a day off...

Imagine wanting nothing more than a day off from work that still allowed you to be able to buy groceries the next day.

I keep thinking about Ehrenreich's observation that the wage she is earning is not a living wage but an "emergency" wage. Have you ever been in an emergency? An accident or some other incident? Your adrenaline is charged, you feel frantic, you panic. You can't slow down or take a breather.

That's what she describes of her life in Maine working 2 jobs (7 days a week) and still getting behind on money. No time to even think about her situation.

This book is designed to be sensational -- to illuminate and magnify the lives of low-wage workers, and sometimes I wish that the tone were more even, but I doubt it would have the same effect. Does it make me look at low-wage workers in a different light? Yes. Does it make me grateful that I'm not one of them? Yes. Am I willing to pay more for goods and services in order for them to make more money? That's a good question!

I think the whole economic structure has to be challenged, not just the wages of people at the bottom of the ladder (notice how executives are not paid wages -- they are paid in salaries and options). I think it's a problem that the blame for rising prices gets pinned on people who barely make enough to live on. Who else could or should shoulder the responsibility for that?

Walking out on the job

I was reading the end of this section last night, and got to the part about her walking out on the job, and sort of laughed. My husband asked me what was funny, and I said it's not really funny as much as a little ironic that she's in this job where she and her co-workers are basically treated like criminals or children, not trusted, not well compensated, expected to submit to all sorts of indignities and hardships, and yet it's the one type of job that you can just walk out on without giving any notice or making sure someone is trained to take over your responsibilities. That seems to be the one freedom and, maybe(?), privilege of that kind of job. You can literally tell your boss to "take this job and shove it."

Is it a function of this type of job that the people in them are not seen as individuals, as contributing members of society? They are largely invisible.

And what is it about waitressing that makes that job such a Hollywood favorite for rags to riches stories? Have you ever been a server? I haven't, and I'm sure it's a good thing because I think I would be terrible at it!

What did you think about the "locker search" scene? Just the fact that they threatened to do it makes her feel guilty.

And what about the fact that before 1998 there was no federally mandated right to bathroom breaks? That reminded me of a job I had in grad school. I was working for a landscaping company one summer (I liked having summer jobs that required physical labor). I had to go to the bathroom one day when I was assigned to work at this huge estate. The owners wouldn't let us go inside the house, so we had to find a bush -- seriously. They also lined us up one day and accused us (collectively) of stealing some tools. I was so incensed! Here I was a GRADUATE student, and I was not allowed in the house and was being accused of stealing a shovel. I wanted to shout at them "Don't you know who I am?!" But I knew the answer was yes, you are the yard person. You are hired to weed my garden and plant the annuals in front of my house. Now get back to work!

Waitressing in Florida

Sometimes students think she's over the top -- that it isn't as bad as she claims, that if people try hard enough they can improve their conditions. In some cases that may be true. But I try to read this book with the idea that for many people, their lives are one car wreck, or one hospitalization away from disaster, and in the current economy, it's becoming easier to see that as the case.

I added the video here

Here's the Ehrenreich video

To add YouTube videos, treat them as a link rather than a video (in the editing toolbar above).

Barbara Ehrenreich

I wonder if I could do what she did -- live for 3 months on minimum wage. Or make that "living wage." Does anyone wonder what we mean my "living" in that phrase? Maybe it should be survival wage. What she ends up doing I would not want for my life.

I added a short video that sort of spoofs the book -- starring Barbara Ehrenreich -- on the wiki. Check it out (it's on the Ehrenreich questions page under class notes).

She says that her friends told her to just do the calculations and see how hard it would be (or easy, I suppose). But she decides it's better to try the experiment herself to see if there are any "hidden" shortcuts or tricks that poor people know about getting by on so little money, So she gives herself some rules: must have car; must take highest paying job and try to keep it (this part is important); must not be homeless; must not use education or previously learned skills (as a result of her higher education); must not fall back on savings or credit cards unless she was about to go hungry. How much is that really like being poor? Poor people don't have those kinds of resources to fall back on. anyway...

She recognizes some advantages right away: she's white and she is a native speaker. Later that will hurt her in some ways, but ultimately she has the upper hand in looking for the kind of work she is looking for. Her friends later ask her if her co-workers could "tell" that she wasn't "like them." Her response was that the only thing that made her stand out was her lack of experience. She was pegged as "a waitress" or a "housekeeper" and no one questioned that. To what extent do we do that, in any case? People ARE what their occupation is.

Okay -- I'm going to read more and most more later.

Second blog

Not all of them will have such boring titles.

So here it is, the week before school starts, and I'm trying to set up blogs and wikis for my classes. You're probably all still enjoying your break, deciding what to bring back to school with you, saying good-bye to family, friends, pets, etc.

This blogging thing is a new addition to my course management. We'll see how it goes!

first blog on this site!

Dear Students:

If you are reading this, you are on your way to creating your own blog!

Once you do, be sure to link it to the wiki.

Dr. Fathman