Barbara Ehrenreich

4 Pages 1037 Words

Book Critique

I’ve never read one of Barbara Ehrenreich’s books but I might have to check one of them out after reading Nickeled and Dimed. I admired the argument, actually enjoyed reading for a change, and also learned a lot from every page. When I finished the book, I looked at it as what I only can call loathing. Writing up for the rich the results of an upper class essayist’s anthropological mission to see how the other half live is worthwhile. It is part of the task of affiliating the comfortable, which needs to be carried out much more strongly if we are ever to have a better society. The point of Ehrenreich’s rapiers of intellect, art, and wit are ever more prevalent when she points out that even so-called “unskilled” work—is demanding and challenging: the memory skills required of a waitress, the physical labor of a house cleaner with a vacuum on her back, and the patience of a wal-mart “zoner” hanging up the same blouse for the ninth time can push human capacities close to their limits—and for the truly lousy pay.
I feel that the focus or purpose of her writings were to remind her readers that every job is worth doing well, and that people who do it well deserve respect: “…when I wake up at 4 A.M. in my own cold sweat, I am thinking of the table where I screwed up the order and one of the kids didn’t get his kiddie meal until the rest of the family had moved on to their Key lime pies.” That is something that her readers need to hear more often. So maybe the next time their (the readers) order isn’t perfect they’ll show a little patience and understanding, with their waiter or waitress.
Mrs. Ehrenreich often found it a struggle to make ends meet even though she was working two jobs, seven days a week. Something is terribly wrong with this picture. A white, middle aged, capable woman with dependable transportation can’t support herself working two jobs. Even she admits that she...