Hey, there! Log in / Register
Weekly editor to daily reporter: Cut the crap
By adamg on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 5:46pm
Kat Powers, editor at the Somerville Journal, reads Globie Geoff Edgers's piece about second jobs - in which he spends a day on a UPS truck and then another as a fast-food cashier to see how the other half lives - and begs of you:
Dear reader, please kick my butt if I ever write anything like the elitist crap I just read about having a second job.
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Heh
Barbara Ehrenrich called. She wants her (giggle) hackneyed idea back.
I was trying to think of her
I was trying to think of her name. It doesn't get much worse than making money off proletariat tourism. Hey Barbara... Marie Antionette called.
good book
Ehrenreich (Nickel & Dimed) managed to pull it off without sounding condescending or slumming. This guy missed the boat.
Unfortunately, we don't need faux sacrifices to understand how difficult things are. And many would be happy to take that $9/hour UPS job right now.
One BIG difference ...
Ehrenreich actually attempted to live off her wages, in order to see if there were somehow "hidden economies" that made what was impossible on paper possible in real life.
She found only desperate deprivation, untreated illness, and occasional homelessness to balance the ledger. Why people think this is any less meaningful than what the Dirty Jobs Guy does is beyond me - unless breaking through the denial that poverty is impossible to escape for too many hard working people is too much for some privileged folk to get.
Edgers? I have no idea why he bothered. He seemed to already get the point from actually asking people who have to live that way.
how things have changed
Ehrenreich wrote her book during the heyday of the bubble economy, hoping to educate the public about the growing chasm between rich and poor. One big free fall later, it seems like an artifact from an epoch ago, like it's 1930 and we're looking back at social commentary from 1927.
Blame the editor
Edgers? I have no idea why he bothered.
Edgers broke and has been working the Rose Art Museum story the last couple weeks. I'm sure it wasn't his idea to spend a day playing let's-pretend on a UPS truck.
UPS driver is a damn good
UPS driver is a damn good job.
It looked like the story was
It looked like the story was written a while ago; he was working for UPS during the holiday rush. This kind of story often sits "in the can" for a while until there's space available.
That said, I agree that it didn't really add a lot to my understanding of Our Economic Situation, while B. Ehrenreich's book really did shed light on the situations people face.
Butt Kicking & Crap Cutting
If this schnook wanted a real challenge, he could have worked at the UPS hub loading the trucks. THAT is hard work! Delivering package is the soft job...
PS, Happy Birthday Kat!