I greatly enjoyed Caroline sharing her experiences with Barbara. It was not only beneficial for Barbara but I feel it was beneficial for the reader. Throughout the experience, Barbara has tried to follow certain rules for herself to receive the full experience of living and functioning with a low-wage occupation. But she also has the option to bend a few rules, if necessary, or quit the entire project. But in Caroline’s case, this is not an option, especially with her responsibility of having two children. I enjoy Barbara’s writings, but she will never be able to fully feel the heartache and worries that people truly experience living in these situations. (Not to mention Barbara continues to remind the reader this mission is strictly for the service of journalism.)
Through Caroline, the reader is able to slightly embark on a non-experimental journey of a temporary nomad. We (the readers) gather some insight on the toll this lifestyle has on the entire family. Caroline lacks quality time with her children because she must have a source of income. The oldest daughter becomes a mother to the younger sibling – picking up the sister from daycare, and taking care of the sister (feeding, watching, etc.) – and foregoes the opportunity to live a healthy childhood lifestyle. We also seem to think people in these living situations lack resources/networking tools to help along the way, but Caroline used the church, governmental aid, people from her everyday encounters, and faith to help her day by day.
I’m really pleased Barbara included Caroline’s story in this book.
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Me too. I appreciate that she admits that her experience is only an approximation, that she can never really know what it's like to live this life all the time.
ReplyDeleteI also love that Caroline offers her a place to live -- seems so consistent with the picture Ejhrenreich portrays of low-wage workers helping each other out.
While I see Barbara Ehrenreich's point, I believe that Enrenreich bent the rules too much. Yes, she went hungry for a few months which is a respectable assignment to take on; however,I think Ehrenreich used her background to an advantage more than she thinks. Ehrenreich used her skills that she learned from her liberal arts degree in order to find and obtain a job. Many people who do not have this background whether it is on a resume or not, cannot function like Ehrenreich because she has been taught and has been trained skills that work to her advantage making it easier for her to analyze and research her jobs and her co-workers so that she can see the light while others cannot.
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