Does the United States truly support its citizens and allow them to prosper? In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, Ehrenreich investigates this question by living as a low-wage worker for three months in cities around the United States. Her experiences teach her that as her jobs change, so does her place in society. Nickel and Dimed effectively argues that low-wage jobs severely restrict the workers’ mobilities and that American society does not properly support the poor. Instead, it forces citizens to live isolating lives that discourage them from seeking a better standard of living. After reflecting on her experiences, Ehrenreich learns that because she works “unskilled” labor, her place in society
…show more content…
As she begins working low-wage jobs, Ehrenreich learns that the majority of social interaction occurs in the workplace. Social gatherings become the back door of the restaurant, smoking and talking to co-workers; the car rides to houses, sharing meals from convenience stores and gas stations; the dish room where she can talk to chefs and other servers. Consequently, Ehrenreich’s sense of space and place become smaller. As “work fills the landscape,” it becomes the one’s only source of entertainment and diversion (61). Rather than meeting people all over the city, she interacts with the same people almost every day, and her world shrinks. She describes this phenomenon by saying her job at Walmart becomes “my connection to the world, my source of identity, my place” (95). Ehrenreich effectively proves that having a low-wage job with limited mobility is isolating; one’s world consists of a few dozen miles and a dozen people. Learning how much money can influence who we are and what we do raises the questions of how money came to be so influential in today’s world and how we can be expected to live a full life when we can barely afford to leave our
As she begins working low-wage jobs, Ehrenreich learns that the majority of social interaction occurs in the workplace. Social gatherings become the back door of the restaurant, smoking and talking to co-workers; the car rides to houses, sharing meals from convenience stores and gas stations; the dish room where she can talk to chefs and other servers. Consequently, Ehrenreich’s sense of space and place become smaller. As “work fills the landscape,” it becomes the one’s only source of entertainment and diversion (61). Rather than meeting people all over the city, she interacts with the same people almost every day, and her world shrinks. She describes this phenomenon by saying her job at Walmart becomes “my connection to the world, my source of identity, my place” (95). Ehrenreich effectively proves that having a low-wage job with limited mobility is isolating; one’s world consists of a few dozen miles and a dozen people. Learning how much money can influence who we are and what we do raises the questions of how money came to be so influential in today’s world and how we can be expected to live a full life when we can barely afford to leave our