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Ehrenreich's Serving In Florida

528 Words3 Pages

Throughout, “Serving in Florida,” Ehrenreich tells her life story by going into details not only about herself, but the ones she works with as well. She explains what is it like to work a low paying job and illustrates how much of a struggle it is to pay for meals, gas and rent. Ehrenreich includes many conversations with the individuals she worked and goes into detail on how they struggle to make a living as well. One of the people Ehrenreich talked with was Gail. Gail worked as a waitress and was sharing a room for $250 a month with a friend she didn’t get along with. Gail was told by her doctor that she needs to take estrogen supplements, which was not covered by the health care company. This added even more expense to Gail’s life. She ended up moving out and slept in her truck in a hotel parking lot because she couldn’t afford to pay rent. Ehrenreich is showing her audience how hard life is for people working low income jobs. It makes the readers feel the emotion of the situation. Another person Ehrenreich met was Annette. She was a 21- year old who was six months pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend. She lives with her mother. Annette was left in the dust and forced to move in with her mom because she couldn’t afford living alone while pregnant. Ehrenreich meets a guy named Billy, who was one …show more content…

Tips normally covered meals and gas. The servers had to share 15% of the tips they earned with busboys and bartenders, which eliminated some of their earnings. On average, they only earned $5.15 an hour, and if their tips were low, then they may not have enough money to pay their monthly rent. Most of the people who worked with Ehrenreich had required expenses and were still struggling to make a living. This displays how low of a income they truly got, and it makes the audience of higher incomes realize how hard life can be with a lower paying

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