Racism+-+'Serving+in+Florida'

Racism: "Serving in Florida" In this particular exeprt, Ehrenreich wants to explore what it's like to work as a member of the lower class, and I think she brings to light some interesting and important aspects of that type of lifestyle. The biggest thing is that the conditions these workers have to deal with **//__suck__//**. Low pay, and no breaks, more and likely no healthcare, there reall isn't a reason a person would take these jobs up unless it were out of desperation. It's not just the work conditions either, which require multiple doses of Advil, coffee, and other energy supplements if Ehrenreich can represent all workers, it's also the treatment employees get. Carlie, the other housekeeper that worked with Ehrenreich, talked about "all the little evidences of disrespect that come her way, and not just from management" (326). It's horrible that people would treat these workers like dirt, but at the same time the mentality today is one of "me first", so in effect the view is that it's //their job//. Now that's not excuse, especially since we'd expect to be treated nicely if we were in their position. Still, Ehrenreich had to deal with rude people. I found it interesting that some of the biggest complainers were advertising Christians. Not only does it reflect badly on that faith but it shows that those who don't understand the amount of work the low-class people have to do will never truly appreciate it, no matter how good of a person they are. The conditions are even worse for immigrants. George, the Czech dishwasher, only gets paid five dollars an hour and "cannot sleep until one of them [the other Czech workers] goes off for his shift, leaving a vaccant bed" (323). Already, those are crappier conditions than what Ehrenreich, or any of the other workers, are up against, and that's not even the start of it. Immigrant workers, regardless of legal or not, are going to be discriminated against and be given the brunt of the blame for mishaps that occur around the work place.

This is not to say that Ehrenreich's little experiment is wholly valid. Ehrenreich's story gives a feeling of desolation and despair that no matter how hard you work, you'll never get out of your current situation; however, in John Stossel's video clip, "Middle Class", a student named Adam tried his hand at the same experiment, with vastly different results. Adam claimed that Ehrenreich failed in her attempt, because she wasn't trying hard enough. I don't know about Ehrenreich's personal work ethic, but I would agree that she made some rather important mistakes. Of course there was the $30 pants, the living in hotels, the $49 Dockers, all of which really aren't money savers and certaintly not something a person actually living in the middle class would do. Then there was the time when Ehrenreich went over to the hotel to get another job, she specifically stated that "no, it couldn't be front-desk clerk" (325). That doesn't make a whole lot of sense; if you're trying to prove that a lower-class person can make it in today's economy, shouldn't you be taking the opportunities avaliable, no matter if you dislike them or not? There is the possibility that front-desk clerk didn't work with her schedule, in which case this really isn't that big of a deal, but Ehrenreich didn't mention a reason for why she couldn't work front desk, she just couldn't. The other set back was Ehrenreich's apparent superiority complex in reference to the Czech dishwasher, George. Perhaps that sounds harsh, but out of all the worker's at Jerry's, only when Ehrenreich states that "my project is to teach George English" (322), it doesn't come across correctly. The words "my project" makes it feel as though George is an inferior human who would be a mess without saint Ehrenreich's English teaching abilities. Her focus on George doesn't help her any because it takes away from energy that should be focused on working. None of the other employees took the time to help George, not necessarily because they're bad people, but because the mentality in that kind of a position should be "blood first, water later"; Ehrenreich still has her head in the upper and middle class when it should be in the lower class. It also doesn't help that she set her goals as time based, not success based; by making the experiment go for a certain amount of time and then it can all be forgotten, Ehrenreich, and really, anybody, would not retain as much focus and determination as what is actually required.

What stood out to me, and puzzled me a bit, was that "Ellen's son ... once managed a restaurant ... but won't try out for management here because he prefers being a "common worker"" (322). If what Ehrenreich is saying is true, then the other workers have horrible conditions, are most likely stressed, and not the happiest people in the world, and yet there are those who are apparently content with where they are. The way Ehrenreich presents her narrative, Ellen's son seems like an anomly; yet, when you think about it, for what it's worth, most of the other employees seem to be okay with their job, it's just that Ehrenreich focuses on the ones who dislike their job, or have, in Ehrenreich's view, are in the saddest situations. I think the quote takes away from Ehrenreich's idea that this kind of working is all hell; granted, it isn't pretty work, but that doesn't mean that everyone hates it. Even though Ehrenreich is trying to see if a low-class income can make it in America's economy, she still leaves out other important aspects. If it were simply money she were using, she could've done that with charts and trends, success by the American dream however is too ambiguous and just because Ehrenreich hated the work, doesn't mean everyone does. After all, Ehrenreich appears to have too much of an upper-class mind-set to really be representative of the low class.