Chapter 2 of Nickel and Dimed involves Barbara moving very up country to Portland, Maine. She moves her to approach a job other than waitressing. She wants to try something new. So she beings applying everywhere, including maid services, Wal-Mart, and she even applies at an old age home. With time she gets hired at 2 places. One being the old age home on weekends, and the other is one of the maid services called The Maids for weekdays. She stays in a hotel room for a while until she can get a place to officically live, and finally she moves in to the Blue Haven, which is basically a hotel but it serves as apartments to many different tenants.
Barbara first starts at the old age home. She actually enjoys the enviroment there very much. It all seems easy enough serving different breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods to all the "guests". She does however have one incident when one of the ladies, who is clearly not completely sane spill milk all over her. That is probably the only mishap Barbara went through. She liked serving the people there and talking to them. A lot of them were either diabetic or had Alzheimer's but like i said it was a comfortable enviroment for her to be in considering her Father lived in one of these homes and also had Alzheimer's.
Her second job, as a maid, was not so breezy. She found that it had severe implications on her health, including her muscles and back. Her back probably suffered the worse from all the cleaning. Barbara does not like this job, she feels as if she is looked down upon, the conditions are horrible, and the hours are long. The way she has been taught to clean is repulsing, actually you probably couldn't even call it cleaning. And her and her fellow employees have no benefits. One of her friends, Holly, thinks she may be pregnant but she can not take off work to find out because her and her husband need the money. And to make matters worse Holly falls and hurts her ankle badly but nothing can be done about it because she refuses to go to the doctor or leave work. Her boss, Ted, reluctanly lets her leave early. All of these things get to Barbara and eventually she blows up. She lashes out at Holly and anyone who is around to hear her. She doesn't like the way the people who's housese she is cleaning look down upon her. And she certaintly doesn't like when a girl who may be pregnant and is injured doesn't even find it necessary to see a doctor. At this point Holly realizes it is time to move on.
I really respect Barbara for doing all of this. In this chapter especially, I have realized being a maid is hardwork. And it is not very appealing. Cleaning crap out of toilets is something I don't think anyone sould have to do. But then again some people needs jobs and they don't care what it takes. I have a whole new respect for minimum wage workers. They are the ones who make ends meet and work hard. That, to me, shows true character.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
"Nickel and Dimed" Introduction and Chapter 1 Review
“Nickel and Dimed” Review
This book is about an experiment a journalist, Barbara Ehrenreich, carried out in the year of 1998. The basic point of the whole thing is for Barbara to go out into the minimum wage workforce and see if she can get a job and live off of it. The experiment includes moving to different locations, working at minimum wage (sometimes less) jobs, and attempting to survive off of it by paying rent and buying food. She says the experiment is not entirely realistic, the reason being when she runs out of her “new” money she will resort to her ATM card to survive and then move on to the next location. She supplies herself with a car and $1,100 for every new place she goes. She sets rules and guidelines including: Rule One- She can not search for jobs based on her background or education that could benefit her. Rule Two- She has to take the highest paying job that was offered to her and hold on to it for as long as she could. And Rule Three- She has to take the cheapest accommodations that offered an “acceptable” level of safety and privacy. She states in the introduction some of these rules were broken and/or bent but she conformed to them to the best of her ability.
In the first chapter she discusses her jobs at a hotel and restaurant in Key West, Florida. In the period of time she spent there she went through three jobs, two as a waitress and one as a housekeeper. She explains her relationships with the people who worked with her, noting on their health issues but genuinely good hearts. She says that the people who she worked with aren’t necessarily dumb or worthless, which many people seem to associate with jobs like that. The jobs actually require a lot of physical and mental strength, such as dealing with rude customers, managers, or other co-workers. The physical pains are obvious – Always on your feet, carrying heavy trays, cleaning for hours on end. And she also notes anyone trying to survive alone on minimum wage can not just have one job, but two. And that’s just supporting yourself solely, if you have a family that’s a whole different story. Also she points out two immigrants, Claude and George. They are both working for less than minimum wage and in her opinion being treated unfairly and with extreme disrespect. George is even accused of stealing and is going to be fired. In the middle of a crazed rush at the restaurant she can no longer take the conditions of her jobs and she simply walks out, leaving behind the people who actually have to do this everyday for a living whether they like it or not.
