Scrubbing and Evaluation

Scrubbing in Maine

1. Ehrenreich writes, "The main thing I learn from the job-hunting process is that, despite all the help-wanted ads and job fairs, Portland is just another $6-$7-an-hour town. This should be as startling to economists as a burst of exotic radiation is to astronomers" (59-60). What does she mean? And why is it so?
   

2. None of Ehrenreich's jobs in Nickel and Dimed lends her much dignity, but her position with The Maids turns out to be particularly demeaning in certain ways. She explains, "Maids, as an occupational group, are not visible, and when we are seen, we are often sorry for it"(99). In what ways are she and her co-workers at The Maids not visible? Why do you think she includes herself here, using "we" to designate those who work in this area?
   

   3. In one episode with The Maids, Ehrenreich takes up for one of her coworkers, pointing out that she need not feel such allegiance to Ted, the manager.
   

3. 
   

   "What's all this worrying about Ted? He'll find someone else. He'll take anyone who can manage to show up sober at 7:30 in the morning. Sober and standing upright."
   

   "No," Holly finally interjects. "That's not true. Not everybody can get this job. You have to pass the test."
   

   The test? The Accutrac test? "The Test," I practically yell, "is BULLSHIT! Anyone can pass that test!" (113)
   

   
   

   Ehrenreich sees this as a moment of solidarity with her coworker, Holly. However, the moment proves to sever what has been a good relationship between them. Why might that be the case? In what ways might Ehrenreich have been misguided in her effort to empower and support Holly?
   

4. The author gives us a pretty cynically humorous account of a visit to a tent revival in Portland, commenting that "Christ crucified rules, and it may be that the true business of modern Christianity is to crucify him again and again so that he can never get a word out of his mouth" (68-69). What is Ehrenreich saying about the roots of Christianity and the way it's practiced today? Give examples from N&D to illustrate her point.
   

   
   EVALUATION CHAPTER
   

   a. How did she do as a worker?
   b. How did she do at "life in general"?
   c. Why are the official poverty rates misleading?
   d. If productivity is increasing, why aren't wages?
   e. What keeps the workers from finding better jobs? Where is the friction?
   f. Explain the "vicious cycle" of labor costs described by the book.
   g. What makes the working poor invisible?
   h. List some of the complaints the middle and upper class have about the
   working poor.
   i. Summarize the problems facing the working poor.
   j. What are the solutions to these problems?

5. k. What are the objections to these solutions?

6. l. Why does Ehrenreich call the working poor the most philanthropic of all
   

   social classes?