Nickel and Dimed

In this non-fiction book called Nickel and Dimed by Barbabra Ehrenreich, Barbabra tries to hold a minimum wadge job. She tries to show how people can't make it on minimum wage. Through out the book she has different jobs that only pay wages around $6 or $7 an hour sometimes even less money then that at certian places she worked. Barbabra Ehrenreich is a writer for the New York Times she kind of seems like shes better than any place that she works at. Being happy with what you have is something that Barbabra Ehrenreich doesn't really have. The theme of the book seems to have soemthing to do with, be happy with what you have.

During the story Barbara was trying to show that you couldn't live on minimum wage. But all she really showed was that you could survive on minimum wadge but the major thing was, you couldn't have any mishaps. you couldn't have any kids that got sick because you can't afford to take them to the hospital. During the book they talked about how unitll April of 1998 there was no right that let employees have bathroom breaks. Also in 1996 the number of people holding two or more jobs was around 7.8 million, or 6.2 of the workforce. While in Maine Barbara found out that she was going to have to pay around $880 for rent in cape cod.

While Barbara was in Maine she worked at a hotel as a maid. Maids wages don't even cover the money they have to play social security taxes, green cards, the money they have to pay for backaches and child problems. The problem with the wage that they give to the fast food, hotel, and other companies employees are very low. Although Barbara does this work and tries to be a minimum wage worker she doesn't. She still acts like she has alot of money and still uses it if she gets in trouble. Barbara said that if she got in trouble and didn't have enough to pay for rent she would just use other money not eraned from her work. I don't think that she didn't acomish working and living in the style of a minimum wage person.

With the theme of be happy with what you have i think Barbara Ehrenreich it that. She wouldn't be able to live with the life style of minimum wage. She showed that people can live of minimum wage if nothing goes wrong. I don't really think she showed much else, she wasn't really living like life of a minimum wage. Barbara isn't someone who would be able to live this way.