In the first chapter and introduction of Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich describes how she began this project and shows us several of her first experiences in working for minimum wage. She was persuaded by her editor to do an "old fashion kind of journalism." Her project was to view the life of America's low waged workers. She wanted to prove or disprove if minimum waged workers could survive and live adequately in America. She attempts to live a month as a made up character who will work at minimum wage. First she sets rules for herself. Rule one is that she may not work at any job that pertains or is related to her current job or skills that she has learned throughout her education. Rule two states that she must take the highest paying job available. Lastly, rule three declares that she must reside in the cheapest accommodation available. Ehrenreich is a highly educated and wealthy individual. She received a PHD in Biology and was well off in terms of money since she was born. Her degree in Biology can help with her journalism project because with a scientific background she can observe and learn from the experiences she faces. She must create a character for herself as she cannot play a writer who majored in Biology. It would ineffective for her to apply as a minimum waged employee. Therefore she creates minor variations of herself in order to make her project more effective. Ehrenreich recalled her life troubles and referred to her sister as a "wage slave". By this she meant someone who is under the power of money and of his or her's job. Because the job is unstable and low paying a person must live by his or her's job. The job and the money keeps the person alive and fed and under a roof. When the job is lost he or she simply must move onto the next job in order to live.
Ehrenreich broke most of all her rules or altered them in some way. She did this for her safety and the relevance of her project. She did not ride the bus because she felt that the audience would not be interested in her way of transportation. She only wants to tell the story of the jobs she was given and how her lifestyle became. I think this is a valid reason to break some rules. She only focuses on the emotions and stress that her jobs give her. This is a much more important aspect than her transportation.
As Ehrenreich begins her project she decides to settle in Key West. Her first step is to find a job. She details all the places that she interviews for and applies at but still does not receive any information back. She later states that ads in papers is the wrong place to find a job because ads are a security to the company. They ensure that there are always applicants to replace the former employees who are laid off. In order to get the job on the ad you have to apply at the same time someone else is being fired.
Through Ehrenreich's project and her jobs she sees the life of her coworkers. Real people trying to earn a living. They struggle to find a place to sleep every night and almost always rely on someone else to pay the other half of the rent. Their lives are based of their jobs and even when management and coworkers are unpleasant they must deal with it or else they could not pay rent. Soon Ehrenreich realizes that these "common" people are no different in humor and personality as the "regular" individuals she encounters in her real life.
