A Small Peek into the world of minimum wage

books:

	• Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Barbara Ehrenreich Metropolitan Books, 2001 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 1083 reviews view larger image
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Condescending much?

I'm glad this book was written and has been so widely read. People need to know this stuff. However, I didn't find it an enjoyable read, and not because of the depressing subject matter. Ehrenreich's attitude bugged me. The moment that disgusted me most? When she mentions casually how she allowed herself a handful of tapes, then lists the artists - just so we all admire her musical tastes. I bet if she listened to Celine Dion and Hanson, she wouldn't feel it was germane.

BOOK

aPPEEARS TO BE A GREAT BOOK WHIHCH MY WIFE IS USING FOR HER MSW STUDIES.

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Nickel and Dimed compelling reading

Barbara Ehrenreich decided to see what it was like to see the underside of the American Dream by working a number of lower paying jobs in America. I read this book about two years ago and it is still with me, I have started leaving money for the people who clean my hotel rooms, and otherwise trying to help solve the inequities of the system that we work under in society. With what is happening now in the economy, this book is even more important today given that as the money system fails, we need to understand the ways that people have to live.

What is interesting are the jobs that were taken, a house cleaning person, Wal-Mart, and being a waitress. It was impossible for her to make ends meet on those incomes. Not that she did not try, but the numbers did not work out, they cannot work out, they will never work out until we as a society work out the cost of living here. Probably the most stunning was the housekeeper story, that one has the most impact of all the stories. That alone makes you realize how hard it can be for people to empathize with each other, you can just see the look on the person's face who is complaining about the service, when the service was excellent.

What was also striking about the house cleaner story was the camaraderie of the women involved in the job. They helped each other despite all the things that were thrown at them. They showed an exemplary example of teamwork and caring for each other knowing that few else would care. In all this is a powerful testament to people, the people who work in the hidden jobs who we do our best to ignore but rely on. After reading this book, you will find that you tip better, that you care a bit more, and you will understand that the lowest price is not always something you want to go for. Compelling and readable, this is one of those stories that will change your life. Give it five of five stars, it is an eye opening story.

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A Small Peek into the world of minimum wage

I agree with most people who read this book in saying that Barbara only gave us a glimpse into the world of minimum wage and trying to *live* on it. Skimmed the surface, so to speak. Even though, I enjoyed the book and thought it was well put together.

Was there a lot left out that should have been included, YES. Did that make this a horrible book, NO. But delving deeper would have made it a much better book and possibly more respected in the community.

We get to see Barb take on 3 minimum wage jobs in 3 towns in the US. Technically it was more jobs because most times she had to take a second job to live. We get to meet her co-workers, but not very indepth. She makes a strong case that I think we all know anyway, which is that it's impossible to live on minimum wage in this country and that often these jobs are the hardest working jobs you may ever hold...

Overall I'd recommend it. I'm sure there are some people, who like me, it might open your eyes a little wider and you might judge others less, or have more compassion/understanding for people in these situations. We read it in my book group and I thought it provided EXCELLENT discussion!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Our sharpest and most original social critic goes "undercover" as an unskilled worker to reveal the dark side of American prosperity.

Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job -- any job -- can be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Moving from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. She lived in trailer parks and crumbling residential motels. Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly "unskilled," that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least two if you int to live indoors.

Nickel and Dimed reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity -- a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich's perspective and for a rare view of how "prosperity" looks from the bottom. You will never see anything -- from a motel bathroom to a restaurant meal -- in quite the same way again.

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