Nickel and Dimed: Humble American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich

CNBC’s Shawn Carter states that “Less than 20% of Americans say they are living the American Dream”. The majority of people in the U.S. don’t feel that they are living their American Dream. Barbara Ehrenreich states in her article “Nickel and Dimed”: “I am terrified, at the beginning, of being unmasked for what I am: a middle-class journalist setting out to explore the world that welfare mothers are entering, at the rate of approximately 50,000 a month, as welfare reform kicks in” (Ehrenreich, 1). In her article, she shows how much control she had in obtaining her goal. In her exploration, she shows how there are outside sources that can influence our success. Circumstances, education, economy, and people all have an effect on our journey to success, but the overall effort we put into achieving it affects the outcome the most.

In “Nickel and Dimed” circumstances played a big role in Barbara’s situation. If Barbara was wanting to be in control of her dream she would be open to any opportunity that she came across. “But I decide on two roles: …”, - she writes: “One, I cannot rise any skills derived from my education or usual work... Two, I have to take the best-paid job that is offered me and of course do my best to hold it” (Ehrenreich, 2). If she followed this she would have had more opportunities for work with higher pay. “Hotel front-desk clerk, for example, which to my surprise is regarded as unskilled and pays around $7 an hour, gets eliminated because it involves standing in one spot for eight hours a day” (Ehrenreich, 2). She goes on to say the same about waitressing because of the memories she has from doing it when she was younger. This is one of the circumstances that she should have been more open towards and taken the opportunity when it was there.

One circumstance that she couldn’t control was the living situation. There were places for rent that were close to the jobs she applied for but out of her budget: “In the Key West area, where I live, [...] a pleasing fifteen minute drive from town, that has no air-conditioning, no screens, no fans, no television, [...] The problem with this place, though, is rent, which at $675 a month is well beyond my reach… So I decided to make the common trade-off between affordability and convenience, and go for a $500-a-month efficiency thirty miles up a two-lane highway from the employment opportunities of Key West, meaning forty-five minutes [...] [away]” (Ehrenreich, 1). This circumstance is one that she can’t control but she can control if she is behind the people. She can leave earlier so that she is sure to get to her workplace on time. This could open more opportunities for work as well to open at a store or restaurant and work the morning shift and then she could work a second job after her morning shift is over. Although people have an influence on your personal life there are things that you can do to achieve better and become successful.

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Education is one of the opportunities that can help you become successful. Without an education, it can be hard to get a job that makes an income to sustain yourself or your family. Jobs that don’t require an education are referred to as unskilled jobs. “I had been vain enough to worry about coming across as too educated for the jobs I sought, but no one even seems interested in finding out how overqualified I am” (Ehrenreich, 3). When education isn’t on your toolbelt it is a lot harder to find a job. If you do find a job then it is a lower wage job that doesn’t pay nearly enough to cover the expenses to live so people end up getting more than one job. Working two jobs makes more income but doesn’t give much opportunity for an education because you are simply working all the time. This is a situation that you have little control over but if you are willing to work a part-time job and get some student loans then you can get an education and make some income to live. You just need some self-discipline and to put in more work than other people might have to.

The economy has everything to do with a dream. Money is what makes society work, and without it, there wouldn’t be a motive to work. “After all, if 30 percent of the workforce toils for less than $8 an hour, according to the EH, they may have found some tricks as yet unknown to me” (Ehrenreich, 2). There are a lot of people that work for low wages and if people were passionate about their jobs the wages would probably be higher because more people would want to go to those places. “In fact, “well” isn’t good enough by half. Do it better than anyone has ever done it before. Or so said my father, who must have known what he was talking about because he managed to pull himself, and us with him, up from the mile-deep copper mines of Butte to the leafy suburbs of the Northeast” (Ehrenreich, 4). Sadly, people don’t want to work hard because of the wage that is already set for the amount of effort that is needed for the job. “Such as the fact that the economy will inevitably undergo a downturn, eliminating many jobs. Even without a downturn, the influx of a million former welfare recipients into the low-wage labor market could depress wages by as much as 11.9 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, D.C.” (Ehrenreich, 2). There are many things that can’t be controlled about the economy because it is supply and demand, but you can work the hardest and be the best at what you do to better your chances of working at a better-waged job.

Although people might not be around you every day—or you say people don’t impact who you are—they play a bigger role than you might think in your life. “At least Gail puts to rest any fears I had of appearing overqualified” (Ehrenreich, 4). Barbara was worried that people would think she was overqualified so she was nervous. Then because of some background information that she learned about Gail she didn’t worry anymore. Even the people that you are working for can have an effect on you because you don’t get any praise for what you are doing. “As a server, though, I am beset by requests like bees: more iced tea here, ketchup over there, a to-go box for table fourteen, and where are the high chairs, anyway?” (Ehrenreich, 4). This can lead to stress and cause you to be overwhelmed and not feel like you’re doing anything useful. This has an effect on your effort in your job. If you learn to deal with stress and just be used to doing the same thing everyday then you can manage to have multiple jobs and make a living off of it. Although working your life away being a waitress might not be your dream, other people might not mind it and make a living off of it. They might like living like this and it could be their American Dream.

Although the circumstances are different for everyone, the American Dream is achievable. There are a lot of factors that can throw people off the path that they want to be on but if they have determination and longing for a better life for themselves/their families then they will do whatever it takes to achieve it. In “Nickel and Dimed” Barbara didn’t have the determination to try to make a better life for herself. She was trying to see if she could live off of the minimum wage jobs that were offered. If she had something to work toward, then she would have accomplished it. The American Dream is different for everyone, what a person is willing to do to obtain it is up to them.