Barbara Ehrenreich decided to go out and see how the other side of the tracks lives and write about it. This, of course, is something that would hold my eye many times as I passed through bookstores - but only recently did I get the book. Perhaps there were things that I didn't want to remember myself. In 1988, at the age of 16, armed with $1,000 and good health, I left Trinidad and Tobago for Dallas, Texas and ended up in positions that seemed inescapable... but I was fortunate in my own ways.
I worked 3 days at an Arby's, and that was my great contribution to the fast food industry. I did time at a 7-Eleven, working the graveyard shift and walking home in the cold during the winter (defrosting my hands when I got home). I was even a stockboy for Target Corporation in the late 80s. So, yes, the cover of this book struck a chord with me as I tried to climb out of what is a very slippery barrel. I did temporary work to get out and stretch myself, an out of work programmer, to get back into a field which didn't want an undegreed teenager writing code. But mainly, it was about survival... I remember, fondly, Dunhill Temporary and the range of experience I got through being a 'temp'.
So, this book attracted me.
I finally did get to finish reading it this week, and I think I could best describe it as a bridge for people who have never had to start or bounce from the minimum wage level in the United States. It's a taste of a reality that many people don't even understand, yet try to address. It's not an easy life, as Barbara Ehrenreich found. As she found, it takes a lot of work just to stay afloat in a complicated system, much less move ahead.
Housing, as she found, is not cheap. Transportation is something that she removed as a problem for her book, but which is an important part of being at that economic level - just waiting for buses could have stolen from her the time each day it took for her to write her book. Rolls of quarters for laundry have to be planned, and stretching small paychecks to cover ill-timed bills becomes an artform. The way one is treated by management - as if you're an errant schoolchild - is well documented. Poor health insurance, dental insurance... it's a trap that few can escape.
A life for many passes in servitude, chained to keeping a smile on the face and dealing with a system which doesn't respect human beings - I think of it as a modern indentured servant; whatever flows in is immediately taken back through other pipes... leaving bank accounts dried husks.
This is a 'must read' for anyone interested in understanding the challenges of the financially walking wounded. It's about the people trapped by circumstance, who you see every day with name tags on their smocks and generic smiles on their faces. From simple understanding of the challenges to Digital Divide issues... this book is worth reading for those who haven't experienced wondering where the next bill will get paid from.
KnowProSE.com scale: 7 - mainly because it's limited to the author's experience, and as she writes herself, her gender and ethnicity were a factor. It's a good book, limited by circumstance... much like the topic.
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