What we'd like to explore in this blog posting is how everyone views individuals who have the kind of menial low wage blue-collar jobs that Ehrenreich takes on in her novel. Have you had a job that would fall under this category, and if so how does your experience relate to Ehrenreich's? Have you ever been embarrassed to tell somebody where you work? Do you view professionals differently than those who have a McJob? What kind of generalizations to you consciously or unconsciously make about that individual? Do you think we as Americans place labels on working-class citizens? Is there a certain kind of stigma that comes with being a waitress, cashier or maid?
If this doesn't give you enough to go on, or if you want something with a little more ummph to it, consider this question: does it seem that while Ehrenreich is working these particular jobs, she sees herself in a different class than her coworkers? If yes, do you believe that belief is justified? Do you think that Ehrenreich is perpetuating the idea that who we are as a person has a lot to do with how we earn a living? We would argue that Ehrenreich, in fact, does emphasize the importance of an employment position as a defining characteristic of who a person is, and by generalizing and even marginalizing her coworkers in these low-wage employment positions, she is actually contributing to the ever growing gap in America between the lower class and the middle/upper class. Do you think this belief is justified?
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My very first job was in retail for $6/hr. Although the pay was very low, it was enough for me since I was 16, still in high school and being supported by my mom. I didn't mind the work because I was 16, it was my first job and everyone starts off somewhere small. I didn't have a problem with the pay, but I did have the problem with the amount of work I did for such a low wage. The effort I was putting into my job was so much, yet the output was very minimal. If anyone has ever had a retail job, you know that it is not easy.
At my second job at Barnes and Noble, I could not believe that some of my coworkers make a living off of the same job I did. I worked with my friends mom and we made the exact same amount per hour. I thought I was being paid less as being part time unexperienced, but I was starting off the same wage as everyone else and I could never see how people made ends meet, like Ehrenreich was trying to prove.
I was never embarrassed to tell someone where I worked, but I would often times get embarrassed to serve the people that I knew. It made me feel like I was beneath them in some manner, like they were just viewing me as someone who could only get a job at the mall. I was viewed differently and it even happens to me now. When I work at the mall on weekends and see people from my high school, they assume that I go to Metro and work full time at the mall and that is what is embarrassing. I do think that Americans place labels on working-class citizens such as being uneducated, and lacking determination when that is not the case at all.
When Ehrenreich was working at Wal*Mart, it was hard for her to care about putting the clothing with the same fabric in the right places and making sure the layout was new for the customers because she didn't see how that was important, but it is. People don't understand the work that is put into jobs like retail, it is not just standing folding clothes or cashiering.
I do think Ehrenreich sees herself in a different class than her coworkers because it wasn't a real situation for her. Her atm card was always just a swipe a way and she had resources to fall back on, and I feel like that was always on her mind. My first job, I worked so hard to be kept on as a part-time employee after being hired on as seasonal because I needed that job and I needed to work and I don't tink Ehrenreich really understood the concept of needing employment.
I have actually had the experience of working in a few "low wage blue collar jobs". I spent the whole summer after my sophomore year of high school working in a dumpy pizza place up at my cabin. Even though I made only $6.50 an hour with hardly any tips, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the people I worked with. At the end of the summer, I had made just about $1500 dollars, but for the amount of work I put in (9 hour shifts 4 nights a week), it seemed like a very small amount. But, in the end, I was glad I did it and it gave me good experience. Also, I had my mom supporting me in everything else, so I didn't have many expenses to worry about.
My second job I made $6 dollars an hour working at a clothing store. I absolutely hated this job, and the hard work and perfection I had to put into my job was not worth the money. Though I enjoyed the discount, I still ended up spending most of my pay check on new clothes, so the job didn't do much for me financially. While it was good to get experience in the retail business, I didn't enjoy it, especially since it was after my senior year of high school, and my mom told me that I was on my own for most of my expenses.
I think that Americans make generalizations of a lot of jobs, especially if they are in a higher ranking career than someone with a "McJob", but ultimately I think that most of the people that do make such generalizations haven't had much of that kind of experience. But I think that Americans place labels on people with low wage jobs as lazy and not very hard working; when in reality, these people are putting tons and tons of work into it, just for a lower salary. I know this from hands on experience!
I think that it would be impossible for Ehrenreich to not see herself in a different class as her coworkers. She has lived up to this point, in a professional career lifestyle, and for research is deciding to work in a completely different atmosphere. I think that it might cause her some problems with her research, because in the back of her mind she knows she can always go back to "reality" if things go wrong. This isn't her fault, it is just a result of the career path that she chose sometime earlier. But ultimately I think that the career you choose definitely shapes the kind of person you are, based on the work you do, and the effort you put into it.
