Nickel and Dimed - 2888 Words

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America | March 29 2009 A riveting tale about the world of low class workers, Ehrenreich puts into words what most are don’t acknowledge or are afraid to acknowledge. Through first-hand experience, Ehrenreich successfully navigates her way through the low wage work by working such common low wage jobs as waitressing, housecleaning, and sales. While along the way discovering that each job encompasses their own organizational structure, culture, and identity that she is focused to discover and conform with while being paid no more than $7.00 an hour and even at some points as little as $2.43 (plus tips). Ehrenreich persuasively forces us to realize that the American dream is slowly†¦show more content†¦(Ehrenreich pg. 25) A strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. (Dayton Business Journal website, 2002, para 1) Therefore, the Hearthside can be said to have a strong organizational culture. This is demonstrated through the employee’s dedication to the same goal of providing quality service. This can be seen through Gail as she attempted to provide extra croutons on the salad, waitresses using tip money to provide a customer with a meal, the cooks cooking the food in a quality way and having the food out on-time, and even the dishwashers taking some sort of pride in accomplishing the dishes in a timely matter. Ironically the biggest detriment to providing quality service at the Hearthside was management and their stingy policies, which demand a mandated amount of sour cream or croutons. The identity of the Hearthside is a difficult one to define and discuss because Ehrenreich doesn’t provide us with much infor mation about their advertising, logos, or mission statements, but from what the book indicates Hearthside can identify as a â€Å"family restaurant†. This identity can be shown through the type of clientele. (â€Å"The plurality of my customers are hardworking locals- truck drivers, construction workers, even housekeepers from the attached hotel.† Ehrenreich pg. 19) The Hearthside adds to theirShow MoreRelatedNickel and Dimed Essays1636 Words   |  7 PagesIn Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich tells a powerful and gritty story of daily survival. Her tale transcends the gap that exists between rich and poor and relays a powerful accounting of the dark corners that lie somewhere beyond the popular portrayal of American prosperity. Throughout this book the reader will be intimately introduced to the world of the â€Å"working poor†, a place unfamiliar to the vast majority of affluent and middle-class Americans. What makesRea d MoreEssay on Nickel and Dimed808 Words   |  4 PagesSeeing Eye to Eye with Barbara Ehrenreichs article Nickel and Dimed. In her article, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich says that many people earn far less than they need to live on ( 270.) A good percent of high school graduates move right on to college. They graduate college and then they usually move on to make a good amount of money to live a satisfying life. However, college is not made for everyone, and what would our world be with only professionals? I agree with EhrenreichRead MoreNickel And Dimed : Report1397 Words   |  6 Pages Name: Kruti Shah BU ID: Nickel and Dimed: on (Not) Getting by in America Summary Nickel and Dimed: on (Not) getting by in America reveals low wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity- a land of big boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Barbara Ehrenreich, a scientist by training and a well known American writer and political activist emphasizes on the poverty of millions of low wage Americans as a state of emergency.Read MoreNickel And Dimed Reflection2034 Words   |  9 PagesIn our everyday lives we tend to pass for someone we are not. Sometimes it can be for a negative intention or a positive one. When reading this book called Nickel and Dimed which relates to identity passing it shows that she was passing as a low-wage worker yet she was a middle class. 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Barbara Ehrenreich wrote this in her captivating book Nickel and Dimed, where she embarked on a journey that revalued the truth behind life in low-wage America. Growing up I was led to believe that nothing worth having comes easy. As long as I worked hard and gave everything 100% I was guaranteed success, in essenceRead MorePower Structures in Nickel and Dimed1623 Words   |  7 PagesPo wer Structures in Nickel and Dimed The United States prides itself on being a democracy in which equal opportunity and the pursuit of happiness are guaranteed rights for all citizens. There is no uncertainty in the loyalty that Americans have towards this promise of natural, unalienable rights. However, as Michael Foucault explains in Discipline and Punish, the power structures present in society infringe on our rights to equal opportunity and happiness by forcing us to abide by social norms and