Nickel and Dimed by: Salma Bah

The US has an unhealthy growing issue when it comes to low wage jobs. Barbra Ehrenreich not only documents the lifestyles of lower class working citizens, but she also exposed the audience to the harsh realities of these individuals and takes on the big subject of today: Wage. Instead of documenting from the outside, Ehrenreich decides to take a rather unique approach and physically and mentally throw herself into the lifestyle of working class citizens. With this, Ehrenreich faces the problems of working low wage jobs and the mental and physical pain, the embarrassment and self-esteem issues that come along with these jobs. Along the journey Ehrenreich not only achieves the goals of opening up the eyes of her audience, she is able to open up her eyes as well. The experiment serves as a learning experiment to Ehrenreich as she faces are real life situations that real life individuals are encountering every day. With this experience and proof, Ehrenreich is able to successfully tackle on the issues of injustice in the low wage working citizens community. Ehrenreich begins her journey in Key West Florida, where she takes on a role of a citizen who works two jobs as a waitress at a diner called Jefferys and as a housekeeper who lives in a trailer park. With these two job positions, Ehrenreich begins feeling the burden of housing expenses pile up and the occurring conflict at the diner highly affect her working environment. With too much pressure occurring all at once, Ehrenreich is unable to finish her four week goal in Florida. With Ehrenreich not being able to finish her four week goal, one can almost imagine how difficult it must be for those who have been living this lifestyle on a regular basis. From there on, Ehrenreich is able to grasp and feel the struggles and the pain of lower class citizens as she is unable to even live the same lifestyle for more than two weeks. Ehrenreich not finishing her four week goal plays an important role in the book due to the fact it reveals just how hard the lifestyle of a lower class citizen is and allows the audience, along with Ehrenreich to sympathize with those who go through the everyday struggle. Furthermore, on her second mission, to Portland, Main Ehrenreich begins to recognize a pattern that, while working, one job can never satisfy her needs nor her wants and two jobs can hardly even give her a stable mean and a comfortable environment. Ehrenreich concludes that I am realizing that, just as in Key West, one job will never be enough. While Key West and Portland proved to be difficult times for Ehrenreich, Minneapolis in Minnesota topped the two previous cities by being the roughest location for Ehrenreich. In Minneapolis Ehrenreich worked as a Wal-Mart employee and found many complications. For starters, the vacancy rate in Minneapolis is less than one percent. With the wage Ehrenreich is making, she is unable to find a home and has to jump from hotel to hotel as a result for survival. In addition to not having a stable home, Ehrenreich is also unable to pay for important essentials such a kitchen essentials, thus having to eat as fast food restaurants. Things are no better at work as Ehrenreich finds it tiring and demanding to meet the commands of the assistant manager. Ehrenreich finally identifies that all theses struggles and difficulties come with being in a lower class. Coming from a high middle class family, Ehrenreich analyzes that those of high class live much more comfortably than those of lower class. Those in lower classes have to work twice as hard just to get a taste of what those in high classes have such as comfort and security. This alone brings on the discussion on why do lower class citizens not fight for labor rights? In the evaluation section of the book, Ehrenreich questions why dont more of them take a stand where they are demanding better wages and work conditions, either individually or as a group. Throughout this journey, Ehrenreich is able to demonstrate the tough conditions of the lives of others by acknowledging what others go through individually. By writing this story, Ehrenreich displays the different and difficult living environments of regular lower class working citizens. The story highlights numerous problems in society for those who are in lower class such as transportation problems, low wages, uncomfortable living environments, forces eating choices and physical and mental pain. Ehrenreich is able to unfold the problems the lower classes face by experiencing the lifestyle herself. With that, she is able to spread her story and use her voice to allow others to get an insider of the harsh lifestyle and bring on the discussion of low wages. Concluding the book, Ehrenreich predicts that one day they are bound to tire of getting so little in return and to demand to be paid what theyre worth. Therell be a lot of anger when that day comes and strikes and disruption. But the sky will not fall, and we will all be better off in the end.