I agree with everything she says. I’ve worked at several food places as a hostess or server including; Lonestar, Midtown Diner, Fazoli’s, and J.D. Legends. She describes it exactly as it is. You never get to leave on time, you have to deal with harsh circumstances, even the thing she said about refilling the bleu cheese containers, I’ve done all that. Of course it’s different for me because I’m not supporting myself but I know the amount of strength it takes to work at those kinds of places. And I can not imagine doing that twice a day without a decent break. That would be, excuse my language, hell. I honestly don’t know how some people do it. And by reading just the first chapter I have so much more respect for the working class then I ever did before. Granted I was a part of the working class but I still have my parents to support me, those people do not.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
"Cool Hunting" Video Questions
1. What is 'cool-hunting' and how is it done? What theories and methods of media research are the 'cool hunter' using?
'Cool hunting' is searching for a certain trend, personality, or way of entertainment that appeals to the teenage population. It is basically trying to find what 'cool' is, hence the name. Theories the researchers use are studying different teeenage lifestyles by going into their homes and asking them a series of questions. They also pay teens to go to certain events and analyze how they behave and if they appear to like what is being presented in front of them or not.
2. According to the commentators in the video, why do television, music, and fashion corporations want to understand how teenagers think and what they want?
Teenagers are the biggest group of people to market things to. They have a lot of disposable income because they are living at home and don't really have a lot of expenses like adults and working people do. They have money and they don't have anything to do with it so in order for companies to make their money and keep themselves in business they have to learn to appeal to the teenage generation.
3. How do MTV executives and other executives and other programming and marketing decision-makers characterize their relationship to teen culture? Do they say they are creating it or simply reflecting it?
They say that their relationship is out of touch and they have to hire other people they specialize in teenage interest because they themselves are not experts. They hire people to figure out what they want and what appeals to them so they can take it and mass produce it and hopefully sell it to them. They say that they are reflecting it. But in my opinion I think that they are creating it.
4. What is the difference between marketing research and human research, according tot the commentators in the video? What are the goals of each?
They say that there really isn't that big of a difference. When the marketers study how to sell their products or what products to create they are basically doing marketing research on humans, and that research leads to doing research on the actual humans they are studying. They have to get to know what appeals to them in order to be able to find or make something to sell to them.
5. Who is giving the most accurate description of the relationship between teen culture and commercialization, the 'merchants of cool' or their critics? What roles are these institutions playing in the socialization process? Argue for one of these two positions using specific points and examples from the video.
In my opinion I think the critics gave the most accurate description. Simply because they brought both sides of the commercialization process. They gave the negatives and the positives, making it easier to make a decision about agreement or disagreement. These insitutions are playing great roles in the socialization process. They affect how teens act and what they wear and how they talk to each other. They affect behaviors and actions of teens. If they see in their favorite band's music video people smoking pot and drinking and having a great time, they will be more likely to actually go out and do that. People in general, not just teenagers, are very impressionable. If something bad is associated with something good then it will more likely occur. And I'm not necessarily saying all the media is bad but most of it isn't good because they are trying to appeal to teenagers not give them the right choices.
'Cool hunting' is searching for a certain trend, personality, or way of entertainment that appeals to the teenage population. It is basically trying to find what 'cool' is, hence the name. Theories the researchers use are studying different teeenage lifestyles by going into their homes and asking them a series of questions. They also pay teens to go to certain events and analyze how they behave and if they appear to like what is being presented in front of them or not.
2. According to the commentators in the video, why do television, music, and fashion corporations want to understand how teenagers think and what they want?
Teenagers are the biggest group of people to market things to. They have a lot of disposable income because they are living at home and don't really have a lot of expenses like adults and working people do. They have money and they don't have anything to do with it so in order for companies to make their money and keep themselves in business they have to learn to appeal to the teenage generation.
3. How do MTV executives and other executives and other programming and marketing decision-makers characterize their relationship to teen culture? Do they say they are creating it or simply reflecting it?
