Many of us who earn a living by sitting in front of a computer barely notice the people who clean up the office mess, vacuum the carpet, and hand the lunch pack in the dinning service sector. When confronted, we usually offer a mindless greeting –“how are you” to them, and sure enough, we get a smile– “pretty good. How about you” and so forth. We then assume that they are really fine. They are always around, cheering, caring, and hard-working. Nobody bothers to ask how they are really doing. In a society maniacally protecting people’s privacy, an honest question (and/or an answer) poses great unease on both sides.

In the US, “working” is a sacred word. Having a job, no matter what kind of job, indicates you are not lazy. You are a respectful person pursuing your American dream. Work hard, and you will success.There are numerous people who rise from low class to middle or even upper middle class, such as the experience of Della Mae Justice reported in the Thursday’s New York Time.As Benjamin Franklin pointed out and indeed practiced during his whole life: diligence is the key to success.There is no doubt about it.

Well, everybody works hard, at least in their own eyes. But is hard-working enough?

Barbara Ehrenreich decided to give a test. Her trying experience as a low-wage worker was recorded in her little book– “Nickel and Dimed –On (Not) Getting By In America”. The book not only revealed the invisible working poor, but also raised many questions the rich never thought of. Although the book may have little impact on the government policy, the seed has been planted.

Raised from a working class family, Barbara understood and deeply concerned the life of the working class. During her investigation, she worked as a waitress in Key West, Florida; a maid in Portland, Maine; and a seller in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her targeted living standard included a car, enough healthy foods, and an affordable apartment with kitchen and bathroom, which was actually better than that of most working class families. With her $6-7 per hour payment, she encountered enormous difficulties to meet these needs even though she had no additional mouth to feed. For example, she had to work on two jobs to pay the next month’s rent (but she discovered she could not do two labor intensive jobs within a day). The money was just not enough. Furthermore, to work on the low-paid jobs, one might spend more money on apartment. When she was a waitress, she had to move from a $500 efficiency to a more expensive trailer just to be closer to the work and accommodate work shifting. She also temporarily lived in cheap motels where many poor people lived forever. The costs of motels, unfortunately, were higher than that of some apartments.

Working in low-paid jobs was not only physically damaging but also mentally challenging. For example, the activities working in retailer stores were unfortunately categorized as moderate physical activities in National Guideline. The Wal-Mart sellers, or “associates,” a word abused by the Wal-Mart, had to repeat the tedious work such as arranging and rearranging racks, folding and unfolding clothes, and picking up anything customers, or “guests,” had heedlessly dropped.Furthermore, Wal-Mart associates had to work 8 hours plus half an hour to stuff themselves and two 15 min breaks, thus rendering 9 hours in store but being paid for only 8 hours. They had to punch in and punch out every time they left their working zones. “Time-theft” was a “crime” which might cause a “write-up.” The author felt completely exhausted after 9 hours of constant position-on-move. But many of her coworkers held two or more jobs.Worse than that, the Wal-Mart intentionally brainwashed its associates. The new associates had to endure an 8 hour long and mentally demanding training session (and everyday there were new workers!). During the work, the associates had no power. The tension between manager and associates could be felt everywhere. The associates often had to hide away when caught a glance of an assistant manager.

Low-paid working people had no dignity. As a maid in Portland which is a mostly white town, she was distressed by the mistrust and demeaning behaviors from customers. She was even looked down by cashiers in convenient stores although they were paid similar wages and practically the same poor people. Scrubbing the floor, she figured, was a servant job.

The lost of dignity was also conspicuous in the Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart had many job rituals which Barbara found ridiculous and irritable. There were meetings for associates in which people sometimes had to shout nonsense words such as “Gimme a W “. Sam Walton might believe that these rituals could bring associates together, establish their connections with the store, and boost their self-esteem for being working in the Wal-Mart. In fact, they were just brainwashing procedures. No matter how pride the associates felt, they still had to suffer the low payment.

