Summary Of Nickel And Dimed
By reading “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich, I learned being a minimum wage worker is extremely difficult. I wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s hard for a minimum wage worker to find a place to live because they can’t pay the security deposit so they get stuck staying in a hotel or moving in with a friend or a family member. For example, Tina and her husband don’t make enough money so they had to stay in the Days Inn paying $60 a night. Getting stuck paying this every night would be impossible. Joan lives in her van. Gail is stuck with a roommate that keeps hitting on her. Claude shares a two room apartment with his girlfriend and two other people. And Annette lives with her mother. She’s six months pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend.
(pg. 25, 26)
Conditions in their working environments are bad. For instance, The Hearthside’s garbage and dishwasher area emits bizarre smells and the floor is always wet and slippery. The sinks are always clogged up and the counters are always sticky. They have to work for six to seven hours straight with no breaks. (pg. 29, 30)
Having two jobs is exhausting and strenuous. For example, Gail spends $9 for pills to control her migraines. (pg. 27) Ehrenreich herself starts using ibuprofen excessively because of an old back injury. (pg. 33) On a particularly late shift, four of her tables were full. One of then a ten person table and she was so tired her knees buckled. (pg. 45-49)
Minimum wage workers are extremely conscientious of what they have and don’t have. (pg. 53) Tina, Joan, Claude and Gale don’t have money to throw around thoughtlessly because every bit counts. They have to focus on rent and food before they can worry about buying clothes.
It’s hard to find a place to live that’s close to work and affordable. Ehrenreich could only find a place in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It was thirty minutes from work and gas was expensive. (pg. 54)
Minimum wage jobs don’t pay very much in Key West, Florida. Winnie Dixie and Wendy’s paid $6 an hour. (pg. 14) Hearthside paid $2.43 an hour plus tips. (pg. 16) In Portland, Maine Goodwill offered $7 an hour, (pg. 57) and Wall Mart paid $6.50 an hour. (pg. 58-59) Merry Maids offered $200 to $250 a week. (pg. 60)
It’s virtually impossible for a minimum wage worker to pay the security deposit and first and last month’s rent. You’d have to save it all up. It would probably take up to a year.
In reading about Ehrenreich’s experiences as a minimum wage worker, it’s not only difficult, it’s exhausting and filled with anxiety. That would be a horrible way to live. Thank goodness I’m going to college.
It’s hard for a minimum wage worker to find a place to live because they can’t pay the security deposit so they get stuck staying in a hotel or moving in with a friend or a family member. For example, Tina and her husband don’t make enough money so they had to stay in the Days Inn paying $60 a night. Getting stuck paying this every night would be impossible. Joan lives in her van. Gail is stuck with a roommate that keeps hitting on her. Claude shares a two room apartment with his girlfriend and two other people. And Annette lives with her mother. She’s six months pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend.
(pg. 25, 26)
Conditions in their working environments are bad. For instance, The Hearthside’s garbage and dishwasher area emits bizarre smells and the floor is always wet and slippery. The sinks are always clogged up and the counters are always sticky. They have to work for six to seven hours straight with no breaks. (pg. 29, 30)
Having two jobs is exhausting and strenuous. For example, Gail spends $9 for pills to control her migraines. (pg. 27) Ehrenreich herself starts using ibuprofen excessively because of an old back injury. (pg. 33) On a particularly late shift, four of her tables were full. One of then a ten person table and she was so tired her knees buckled. (pg. 45-49)
Minimum wage workers are extremely conscientious of what they have and don’t have. (pg. 53) Tina, Joan, Claude and Gale don’t have money to throw around thoughtlessly because every bit counts. They have to focus on rent and food before they can worry about buying clothes.
It’s hard to find a place to live that’s close to work and affordable. Ehrenreich could only find a place in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It was thirty minutes from work and gas was expensive. (pg. 54)
Minimum wage jobs don’t pay very much in Key West, Florida. Winnie Dixie and Wendy’s paid $6 an hour. (pg. 14) Hearthside paid $2.43 an hour plus tips. (pg. 16) In Portland, Maine Goodwill offered $7 an hour, (pg. 57) and Wall Mart paid $6.50 an hour. (pg. 58-59) Merry Maids offered $200 to $250 a week. (pg. 60)
It’s virtually impossible for a minimum wage worker to pay the security deposit and first and last month’s rent. You’d have to save it all up. It would probably take up to a year.
In reading about Ehrenreich’s experiences as a minimum wage worker, it’s not only difficult, it’s exhausting and filled with anxiety. That would be a horrible way to live. Thank goodness I’m going to college.