In the novel, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author has earned a Ph.D. in biology and one day she is having lunch with Lewis Lapham, an editor who hoped to have her write for future articles in his French magazine. During their lunchtime conversation, they started to talk about poverty. This led to the question, “How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled?” (Ehrenreich 1). Lapham, then challenged her to act as a journalist, live the life of the unskilled and with their wages, then publish her findings after it was all over (Ehrenreich 1-3). Ehrenreich agreed to do the experiment in the name of science, but set a few ground rules: not to find a job that was based on any kind of education that she previously had
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While keeping her current working conditions at Heartside, Ehrenreich started her new job at another restaurant, “Jerry’s”. The working conditions here were below satisfactory, due to the fact that there was not even a break room and the employees could not take breaks. In despite of this, Jerry’s attracted three to four times the volume that Heartside did. Unfortunately, Ehrenreich did not have the ability to balance both jobs, so she ended up quitting at Heartside (Ehrenreich 25-32) . Eventually she grows closer to the other waitresses that also work her shift, including, Nita, Ellen, and Lucy. Another person that Ehrenreich grows closer to is George, a nineteen year old foreign worker who does not speak much English. Ehrenreich decides to make it her personal challenge to teach George English and everyday he made progress. On one slow night, the workers are sitting around talking about their personal lives when one of the managers comes in to see what was going on and orders George to go clean the mats and mop. However, B.J. purposefully called him “Joseph” and Ehrenreich called her out on it, causing strife between them (Ehrenreich 33-38). When Ehrenreich shows up for her shift one day, she goes to the storage room for straws, but then realizes that the door is locked. Later they would find out that it was locked on purpose because …show more content…
After not taking the job offer at Menards, Ehrenreich starts to question why she did not ask about the wages and hours before agreeing to a drug test. When she arrives for her very first day on the job, she is disappointed when she is told that she would be working in ladies wear. She thought that the concept of keeping females in the ladies department was incredibly sexist and wrong. Another issue is that she never found a permanent place to live in Minnesota, she was always living in a hotel (Ehrenreich 145-158). During her second week, she is unaware that her schedule has changed and only knew about it because she studied the work schedule. In one of her late night shifts, she is coming back from her break when she sees a co-worker working in her area. Ehrenreich is then criticized for not having the clothes in the correct order and is told that if the manager saw that she would be in trouble (Ehrenreich 168-167). If the managers would consider their employee interest, then it might be a better place for them to work.
In the end, money played a huge part in the hardships that Ehrenreich had to encounter, however, so did the people that she had to work with. If the working environments would have been up to par, then she would have found the work to be more enjoyable. The fact that a woman who has a Ph.D actually
While keeping her current working conditions at Heartside, Ehrenreich started her new job at another restaurant, “Jerry’s”. The working conditions here were below satisfactory, due to the fact that there was not even a break room and the employees could not take breaks. In despite of this, Jerry’s attracted three to four times the volume that Heartside did. Unfortunately, Ehrenreich did not have the ability to balance both jobs, so she ended up quitting at Heartside (Ehrenreich 25-32) . Eventually she grows closer to the other waitresses that also work her shift, including, Nita, Ellen, and Lucy. Another person that Ehrenreich grows closer to is George, a nineteen year old foreign worker who does not speak much English. Ehrenreich decides to make it her personal challenge to teach George English and everyday he made progress. On one slow night, the workers are sitting around talking about their personal lives when one of the managers comes in to see what was going on and orders George to go clean the mats and mop. However, B.J. purposefully called him “Joseph” and Ehrenreich called her out on it, causing strife between them (Ehrenreich 33-38). When Ehrenreich shows up for her shift one day, she goes to the storage room for straws, but then realizes that the door is locked. Later they would find out that it was locked on purpose because …show more content…
After not taking the job offer at Menards, Ehrenreich starts to question why she did not ask about the wages and hours before agreeing to a drug test. When she arrives for her very first day on the job, she is disappointed when she is told that she would be working in ladies wear. She thought that the concept of keeping females in the ladies department was incredibly sexist and wrong. Another issue is that she never found a permanent place to live in Minnesota, she was always living in a hotel (Ehrenreich 145-158). During her second week, she is unaware that her schedule has changed and only knew about it because she studied the work schedule. In one of her late night shifts, she is coming back from her break when she sees a co-worker working in her area. Ehrenreich is then criticized for not having the clothes in the correct order and is told that if the manager saw that she would be in trouble (Ehrenreich 168-167). If the managers would consider their employee interest, then it might be a better place for them to work.
In the end, money played a huge part in the hardships that Ehrenreich had to encounter, however, so did the people that she had to work with. If the working environments would have been up to par, then she would have found the work to be more enjoyable. The fact that a woman who has a Ph.D actually