Question #2: Minimum wage workers often report feeling invisible. Where do you encounter minimum wage workers? What sorts of services do they provide? Have you ever worked in a low-wage job? If so, what was your experience?
I encounter them almost every day when I am out in town. Most work places here have minimum wage workers. Places like McDonald's, Walmart, Safeway, the local library, Denny's restaurant. Almost everywhere you go you find people that only get paid minimum wage. They are mostly jobs for service industry. They are super markets or restaurants which are in the food and hospitality industry. I don't have any type of job yet, but i have seen my mother work a minimum wage job at Denny's. IT was a long job on the night shift mostly. She would go to work at around 5 come home around 1pm or work till 3:00am the next morning on weekends. She was working as a waitress and it was tiring on her in every way. Physically and mentally and on top of that she is a full time teacher so it was very stressful for her.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Nickel and dimed questions
Question #1: Early in her book Nickel and Dimed, author Barbara Ehrenreich admits that she has many advantages over “real” low-wage workers. What sets her apart from the average low wage worker? In her desire to “experience poverty,” What rules does she set herself?
What sets Ehrenreich apart from the average low-wage worker is that she has a car for transportation instead of taking public buses. She also has a higher educational experience then most of the workers. She has skill in foreign languages to greet them in their native tongue. She is a white-American female who can speak English. She doesn't have a children or family to feed and pay for or help her make the payments. She has money in the bank to fall back on “in case of emergencies.” The rules she makes are: 1. She has to find the cheapest accommodations to live in that she will be able to afford. 2. She must find the highest paying job possible. 3. She won't use her previous education to her advantage while in her job. 4.She has to be able to hold down her job for the whole time she has allotted herself.
What sets Ehrenreich apart from the average low-wage worker is that she has a car for transportation instead of taking public buses. She also has a higher educational experience then most of the workers. She has skill in foreign languages to greet them in their native tongue. She is a white-American female who can speak English. She doesn't have a children or family to feed and pay for or help her make the payments. She has money in the bank to fall back on “in case of emergencies.” The rules she makes are: 1. She has to find the cheapest accommodations to live in that she will be able to afford. 2. She must find the highest paying job possible. 3. She won't use her previous education to her advantage while in her job. 4.She has to be able to hold down her job for the whole time she has allotted herself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
