Journal Response #3

    Ehrenreich decides to move to Minnesota, in the hopes of living a more comfortable lifestyle than the places she's been before. She believes that Minneapolis will provide her with a better, higher paying job and has low housing. She begins her job hunting with a couple of Wal-Marts and a hardware store named Menards. She wants a change from nursing homes and waitressing. Her drug tests seem to unease her as it can make or break the job offer. In the meantime, while waiting for her drug test results, Ehrenreich meets a friend who has been in this situation before, but in reality. Her name is Caroline and she was put through what Ehrenreich is going through right now. Caroline had to give up the life she had in order to make money and live. She worked low paid jobs and often had to move a lot. Her situation was much more risky and she turned to help from churches and managed to overcome her struggles. Ehrenreich decides to work at Wal-Mart and towards the end of the chapter becomes weary of this life and does not appreciate the things these people have to live though. She just settles somewhere without care and gives up knowing that she always has a back up plan. She uses humor to mock the life of the low wage worker.
    Ehrenreich has two of the most important and perhaps best qualities for anyone in the work force or applying for a low waged job, she is White and speaks English. These become her most important attributes, for in the working world they are heavily needed and stressed as the best. In America's society, we believe that for some reason White people are more appealing than any other races and that English is the preeminent language. It is almost guaranteed that a White person who speaks English will be hired before a minority who hardly knows English.  Erenreich was able to use these attributes for her benefit in that she was offered jobs so readily. She often went to many interviews and passed all the tests. This would be quite hard for any other minority looking for a job. I do not feel that this is equal at all. I know these stereotypes very well. Sometimes I feel that White people don't believe it themselves. After all this way of thinking was invented by the White Americans. It's practically embedded in our minds to feel this way when applying for a job. As a customer you will hardly see a commercial store filled with just minority workers. That's because businesses know their customers and want to appeal to the all White trademark that seems to make everything better and more proper.
    America lacks what other nations do for their citizens, which is provide help to the people struggling to make ends meet and not making the rich richer. America practically feeds its rich citizens with the poor people's hard work and money. In other nations wealth is spread out equally. Maybe America could spread all of that unnecessary wealth to those in greater need. Making the low waged work life so difficult only means that these people will never get out to enjoy a better life.
    In this chapter Ehrenreich becomes particularly sarcastic and witty. She almost jokes about the lives that low waged workers go through. In this sense she loses her sympathy for these people. Her jokes only display her transformation from kind and caring to brash and cynical. The jokes act as a mockery of the people around her. Maybe this shows the darker side of the issue. She's become empty about her situation and realizes she can get out of that life whenever she wants so she is able to make a mockery of the people who are stuck in this life.