Ehrenreich Text

Barbara Ehrenreich's experience in her Walmart job in Minnesota seemed unpleasant and frustrating. Nevertheless, she appeared to maintain her strength and sanity, remaining aware of her surroundings. She describes Walmart’s orientation video, containing compelling and positive incentives with a feeling of family and great customer /employee relations, as a reflection of the grandeur scale of a successful corporation. However, her first day on the job, Barbara immediately became aware of many contradictions in the orientation’s message. Her fellow employees showed evidence of bitterness, exhaustion, and lack of fulfillment in their work. The endless wave of customers destroying the order and cleanliness of the store that took the employees hours of hard work, slowly begin to extinguish the message of great customer/employee relations. Yet, while contemplating whether to eat or buy new clothes, hauling around her laptop and portions of food in her car through various whether conditions, Barbara struggles to start her day with a positive attitude finding ways to manage her spending and escape her situation through any form of entertainment. Her daily concerns consist of finding ways to manage her money while struggling to maintain a healthy level of hygiene.

She had the opportunity to work at Menards for supposedly $10 an hour but as she states "unforeseen physiological reasons" came into play and she somehow ended up taking the job at Walmart for $7 an hour (Nickel and Dimed, pg. 143). According to the Poverty in America: Living Wage Calculator (http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/places/2704343198), the living wage in Minnesota for a single adult is $6.97 an hour, the poverty wage is $5.04 an hour, and the minimum wage being $7.25 an hour with monthly expenses for food and housing totaling about $650. The average hourly wages in Minnesota place Barbara Ehrenreich’s earnings of $7.00 an hour at Walmart slightly below the required minimum wage, yet, keeping her just above the poverty line. The annual income before taxes that is required to be considered earning a living wage in Minnesota is $14,494. In my personal opinion, Barbara's struggle of bearing the decision of whether to eat or maintain a sensible form of hygiene should be considered living within the poverty range and must obtain the required level of assistance to maintain a healthy lifestyle.