Ehrenreich Text

       One of the jobs the author discusses is being a waitress at the Hearthside.  At the Hearthside she is scheduled to work from 2:00 in the evening until 10:00 at night for $2.43 an hour, plus tips. It only takes her two weeks to soon realize that she will need a second job to sustain her life. Her experience as a waitress quickly proves to be miserable. Her co-workers express their disdain for working there and she is treated poorly by management. As she is trained, by Gail who works at the restaurant, she is made to feel somewhat useless and incompetent of taking care of even the most basic tasks. She quickly bonds with her co-workers as they find common grounds over time. Ehrenreich discovers the difficulty of being poor and is eventually forced to pick up a second waitress job at another restaurant. She quickly discovers that living in a hotel is actually more expensive than renting an apartment and that many people are forced to do so when they cannot afford the deposit on an apartment. Gas money and money for nutritious food is also more difficult to come by on a low income.
       After doing some research I found that the cost of living in Florida as a whole is $9.03/hr. That is more than the minimum wage set at $7.25/hr and still more than Ehrenreich was making at either of her jobs alone. This shows that a second job is almost necessary when your current job starts you at minimum wage. Ehrenreich also shows us the severe disadvantages the poor have when having to deal with a second job or a low income in general.


The information on the cost of living and minimum wage for Florida can be found here:
http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/states/12