In the first 60 pages of Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich introduces us to her experience working as a minimum wage waitress in two Florida restaurants. What struck me in this reading is how similar the storylines of her coworkers are to my own in Bowdoin dining. I work dishwashing at Moulton twice a week, and often overhear the concerns of Brunswick locals that are doing this job as a means of getting by. Health concerns, working two jobs, and horrible habits like alcoholism or smoking are common points between the Brunswick minimum wage reality and minimum wage in Florida.
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Your point about destructive habits reminded me of a passage in the last reading. After talking about her coworkers smoking, Barbara comments, “I don’t know why the antismoking crusaders have never grasped the defiant self-nurturance that makes the habit so endearing to its victims”(31). This marks a powerful passage for me. Although habits such a smoking seem “horrible” from our points of view, they are tools for survival for some. With my relative privilege, I have other outlets for stress relief and comfort. Yet, when working in such a stressful lifestyle, the same comforts do not apply. Smoking seems to be a necessary evil, not a n uneducated choice for cancer and worse quality of life.