Getting "Nickel and Dimed"

Dec. 9, 2004
By Phil Lineburg
Staff Writer

The ballroom on the third floor of the Rogalski Center was standing room only to hear the presentation of author Barbara Ehrenreich.  “Every chair they could find in the building was being used,” said a female volunteer to another as they walked down the aisles, trying to find vacant seats for the many that filled the back wall of the ballroom.

Ehreneich may look like an ordinary person, but as the words flowed from her mouth, it was apparent she was not ordinary.  With the timing of a comedian, and the passion of an activist, she spoke on poverty and the working poor. 

A college-educated women and author, she quoted statistics as many scholars do to support their statements. 

But she took her research one step forward. 

In 2000, for the sake of the story, she embedded herself in the conditions of the working poor.  This lead to the writing of her book, “Nickel and Dimed.”. 

Living as the working poor did, in trailer parks and residential motels, working at Wal-Mart, janitorial companies, and other entry level jobs, she found herself struggling to bring in enough money to pay the rent and eat.

“Poverty is caused by a shortage of money,” Ehrenreich said.  “Women need to marry a number greater than two [men] to pull them out of poverty.”

Not withstanding the fact that these people can barely make enough money to survive, she compared the working conditions in many of these places to be like sweat shops in a third world country.  These conditions included locking people in while they were working, not getting breaks to use the bathroom or eat, not being allowed to drink water and of course, not being permitted to talk.

She said the first way that the major corporations try to humiliate you is by requiring you to take a urine test. 

“It is a breach of my fourth amendment rights to protection of illegal searches and seizure,” she said.

Rick Haskell, a non-traditional student, studying broadcasting at Black Hawk College, was in the crowd with his wife. 

“If I was good [writer], I would be doing what she does,” Haskell said.  “I agree with her policies.  I've had to live in hotel rooms, too.”

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