What about the family lives of those real working poor? Barbara queried her coworkers. Not surprisingly, they all lived in poor. Some held two jobs to make a living. The physical damages from their demanding jobs were overlooked, and there was no or almost no health insurance for them. Most of her female coworkers were school dropouts, living with somebody and having a family to support.For example, one of her fellow maids had to conceal her pregnancy in order to keep working. Her husband “forced” her to work because they can’t afford one day off, despite that she felt physically unfit that day. After she had twisted her ankle, she had to pretend she was fine, and even angry with Barbara’s overreaction. She was particularly pleased when her boss allowed her to take the next day off.

Furthermore, it was ironic that many of those working poor believed that the tortuous jobs were their lives. They were used to their jobs and lived on them. When the author worked as a Wal-Mart associate, she also developed a psychological attachment to the woman cloth zone with a false impression that she was in charge of them.Many of her fellow maids in Maine also believed that the maid job was the best they could have—relatively secure and fairly paid. That’s the way of their lives, they concluded, subconsciously.

Is there a way out? The author reasoned that there should be a union to protect associates in the Wal-Mart. She also believed that the government failed to support the working poor, and the whole society largely ignored the existence of these people. However, the author didn’t give explicit answers on how to fix them except for alluring welfare systems such as those in Canada and Scandinavia countries. However, currently more than 12% of Americans are in poverty and more are the working poor. Some economists figured that $30,000 was the minimum to support a family of three, with no luxuries such as decent child day care. Given the average payment of $6-7 per hour, it seemed that the working poor had no way out!

Therefore, for most low-paid working people, they don’t see any future for them but just keep on working to meet their daily needs–feeding themselves and their families. Unfortunately, the author didn’t delve further about their family members. We don’t know whether they indeed had any hopes, or whether they put their hopes on their children.

What is the possible future for individuals, especially children to avoid the nightmare their parents are suffering? As far as I can see, the only route for the low class members to move up to the middle and above class is through education. People living in the US are fortunate enough to have free education till high school; and there are ways to replenish themselves with college education. In fact, people like Della Mae Justice did just that. She was a hard working student in public schools and obtained a law degree from U of Kentucky. She was now working decently and living comfortably.

However, there are problems in education. It is well known that poor children attend inadequate schools. They also hang out together which negatively reinforce their beliefs that there is no hope for them. They are doomed, as many have complained. They are rejected by the society and the government, which is probably true. The reality tells us that a large percent of children from working families end up no better than their parents.

Having said this much, I really don’t know whether the society is largely responsible for the oppressive situation in the working poor, or those poor individuals should be blamed. Maybe the working poor are structurally important in the society, as some sociologists would believe. There have to be some people working on things rich ones normally don’t do. The menial functions the poor people performed are indispensable for the stability of the society. That is, the lives of the working poor also have a purpose: SERVE THE PEOPLE!

Postscript:

I would like to give some reflections on myself. I am blessed to be born in a family that values education and never gives up hopes. In a once-small town, my family was different—in the sense that we sacrificed opportunities of earning ready money in a booming economical development. We did have financial trouble because education was never cheap. In fact, I was the most costly living creature in my family. I attended one of the best middle schools in my province which meant to live in a school twenty miles away from home. My older sister involuntarily terminated her education because she didn’t do very well and had no hope of entering a college. Even with that, she had more education than most of her peers. Another reason was (and my sister firmly believed) that because I did extremely well, my father had to sacrifice my sister and save money for my college, almost 100% sure in either Shanghai or Beijing. With a meager income, my parents managed to ensure my whole education, although retrospectively, they must have lived in a desperate life—or put in another way, a frugal life. Nevertheless, after having suffered for more than half of a century, my parents can finally enjoy their lives. They are still not rich but financially secure thanking to my fathers’ previous iron-bowl job and their children’s potential contributions. They are both physically and mentally healthy. In fact, given practically no health insurance for them, they can still afford expensive diagnostic exams before figuring out how much the exams will cost—a strategy actually save money in the long run.In particular, they don’t have to worry about their children and grandchildren. Their jobs are finished. As quoted from my aunties: they are the happiest and the most relaxed old people in the whole town.