Discussion Leader. Section 2. Pages 30-59. Kallie Thoreson

1.  Ehrenreich tells us that she takes occasional breaks from this life and goes home now and then to catch up.  How does this affect how she views her "old" life and her "new" life?
When she goes home the author is seeing the differences between her "old" and "new" life.  She is starting to think her "old" life is strange. Ehrenreich realizes how much time some people who are making much more than minimum wage have on their hands when she tries to catch up on e-mails and phone messages.  She is also amazed at the amount she used to spend on things when she is paying bills.  On page 34, Ehrenreich admits that she is starting to view the people from her "old" life as a "distant race of people".


2.  Ehrenreich forms a "mutual-support" group with the other women serving at Jerry's.  How does their discussion reveal that they are in the same boat as Ehrenreich (living on minimum wage)?
The different things that these women discuss reveal that they too are living on minimum wage.  They frequently talk about their job and their living accommodations.  They also talk about "typical girl things" (men, children, chocolate peanut-butter cream pie), but never talk about potentially expensive things.


3.  The author chose Maine as her next location for its whiteness.  How will this influence her time spent there?
Ehrenreich believes it will be very easy to find employment in Maine.  She tells that not only are the professors and students all white, but so are the hotel keepers, panhandlers, and cab drivers.  Because everyone else is white, the author feels she will have an easy time fitting in and a quick time finding a job.


4.  What is one way (towards the end of this section) that Ehrenreich starts to realize what it means to be truly poor?
She begins by making a comment that what she is doing (leaving home and going somewhere 2000 miles away) is rather odd if you're not involved in the witness protection program.  On page 52 the author tells, "This is not all that different from the kinds of dislocations that routinely segment the lives of the truly poor".  It is at this point that she becomes aware that the truly poor have to do whatever they can to make ends meet.  If it means picking up and moving 2000 miles away to an unfamiliar place, that is what they will do.  Ehrenreich ends on page 53 by saying, "Here I am - as clueless and alone as I have ever been in my grown-up life".