Nickel and Dimed free essay sample

As the novel based on investigative journalism it is not in conflict with ethical issues from social work perspective. 2) The novel was first published in 2011 and according to the footnote the author was unable to find recent statistics on the number of employed people living in cars or vans. My personal opinion is that Gaail’s, Annettes’s and Joan’s experiences can be relevant to the recent statistics of the foreclosed families. Needless to say that with booming foreclosure crisis many middle class families are forced to live in vans, shared rooms, motels or shelters. A new HBO documentary film â€Å" American Winter† suggests hat many seemingly prosperous parents are only a few misfortunes away from dark houses and empty refrigerators. The film follows the personal stories of eight middle-class families who were hit hard during the Great Recession. Once financially stable, they now find themselves struggling. The filmmakers show these families desperately trying to make ends meet during the winter of 2011, even as headlines everywhere indicate a recovery for America. We will write a custom essay sample on Nickel and Dimed or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 3) Although author’s expectations were different the experiences did not differ. The author emphasizes that low-wage workplace in general seems to exert a soul-crushing effect. If you hump away at menial jobs 360-plus days a year, does some kind of repetitive injury of the spirit set in? † The author experiences and sees fundamental differences between classes even more than the similarities. She writes: â€Å"the anxieties of my actual social class take over. † Note the use of the word â€Å"actual,† as though Ehrenreich were trying to reassure herself. In Key West, Florida author spends a month working as a waitress at two different restaurants The experience of waitressing from Barbara’s eyes amounted to a lot of work for not much pay. During her time in the restaurant business, Ehrenreich comes to despise management. She finds that while she must constantly be working, doing anything at all but sitting still, her supervisors are able to sit for hours on end. Managers and assistant managers are to make sure the restaurant makes money; they frequently lack compassion for their employees and for customers. She offers a survey of each of the non-management employees and shows how they are barely able to survive on their incomes and how most of them will not be able to continue financially for very long. Ehrenreich moves to Portland, Maine, She chooses it for its â€Å"whiteness. † In other words, this seems to be a place where she finally won’t stick out like a sore thumb in low-wage jobs for being Caucasian, blue-eyed, and a native English speaker. Ehrenreich comes to Maine dreaming of flannel shirts, apple juice and doughnuts, and clean air. What she gets instead is a dispiriting slice of humanity, a vision of our capacity to dehumanize each other. Author writes: â€Å"Maids, as an occupational group, are not visible, and when we are seen we are often sorry for it. Indeed, America may be a caste-free society in theory, but the maids are the true untouchables of the country’s hierarchy: â€Å"Even convenience store clerks, who are $6-an-hour gals themselves, seem to look down on us,† Ehrenreich concludes. 4. Through the reading author expressed her negative attitude towards having relationship of somebody performing cleaning services for her. I totally agree with this attitude and personally feel the same way. It is likely that marriages may benefit from cleaning services but less likely be saved by it. 5. Barbara seem to be so mad while observing her pregnant college suffering from nausea and weaknesss. The author writes: Most civilized nations compensate for the inadequacy of wages by providing relatively generous public services such as health insurance, free or subsidized child care, subsidized housing and effective public transportation. So what should we think about the fact that in America we are sending the poor out to make it on their own on little more than a quarter of a living wage? â€Å"Shame† might be an appropriate response. Ehrenreichs account of the differences between the low working class and the upper class provides a daunting portrayal of modern America. Many college freshmen are required to read Nickel and Dimed, but anyone who knows little about what working class America is like should definitely take a look. he does a remarkable job of exposing aspects of the low-paid working class. The author goes into detail about employers oppressive acts such as drug testing and says that some perspective employees have to strip down in front of them. She describes the demeaning drug-testing process in her book, saying, †¦ urination is a private act and it is degrading to have to perform it at the command of some powerful other.