Discussion Leader. Section 7. Pages 169-199. Brittney Nehring

·         Do you feel that Barbara gave up too easy or do you think she had to? Why?

I think that she gave up really easily, but I think that she knows that too.  Like she said, she could have moved somewhere else to where she could find affordable rent, but instead blew most of her money.  I think that another reason she gave up this easily was because she had achieved what she wanted and was satisfied.  She proved that rent is way too high, and jobs pay way too little.

·         Barbara talks about a man named Stan who dropped out of college because working and going to school was too much to handle, how do you feel about this?

I think that this happens to a lot of people actually, and I can relate to the feeling of doing both.  Most of the time I feel so overwhelmed because I work a very stressful job 16-24 hours a week.  I don’t get to enjoy every weekend like other students who don’t work.  Work cuts out time that I should be doing homework and tires me out.  I also know that I need to work this job so that I can pay for gas, food, and other things I need.  But I couldn’t imagine having to pay rent on top of that, I would probably have to drop out or go part time like many students do.

·         She talks about a co-worker at Wal-Mart who might leave the $7/hr. job for a $9/hr. job do you think that this would be enough for a minimum wage?

I think that this would definitely make a difference because in a 40 hour week that would be an extra $80 so in a month about $320 extra.  This extra money each month would help so many people out who are living on minimum wage.  However, I still feel that even $9/hr. is not a livable wage.  I earn nearly $12/hr. and still wonder how people at my job pay bills and rent, and support families off of this income.

·         Do you agree when she says that “no job, no matter how lowly, is truly unskilled?”

I do agree with this for the most part, and I don’t think that most people recognize this.  For example, I don’t think that people realize even a gas station attendant has to acquire some skills.  They memorize codes for items in the store if there isn’t a scanning system, count money all day, and have much patience for unhappy customers.  I think that every job requires skills even if it is just being able to handle the stress or doing that job when other people wouldn’t want to do it.