Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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.
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I personally think she's a bit over the top... or at least a bit insane.
ReplyDeleteWhile in Maine, we see her bash members of a church. I know she is an atheist, and that's fine, that's what she chooses to believe in. But I don't think it's fair for her to rip apart the beliefs of people who find help and strength through their spirituality. (I'm not a "Jesus Freak", for lack of a better word)
While scrubbing floors as a maid (page 83), we see her criticize everyone in "yuppie-land", inseparable from their plastic water bottles. Yuppie-land? REALLY? Drinking H2O makes people citizens of Yuppie-land?
On page 90, we see her scrubbing some marble that is "bleeding", and she goes on one of her rants and raves, saying its the blood of the working class that has stained this woman's marble.
I think that it is as bad as Ms. Ehrenreich claims it to be. I just don't like the way she goes about her business, especially ripping apart the spiritual beliefs of members of that church, many of which are probably the poor she is looking to help!