Personally, I have never had one of these jobs. Though working in a restaurant or at the mall is not glamorous, I am not ashamed or embarrassed to admit to that. I do view professionals differently because usually their jobs entail having some type of higher education while a job at McDonalds does not require much knowledge. Unconsciously, I may see these people as underachievers or people who maybe do not look ahead to their futures. Americans do place labels on the working-class, often times considering them to be lazy. McDonalds carries probably one of the worst stereotypes and it is sometimes hard to look past what people may think of these employees.
I would say that Ehrenreich does look down at times on her coworkers. Though it may be subconscious, she at times hints toward her higher knowledge and the fact that this lifestyle is so very different from her very own. I do not think this is justified but it is necessary for her to relate to her audience. Most of the readers have probably not been in this type of living situation and may feel that they understand the situation better if they can compare it to their own lives.
I’ve never had a job in where I felt ashamed about what I do. The only jobs I’ve ever had though, was working at Borders (the book store), Teavana (a tea shop), and as a private violin teacher. The first two jobs, since I was just working to make some money on the side, was unbelievable for me when I realized that that’s all some of the people I was working with earned and were able to lead a normal life. It was a little weird when some friends and parents came into where I worked, and I would have to help them, because it was always a little awkward. But then again, the people that I knew trusted my decisions and were nice to me, because of their prior interactions with me.
I think that as Americans, we do label and sometimes make fun of some jobs that we might not want to do. For example, people are always making jokes about people who work at McDonalds and other fast food restaurants. People are always looking down to those that work jobs such as being a maid, a waitress, or a garbage collector. Even as we’re kids, our parents always say things such as “study hard, so that you won’t have that kind of job later when you grow up.”
I think that our jobs do affect our lives to a point. It may not rule over who we are, but it does play a role in the way we act, dress, and converse. When I am at work, I am a completely different person than I am with my friends and family. I think it might change people on a bigger scale depending on where they worked. People in the business world are always very professional and thought of as hard working, while others may look like they don’t want to be work, though they might work just as hard, if not more. I think that it’s not a very justified belief. There’s so much more to a person than what their job is. That is a small part of what their overall lives might be.
I am not sure but I think that I have held a job that would be considered low-wage, I work at Starbucks. While this job is significantly different than those portrayed in Ehrenreich’s book, for example part-time employees, those who work 20 hours a week or slightly more, are eligible to receive benefits (i.e. health insurance, social security) I think it would still be hard to survive on $7.50 and hour. I could be wrong, I’m not sure. However, I also worked as a vender at concerts and parades for awhile I sold all those silly light up things you see at concerts. This job was physically demanding and exhausting. I had to walk all around concert venues and stadiums for up to 7 hours at a time, without breaks. I usually worked strictly off commission, so it was up to me to sell a lot or risk working an entire night and having nothing to show for it. This job probably more closely related to Ehrenreich’s experience, but even then most of the time it was fun. I got to see/hear some really cool concerts for free and as long as you were out of site of the boss you could sit down or take short breaks. This job more than my current one at Starbuck’s was one that I was embarrassed to tell people I did. I was especially embarrassed if I happened to see someone I saw while I was working. Often times I would do my best to try and avoid them completely. I loathed being seen carrying a huge basket of light up roses and being loaded down with two huge bags of light up toys. I think I definitely view professionals differently than those with McJobs. For example I have often heard people say or even said myself, that I love my job at Starbuck’s but I wouldn’t want to make a career out of it or anything, although there are many people that do. I am guilty of thinking this people have little or no education, maybe that they dropped out of school, if they are older and work as a cashier or maid. I definitely think there is a stigma that comes with being a waitress or cashier.
First of all let me say that I am very glad someone asked this question-- I could not read 5 pages of Ehrenreich's book without relating it to my personal experience. I worked, and will continue to work, at a small deli in my hometown. My coworkers were all supporting themselves, and in some cases their families, off the same $8 an hour I was using to buy cds and new shoes. I was the only person who had pursued or intended to pursue any form of higher education. I make these differences clear not because I perceive myself to be superior to my coworkers in any way; rather to show that I can relate to Ehrenreich's realization that her previous skill set was almost completely uselessness in her new environment. While my mean math skills occasionally made themselves useful, more often than not I was at a disadvantage.
I was never ashamed of my low-level service job because of the immense respect I have for all of my coworkers. Everyone I encountered worked very diligently and took pride in the quality of their work.
I never felt any shame in my work there; I do not know if that claim would be true were there not some light at the end of the tunnel, however. I always felt great after a day of hard work--but when I came home it was not to a crying baby but to a couch. It was not to a table covered in bill but a table full of friends. My situation was not the same as my co-workers, so I cannot say that, in their shoes, I would be proud of my job.
