Characters
Who is Barbara Ehrenreich ?
The narrator in Nickel and Dimed
What state and city does this chapter take place?
\Key West, Florida
The author's first job in the chapter
waitress
Where does Barbara go second? (city, state)
Ehrenreich moves to Portland, Maine, on August 24.
Why does Barbara choose Minneapolis?
Barbara isn't sure why she chose Minneapolis as her next destination: she knows Minnesota is a pretty liberal state and generous to its welfare poor, and an Internet search has shown that there are jobs for $8 an hour and studio apartments for $400 or less. This time, she's looking for a more comfortable situation.
Who teaches Barbara what to do at Woodcrest on her first day?
Linda is her supervisor, a kindly woman who shows her the ropes
Why did all of the hotels take the author’s applications if they did not have a job available?
So that they will have extra applicants in case someone quits
Ehrenreich tries to teach English to George, a 19-year-old from Czechoslovakia. What is George's job?
Dishwasher
Why does Barbara choose Maine?
She chooses it for its "whiteness." In other words, this seems to be a place where she finally won't stick out like a sore thumb in low-wage jobs for being Caucasian, blue-eyed, and a native English speaker.
Where did Barbara stay in the beginning of Minneapolis? Describe the room.
She's staying at the apartment of friends of friends while they're back east for a few days, in return for taking care of their cockatiel (despite her phobia of birds). It's a tiny one-bedroom with furnishings from the late seventies. It's pleasant and cozy.
The narrator's coworker at Walmart, the one she is closest to
Melissa?
Where did Barbara finally get a job at in Chapter 1?
At a restaurant called the Hearthside
What is a drug test?
Something that had to be done before many applications
How does Barbara's expectation of Maine differ from the reality?
The reality does not quite live up to the fantasy. First of all, despite the plenitude of ads and "job fairs", and what seems like a paucity of potential laborers, the average rate for low-wage jobs is still $6-$7 an hour.
What is the last test Barbara has to pass before she gets hired at Wal-Mart? Is Barbara going to pass?
All that's left is to pass the drug test. Unfortunately, Barbara has had a slight "indiscretion" in the past few weeks involving marijuana, which she knows can linger in the body.
A woman who the narrator speaks to in her attempt to get food vouchers/aid
Karen?
What type of jobs does Barbara apply to first in Key West?
Housekeeping at hotels and supermarket jobs, such as Winn-Dixie.
Which job is harder for Barbara at the Woodcrest and why: Serving or dish washing?
The serving part is easy—especially when compared with the frenetic atmosphere at the Hearthside or Jerry's—but the dish washing is grueling, since the machine goes at breakneck speed and Ehrenreich has trouble keeping up.
What job positions does she look for in Maine?
She looks for positions in: cleaning, nursing home work, warehouse work, manufacturing, and as a "general helper."
What frustrates Barbara about the effects the drug test can have on whether you get the job or not?
It also frustrates her that her ability to perform a job well and her engaging qualities can be trumped by smoking pot.
How does Barbara describe Billy?
Billy, a kitchen worker with a shoulder-length hair and a short temper.
Why does Barbara turn down Winn-Dixie?
Ehrenreich aces the interview, but she is told she must do a urine test before beginning work. She decides that the paltry wages Winn-Dixie offers—barely over $6 an hour for starters—are insufficient "to compensate for this indignity."
At the Woodcrest Residential Facility, Ehrenreich befriends a man named Pete. What is Pete's job?
A cook
What two jobs does Barbra acquire in Maine? How much money does each job pay per hour?
Luckily, she nabs a spot at a nursing home for $7 an hour and a spot at The Maids for $6.65 an hour. To celebrate, she dines at Appleby's.
How does Caroline relate to Barbara? What is Caroline's story?
Caroline is a real-life version of Barbara's experiment: she'd been working in New Jersey when she left a difficult home situation and decided to leave for Florida, where she'd heard the rents were lower. She had clothes, Greyhound tickets, and $1,600 in cash. The bus dropped her and her kids off outside Orlando, where they stayed at a low-priced hotel and found a church. People from church drove her to the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children, a federal food program) and to find a school and day-care. Soon she found a job cleaning hotel rooms for about $300 a week, which gave her backaches and meant her 12-year-old had to watch the baby all evening.