Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed has been on my reading list for a of couple years. For some reason I thought it was a must-read and that I would learn something from it. I was also very much interested in the undercover reporting aspect of it--it had promise. I was annoyed from the very beginning though when you find out she kind of cheats when she attempts to live as the other half lives. Her point is clear--you can't get by on minimum wage. She describes her stint as a maid, as a Wal-Mart employee, and as a waitress. She describes these menial jobs and really makes you hope you never have to do them. Having worked both retail and in the food service industry, I must say that I agreed with how she described how much work was required for very little to no pay. I mean, working at J. Crew I got paid 9 dollars to fold clothes, try to get the customers to buy more items, and to run around putting things away as people tried things on. It was a very boring, very numbing job that I wish to never relive.
Does Ehrenreich offer a solution to the problem she supposedly uncovers through her undercover reporting? Poor and unskilled workers are forced to take low paying jobs, doing the work that no one in America wants to do. Why is this? For Ehrenreich it is because those filling the job positions let their employers treat them as such. You can only be treated how you let others treat you. But the fact is, as long as there are people desperate for work, desperate to get by, they will take any job they can get and they will accept any amount of money for that work.
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