Summary Of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel And Dimed

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, Serving in Florida details the struggles of low wage work and the lack of social mobility. Barbara tries to find work and believes she can afford to live in the Key West area of Florida, a rather cheap part of the country. She eventually receives a job at Hearthside, and learns how to be a waitress from a nice lady named Gail. Barbara feels like the job is okay and that she can live on the low wages for a while. But, there are several problems, which include problems with management and money. Barbara realizes that management is simply corporate in nature in which the managers are there to make money and keep the employees in-line. Phillip, one of the managers, calls a meeting for the Hearthside employees. His management style is authoritarian and practically looks down on his coworkers that he is in charge of managing. Phillip berates the employees on the lack of cleanliness in the break room and the possible use of drugs. When the employees have some time, which is not very often, they talk about their poor living situations. Many of the employees are forced to live in small motel rooms in bad conditions. …show more content…
So, Barbara looks for a second job to make more money. Many of the people that are looking for these hotel jobs are African Americans and Spanish speakers. She does not get a hotel job, but another waitress gig at Jerry’s. There are no breaks at Jerry’s and the atmosphere is chaotic. Overall, Barbara tried to find hotel work and works for a little and then returns to Jerry’s. Ultimately, Barbara’s morale is crushed and she decides to end her experiment. Even through an experiment, low wage work is oppressive and