Nickled and Dimed: This Is a Book That Teenagers Should Read Before Attempting To Rule The World

Nickled and Dimed

Overall Rating: This Is a Book That Teenagers Should Read Before Attempting To Rule The World

Typically when you’re taking a college class, and they give you a book and say you must read it by Friday, the reaction is just pure dread. Never have I enjoyed a required reading, but this one isn’t too bad. It’s called Nickled and Dimed by Barabarea Ehrenriech.

The book is non fiction. In the prologue she states that it was nothing more than a journalism project. The journalist went under cover in multiple parts of the country trying to make a living off of minimum wage. She works as a waitress, house cleaner and then a Wal-Mart employee.

So what was good? Finally it’s a book about the hard boiled truth about making a living in America. The “land of the free” tales and “that you can be anybody you want to be” myths that we hear as kids growing are typically thrown out the window when you’re on your own working a minimum wage job. And the book reflects that greatly. I could relate so much with what she was talking about. She goes from job to job trying to survive under what seems like illegal protocols, but it’s just the way things are.

The bad, chapter three. The chapter when she was a Wal-Mart employee bugged me. She became obsessive with her job. And I’m sorry, I worked in retail for years, if there was anything I was obsessed with, it wasn’t my job. She talks about how working in clothes was so hard having to organize them every day. Here I am, with my own experience saying you don’t have it hard at all. Try working up to seven in the morning school until one, a half hour for lunch if I got one, five hours of work, managing a warehouse, and stocking shelves, followed by cashiering two hours after that. Then I get home and then spend the whole night doing home work to go to school the next day. And mind you, I’m not including making my website, books and then in the October have to find a way to manage a small haunted house. I f I got sleep I’m lucky and then everything is repeated the next day. And the little time I have I might work on my books. So to just hear her complain about working in clothing every day, when it could be so much work just drove me nuts. I guess it’s one of my biggest pet peeves.

But overall, it’s a good read. I recommend it any American. Especially if you are a parent of teenager, or in high school or college who has a friend who says their going to go out to rule the world. Give them this. I swear every high school student should read this before moving out, because I know so many people are struggling right now with their dreams on the back burner right now. Just don’t read chapter three.

3 Smoothies out of Four

P.S. Check out my book and ebook website at Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://www.lelue.webs.com/