An Insightful if Slightly Problematic Ethnography of the Working Poor
4 stars
While this book is now over 20 years old, it is still fiercely relevant as an ethnographic chronicle of the challenge of surviving as a low wage worker. Ehrenreich, a journalist, spends time in three different parts of the US taking up entry level jobs, illuminating how skilled these jobs actually are and how untenable the economic system is that makes it possible to pay people so little. At the same time, one wonders why the author didn't simply interview people who were already in these positions or work with a trained ethnographer - see "Data Driven" by Karen Levy as an example of how to do that well. Still, this remains a useful look into the glaring issues that haunt our society. Highly recommend
In which an upper class white lady bumbles into the low-wage work force and discovers that -gasp- it's really hard! The pompousness in the tone was just a chore to slug through, despite the interesting concept. There's even a part where she feels marginalized in a grocery store for being in her maid uniform and wonders if 'this is what black people feel like'. Goodness gracious.
It is telling of my own life experiences and class background that I require reading a book like this to understand how so many lives can be lived in this manner. I've never been to England in the 1500s, either - so at least I have books. She goes off the rails in her last section, on Wal-Mart, but overall excellent ethnographic reporting.
The most positive thing I have to say was that this was an easy read, which was vaguely enlightening on what it's like to work minimum wage. And it's well annotated with multiple scholarly citations.
On the other hand, I'm a resident. It's like the trump card in all pity poker games forever. Which makes pity poker no fun at all. Oh, normal people whine about not getting paid time and a half to work 11 hours in a row? I've worked 34 hours in a row for less than $10.00/hour. You stand for four hours in a row? I've stood for 30 hours in a row, in an operating room. You had to clean up peoples pubic hairs? I've had to put my hands in people's orifices, including orifices that someone just created with a scalpel and hold their spleen in the air so that the stool that accidentally …
The most positive thing I have to say was that this was an easy read, which was vaguely enlightening on what it's like to work minimum wage. And it's well annotated with multiple scholarly citations.
On the other hand, I'm a resident. It's like the trump card in all pity poker games forever. Which makes pity poker no fun at all. Oh, normal people whine about not getting paid time and a half to work 11 hours in a row? I've worked 34 hours in a row for less than $10.00/hour. You stand for four hours in a row? I've stood for 30 hours in a row, in an operating room. You had to clean up peoples pubic hairs? I've had to put my hands in people's orifices, including orifices that someone just created with a scalpel and hold their spleen in the air so that the stool that accidentally just entered the peritoneal cavity doesn't get on it. And I've had almost every bodily fluid imaginable on my hands, feet, and occasionally face. When I was a med student, I paid for such privileges. Cry me a freaking river. I just can't be bothered to feel sorry for someone working 60 hours/week or 7 days/week with some of them being part time.
Also, while I agree that the amount of money spent on the criminalization and prosecution of marijuana (in this case, evidenced by drug testing) is nothing short of inane, you lose your moral high-ground if you actually were using marijuana just proximal to the time you knew you were applying for a job. Like seriously, ideals are all well and good if you serve them with a side of common sense.
And there's just no answers offered here, either. You think the minimum wage isn't a living wage? You do realize that if you pay everyone more, prices will just go up, right? And as much as I'd love to live in the socialist wonderland that she proposes in her afterword - with government-subsidised school and healthcare and housing, I'd rather read a book about how she's trying to get there or stop-gap measures we can employ, rather than "I worked at Walmart and it was awful, but the people who worked there full time didn't seem to mind so much."
A friend told me about this book five years ago, and I finally got around to reading it. While I admire Ms. Ehrenreich's desire to go old-school journalism and spend these months working minimum wage jobs (God knows I couldn't do it), I was disappointed that so much of the book seemed to be a description of these tedious jobs. I've worked in a school cafeteria and a 1 hour photo booth, so I already know crap jobs. I was really hoping for a cultural analysis of the working poor with a greater insight into their plight (which I did get...but at the end of the book.) I would really only recommend this book if you find yourself whining about your desk job (which I've been known to do too often). Just remember that it's always better than working at Wal-Mart.
Very interesting and impressive book. It's about people struggling through live and working and living on minimum wages. Although it could have been deepened out a little more, it still gives great insight in the lives of others.
I made the mistake of looking over some of the reviews when I was adding it here to my list. The opinions are pretty divided: the conservatives pretty much attack her credentials (or attack her ad hominem; point is sympathy is usually lacking in these folks), and those who agree seem to do uncritically (i.e. they don't question the author as much). I will try to put those opinions aside as I read it myself. I have been meaning to read it because some of the freshman composition classes where I used to work as a librarian read it for their classes. I finished the introduction, so I am already clear on the conditions of her experiment. We'll see how the rest of the book goes.
In the GoodReads scheme, I gave it 3 stars for a book I liked. It …
I made the mistake of looking over some of the reviews when I was adding it here to my list. The opinions are pretty divided: the conservatives pretty much attack her credentials (or attack her ad hominem; point is sympathy is usually lacking in these folks), and those who agree seem to do uncritically (i.e. they don't question the author as much). I will try to put those opinions aside as I read it myself. I have been meaning to read it because some of the freshman composition classes where I used to work as a librarian read it for their classes. I finished the introduction, so I am already clear on the conditions of her experiment. We'll see how the rest of the book goes.
In the GoodReads scheme, I gave it 3 stars for a book I liked. It is not a book I really like since I wish things were better, thus not needing to write books like these. That is the idealist part of me. She does get a bit preachy at time,s which I think can detract, so that also made me not give it a higher rating. However, I do highly recommend it to others out there.
