Serving in Florida -- Barbara Ehrenreich

     I found this story to be good, although it wasn't my favorite. While I liked the plot very much--the story of a young woman, searching for a job that suited her socially and economically--I was a bit distracted by the lengthy sentences and the side comments. At times, I felt myself starting, stopping and rereading to make sure that I digested enough information to understand the story. Nonetheless, this story was, overall, entertaining.
     When I first noticed the title of this work, I thought it was going to tell the tale of a soldier (because often times, "serving" refers to serving in the military). However, I was taken by surprise when I read that it was actually the story of a lady dedicating herself to some very undesirable occupations. After reading just the first paragraph, I was able to pick up the author's voice. Her tone was comedic and refreshingly genuine. I giggled aloud as I read, "Picture a fat person's hell, and I don't mean a place with no food. Instead there is everything you might eat if eating had no bodily consequences--the cheese fries, the chicken-fried steaks, the fudge-laden desserts--only here every bite must be paid for, one way or another, in human discomfort (291)." A handful of authors would describe it differently, possibly in a more beautiful, poetic way. But the negative connotation of the words "hell," "fat," and "no" really were used honestly to paint the picture of the restaurant. I thought this was an intriguing way to open the story. Her word-choices made me laugh.
      Ehrenreich's style of writing really stood out to me. The first thing I noticed was the fact that she tells this entire story in present tense: "I complain to one of my fellow servers that I don't understand how she can go so long without food" (292). I thought that was quite interesting. Most narrative stories are set in the past tense. Also, Ehrenreich's reference to "catsup" made me wonder where exactly she was from and how old she was. I wasn't sure if this story was coming from the perspective of a teenager, looking for work, or from an adult struggling in a crumbling economy. However, while I was reading, I came across the following: "When I request permission to leave at about 3:30, another housekeeper warns me that no one has so far succeeded in combining housekeeping with serving at Jerry's: 'Some kid did it once for five days, and you're no kid'" (300). She obviously was not a kid looking for work.  I also wondered when exactly this story takes place. Was this a story written in the early 1950's? 1970's? 2000's? Luckily, Ehrenreich referenced the approximate time period in her footnotes and clarified my query: "In 1996 the number of persons holding two or more jobs averaged 7.8 million, or 6.2 percent of the workforce" (301). I assume this statistic references information relevant to the time period in which the story is set.
     This story reminded me of my first job at Dairy Queen. I was asked to work there, my sophomore year of high school by my friend, whose mother just took up the franchise. I delightedly said yes, incredibly eager to earn money and to work beside my close friends. I met new people--like Ehrenreich did--on "slow days," we got along and discussed moments of our personal lives (i.e., school friends, futures, foods, significant others). Some aspects were fun, some were tedious, others overwhelming. I remember it being a lot of work. I had to learn how to make the standard DQ cone, cup, blizzard, frostee and sundae, along with refill low supplies, work the cash register and cook hot meals.
Ehrenreich seemed to understand and put it...tastefully?:

"...the fudge-laden desserts...The floor is slick with spills, forcing us to walk through the kitchen with tiny steps...Put your hand down on any counter and you risk being stuck to it by the film of ancient syrup spills...The regulation poster in the single unisex restroom admonishes us to wash our hands thoroughly, and even offers instructions for doing so, but there is always some vital substance missing--soap, paper towels, toilet paper--and I've never found all three at once" (291).

    As for some of the lengthy sentences: "I'm on a 2:00-10:00pm shift now, and a male server from the morning tells me about the time he "pulled a triple" -- three shifts in a row, all the way around the clock -- and then got off and had a drink and met this girl, and maybe he shouldn't tell me this, but they had sex right then and there and it was like beautiful" (293). Though these sentences were filled with excessive details at times, I felt myself getting lost in their length, especially towards the end of the story. 

   Overall, though, I did enjoy this story!