Nickel and Dimed

Nickel and Dimed

In the thought provoking novel, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, the author Barbara Ehrenreich, goes undercover as a minimum wage worker. Her primary reason for going under cover is to see if she could match the income from her minimum wage job to the everyday expenses as the poor attempt to do every day. Seeing and living the lives of these workers living in horrible poverty, Ehrenreich learns that hard work does not always lead to advancement and success in today's society. The author makes it very clear that her study was not designed to make her experience poverty. Ehrenreich's motives gave her the tools to live in poverty from a statistical standpoint, but kept her from experiencing the problems poor people face when things begin to get desperate.
Ehrenreich’s novel was a reasonably accurate book for someone of her upbringing to write. However, she had many advantages those in poverty may never have. Although Barbara Ehrenreich was able to get out of the situation she put herself in at any time she cheated no more than any other person of her background would. She allowed herself to use a car and had a start-up fund of more than one thousand dollars, but this made up for her lack of companionship in dealing with the financial burden.
Serving jobs in restaurants are extremely easy jobs to get, but one of the hardest to tolerate. Relying on tips and a very small hourly wage is difficult. Ehrenreich started in Florida at a restaurant called "Hearthside" working as a waitress at only 43 cents an hour plus tips. She discovers that most of her coworkers either live with their parents, boyfriends, or in hotel rooms. Ehrenreich lives in something slightly better, a small apartment. In order to pay her rent, she takes another job at a restaurant named "Jerry's" as a waitress and works from eight in the morning until ten at night. Barbara decided to quit Hearthside, work only at Jerry's, and move out of her apartment and...

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