PDF Nickel and Dimed On Not Getting By in America Barbara Ehrenreich 8601410875206 Books

Product details Series With a New Afterword Paperback 256 pages Publisher Picador; First edition (August 2, 2011) Language English ISBN-10 0312626681

Nickel and Dimed On Not Getting By in America Barbara Ehrenreich 8601410875206 Books Reviews

• This book was assigned to my son’s HS class to read; however, I’m one that benefited as well! What an amazing written piece! As a person of more affluence now due to education and opportunity, it forced me to not only open my eyes and acknowledge what has been there all along, but also remember my own time as a low wage worker in college. It’s funny how we tend to compartmentalize things and not always remember our past experiences until we are smacked in the face by them. I definitely was taking my privilege for granted and realize that my circumstances then and now are more luck than just hard work (not that I didn’t work hard; more that there are others that also work hard yet they don’t always see the rewards of that work).
  
  This book also reminded me really see the ongoing plight around me. I am usually aware and gracious and polite to all workers I meet, but can guarantee I will be more aware in where I shop, how I tip, what I expect, and look for more opportunities myself to give back and fulfill my own social contract. So glad I read this book and cannot wait to share thoughts and discussion (and action!) with my son!
• I'd like to start out by saying I did like and appreciate this book. That being said I had problems with it. This could be that reading this book in 2014 we actually are in a recession, or as I constantly hear on the news "emerging" from a recession. Having worked in many a low income job myself, I did find myself a bit annoyed with the with the writer at times. One thing that I disliked was that she only seemed to spend a short time working the said jobs she had. I understand that she was trying to get a feel for the general country, but I think had she spent say a year in only one job this book could have lived up to something like The Jungle. I disliked how she seemed to think that after a short period in a job that the regular workers would have been ready to rebel. I also didn't like her wonderment that workers would not have set up a union. I don't think she was able to grasp the fear that permeates the low income workers or by that matter most middle income workers. Large and small corporations have made it into a businesses to prevent any grouping of workers like a union. Also her belief that she never met a lazy worker or which she doesn't encounter a snitch. If she'd spent a year in one of these jobs she would have come across it. There's a reason people are afraid to stand up, one of those being that people are constantly afraid of being sold out. I did not like how every time her dislike of the workplace ended with her leaving and finding a new job. Most of us don't have that luxury. We're stuck by geographical and money restraints. For most people especially in this job market the refrain becomes at least u have a job. It doesn't matter how s*** said job is. The only way to bring us out of this fear is for government to it's job and actually care about the majority, and yes we are a majority. Even as a college grad with a decent job that tends to on the best day give me anxiety problems and on the worst leave me feeling for hours at a time that I'm gong to vomit. And by decent messing that I can afford most of my bills even though more than half my income goes into paying student loans. Given that all my years of school and working my way through dead end jobs to pay for it,I now spend half my earnings to pay for said"good"job that I have. Spend a year in factory or a warehouse and you'll quickly understand the problems I had with this book. That being said it might be a good way to raise awareness for the type of person who's never actually had to.
• This is an older book, which my book club picked as the February book. I was familiar with it, but hadn't read it . Honestly, it is an intriguing idea, but this author was condescending and patronizing throughout. Her tone was offensive to me through most of the book, making it very clear that she truly felt "better" or "above" the minimum wage workers she was trying to understand. As someone who worked minimum wage as a teenager and cobbled together multiple to jobs to make it through college and into adulthood, I felt she really had no concept about prioritizing, etc. It became very clear she'd never done a service job as a teen or struggled during college. As a result, her "experiment" fell short and she always felt the people she was working with were "other". Finally, one month for each job with trips back to her upper middle class life in between meant she really didn't get what it was like to "live" in these circumstances. Not a likeable woman and not enough time in the trenches for her opinion to hold power to me. Having said that, the afterward raised some good points.
• With this quick read, you can understand the perspective of those who are facing the challenge of a poor financial situation. It clears your preconceived notions about what others' lives are like and gives you a wake-up call. This is a much-needed read for anyone who works with children, in order to better understand what their home life may be like.
• I got this book on the advice of my pastor after I lost my newspaper job. I have a part-time job cleaning offices and couldn't believe how physically hard and mentally challenging it is, and he recommended Ehrenreich's story. All I can say is she's right on. People who criticize her method are missing the larger point; Ehrenreich shows how hard it is to make it -- let alone get ahead -- on low wages. This should be the wake-up call for people who think a job, any job, is the answer to getting out of poverty or financial insecurity. This is the only job I have while I await word on my unemployment compensation; my cleaning coworkers don't have this luxury. Most of them work at least two jobs and some work three or more. The age range is 40-late 60s. Ehrenreich hit the nail on the head in seeing how unfair this system is and how it works against low-wage workers and, may I add, this is 10-15 years after she wrote this book. I believe with my education and background, I will find a new higher-paying job eventually. But maybe I won't, and this will be life from here on. In these circumstances, that's scary.