without too much hope or a future, scraping by on just above minimum, in work and conditions that are brutal to say the least. From waitressing, cleaning homes to a late shift at Wal-mart, we get a close look at those around us who work for nearly nothing.
While this book irritated a great many people when it was released (after all, Ehrenreich could have gone back to her 'normal' life at any point), I have to admire the author for being so honest. She doesn't gloss over her own attitudes towards rude customers, affluent homeowners who leave traps for the cleaning crews, and other forms of life. While I did get offended at times, that was minor compared to the stories of the people that Ehrenreich worked with.
Take Holly, one of the maids that the author worked with for several weeks. Thin, obviously frail and in not too good health, she kept working despite breaking an ankle on the job. No health care, no workmen's comp, no insurance -- and she continued to work because she was afraid of losing her job.
It's a nervewracking portrayal of life for the unknowns in America today. They recieve little attention in the media (where the 'average' family is pictured as white, suburban and upper middle class). Many of these people have drug or alcohol problems, low self-esteem and don't have any hope. Most of us don't want to think about that world.
Ok, I know I'm ranting here. But it's still something that most of us should take a closer look at. After all, what would you do if you lost your home, job or life savings?
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