I must also say that I was never guilty of making assumptions or patronizing my coworkers, no matter their education levels. I, like Barbara Ehrenreich, feel like any stereotypes one believes in are thrown out the window as soon as you become a part of the labor-world. Although I stuck out like a sore thumb (I was the only girl, the only person under 25, and the only one without any tattoos), I befriended all of my coworkers. We always felt like equals: they didn’t know anything about European history, and I didn’t know anything about extreme We taught each other a lot, and our relationships were nothing unusual. sports. Barbara Ehrenreich had a similar experience while researching for her book.
I feel like working a “menial” job can be very rewarding for anyone on multiple levels: you get to know people with whom you have very little in common, you get to challenge yourself in an unfamiliar arena, and you gain an increased appreciation for the workers all around you.
First, I would like to say that I have been in one of those "low wage blue-collar" jobs. I worked at a little family-owned donut shop where the manager was about 50 years old and never went to college and the workers all took on more than 1 other job, including the manager. In a way I could say I almost felt like Ehrenreich. Not in that I was researching them, but the trivial matters that significantly affected everybody's happiness did not seem to matter as much to me. I was not working for tips, nor was I worried about scheduling. I took the job because the hours fit with my summer schedule.
Taking the position, and working there over the summer though did not help the stigma of blue collared work. Yes, the label is there, we all have it and cannot deny it. I could even see it in the faces of the people on the other side of the counter. However, never was this stigma placed on myself. I think it is more acceptable for high school and some college students to take on these positions, particularly for the summer. It is the stereotype: the low-wage worker who is working towards college funds or never made it through to college.
While reading Ehrenreich’s work, I was originally a little put off by the demeaning way that she portrayed the jobs in which she participated in. It seemed to me that though the jobs she tried were not glamorous, they were jobs. The people Ehrenreich met probably were content (if not content, they at least realized that the job was necessary for survival) with the jobs she blatantly belittles in the book. However, as I sat fuming with the book in my hands, I came to a not so pleasant realization: I too have found myself looking down upon people who hold those jobs. After I spent a great deal of time trying to tell myself that this isn’t true, and I am indeed the nonjudgmental person I try to be, I thought about why I judge maids, and waitresses, and cashiers so. I think it is because I have always grown up with the expectation that I will eventually hold a “real job.” It was ok for me to be a life guard when I was 16, because that job was meant to be for teenagers. But, if after I graduate with my degree (or heaven forbid, don’t graduate) my parents will not want to hear that I’m heading back to guard the pool, sunglasses and life preserve in hand. Our notions of what are real job are, are shaped by our friends, family, professors, even the media. When someone holds a position that doesn’t fit in with what we consider to be “real,” we write them off as lazy or incompetent.
My first jobs were nannying and working at a restaurant, which both paid extremely well for first time jobs. I really can not say that I have ever worked a job that I was embarrassed about or received pay that would be considered low-wage work. I do however remember the first time one of my friends moved out of our ski town and got a restaurant job in a near by city. Restaurant jobs in our little ski town paid almost always over 10 dollars/hour and usually closer to 13. My friend got a job a at Mexican restaurant in Boise and he was making average wages, $6.50/hour. This seemed so low to me at first.
I personally do not look down upon working-class citizens. I know many people who would consider themselves working class citizens and I know that they are hard working and they do what they do for many reasons. My view, I would say, is not common amongst all Americans though.
I think that Americans of higher class standing place a lot of stigma on these hard-working individuals. I think it is a by-product of ignorance. When someone doesn't know much about something, it is much easier to stigmatize and look down upon. McJobs and other low-wage jobs are often thought of as less "worthy" because they are deemed "low-wage". I think that it is this generalization, coupled with ignorance, that leads to Americans' demeaning attitudes towards low-wage workers.
I personally have had very few jobs so far in my life. However, a few summers ago, my first job that I did work at was Albertson's Grocery Store. It did give me experience to what labor is truly like, although it wasnt too demanding compared to many other jobs in the world. My experience from it was that I learned how to work better with people and be able to meet a customers needs. I was glad to have this type of experience because I will be more prepared in the future and it always looks good on a resume.
However, my point being is that as Americans, I think that many people tend to catagorize others based on the type of job they have and social class as well. People definitely tend to look at others in a different way based on their income and status in the working world. In some ways, it is hard to view two entirely different people who live in entirely different worlds, have different incomes, characteristics and many other varying factors entirely the same way. However, it is not right to place such labels on working class Americans because many of these people work extremely hard to get to where only a handful of such are able to achieve such a goal.
During the novel, Ehrenreich tries to put herself in another person's position by trying to see what it is like to be a working class American. However, she is definitely different from her coworkers because she is an author doing research on this issue rather than actually being someone else. Even though her life seems to be portrayed similarly to that of other working class Americans, she does in some ways have similar traits and characteristics to everyone else.
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