They say that their relationship is out of touch and they have to hire other people they specialize in teenage interest because they themselves are not experts. They hire people to figure out what they want and what appeals to them so they can take it and mass produce it and hopefully sell it to them. They say that they are reflecting it. But in my opinion I think that they are creating it.
4. What is the difference between marketing research and human research, according tot the commentators in the video? What are the goals of each?
They say that there really isn't that big of a difference. When the marketers study how to sell their products or what products to create they are basically doing marketing research on humans, and that research leads to doing research on the actual humans they are studying. They have to get to know what appeals to them in order to be able to find or make something to sell to them.
5. Who is giving the most accurate description of the relationship between teen culture and commercialization, the 'merchants of cool' or their critics? What roles are these institutions playing in the socialization process? Argue for one of these two positions using specific points and examples from the video.
In my opinion I think the critics gave the most accurate description. Simply because they brought both sides of the commercialization process. They gave the negatives and the positives, making it easier to make a decision about agreement or disagreement. These insitutions are playing great roles in the socialization process. They affect how teens act and what they wear and how they talk to each other. They affect behaviors and actions of teens. If they see in their favorite band's music video people smoking pot and drinking and having a great time, they will be more likely to actually go out and do that. People in general, not just teenagers, are very impressionable. If something bad is associated with something good then it will more likely occur. And I'm not necessarily saying all the media is bad but most of it isn't good because they are trying to appeal to teenagers not give them the right choices.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Article Reviews
Alison Newkirk
October 23, 2008
2nd period
Article Review– “What Right Wingers Mean When They Call Obama a Socialist.” -Adam Serwer, The American Prospect.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=is_john_lewis_right_after_all
This article is discussing past influential black leaders in the United States and how they were seen as socialist and communist. The most recent black leader in the country, Barack Obama, is now being accused of the very same things. Mostly thanks to John McCain and Sarah Palin’s attempts to make Obama unpopular to the public. McCain is said to be creating an enviroment for violence and hatred against the Democratic Presidential candidate. Basically they are trying to make Obama look bad and by doing this they are questioning his intentions as president by saying he associates with terrorists and will be the downfall of our country. Obama has even been said to be the tool in dismantling our democracy and taking it over with communism. This is feeding right into the minds of Americans and causing a state of paranoia and panic. None of the allegations against Obama are proven true – they are just a mill of rumors and words that are only making things more complicated for this election. The author of this article is clearly defending Obama. And only the facts should be present in any presidential election. We don’t need to hear false accusations when an honest man who really could make a difference for our country is at stake.
Article Review- “Voting against Obama doesn’t make you Racist.” -William Glenn Beck, CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/09/beck.issues/index.html
This article is discussing how the issue of racism is taking on too big of a role in this election. If you are against Obama you are automatically assumed to be racist, however you aren’t considered sexist if you are against Sarah Palin? Whenever McCain or Palin brings up Obama’s alleged “neighbor/friend” William Ayers (who is also a terrorist) the race card gets pulled out. But that doesn’t make very much sense considering Ayers has white skin. Just because Barack Obama is black doesn’t mean every attack against him as a person, senator, or candidate for the presidency is based off a racist opinion. But the Democrats seem to see it like that. It’s their only way to fend off all the attacks on Obama. The author is clearly defending McCain in this article. He doesn’t think McCain is racist at all, and neither do I. But it seems like everytime the name Barack Obama comes out of John McCain or Sarah Palin’s mouth it is automatically assumed to be based off racist beliefs.
Article Review- “Does Race Really Matter?” –Michael A. Cohen, New York Times.
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/does-race-really-matter/?ref=opinion
This article is discussing whether or not this country is ready for a black president. The breakdown of race in this campaign favors Barack Obama over John McCain. People think Obama’s skin color is a disadvantage but it may be a beneficial. It gives him diversity and a lot of people are ready for a change and Barack Obama offers just that. A change. He is something that is not like George Bush or John McCain and he definitely has very different ideas from them. Now there still are a lot of supporters of McCain who are completely against a black president but a lot of people are starting to side with Obama’s.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
