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At times, Ehrenreich seems to raise tangential issues. When she describes her coworker
Chapter 7, Problem 10(choose chapter or problem)
At times, Ehrenreich seems to raise tangential issues. When she describes her coworker smoking, for instance, she writes: “Because work is what you do for others; smoking is what you do for yourself. I don’t know why the antismoking crusaders have never grasped the element of defiant self-nurturance that makes the habit so endearing to its victims — as if, in the American workplace, the only thing people have to call their own is the tumors they are nourishing and the spare moments they devote to feeding them” (para. 2). What is the effect of this commentary? What is its relevance to Ehrenreich’s overall purpose?
Questions & Answers
QUESTION:
At times, Ehrenreich seems to raise tangential issues. When she describes her coworker smoking, for instance, she writes: “Because work is what you do for others; smoking is what you do for yourself. I don’t know why the antismoking crusaders have never grasped the element of defiant self-nurturance that makes the habit so endearing to its victims — as if, in the American workplace, the only thing people have to call their own is the tumors they are nourishing and the spare moments they devote to feeding them” (para. 2). What is the effect of this commentary? What is its relevance to Ehrenreich’s overall purpose?
ANSWER:Step 1 of 2
Cite another other example where Ehrenreich’s commentary raises tangential issues.
Ehrenreich’s digressive manner in narrating scenes from the restaurant takes the reader to her rather raw, unfiltered trail of thoughts and perhaps, her subconscious as a journalist – having to confront dreadful conditions head on. This is also evident in Paragraph 10 where she lets her mind run as she recalls being pulled aside by her superior to give her a piece of advice when it comes to sharing a chat or two with customers.
She reckons, “I mumble thanks for the advice, feeling like I’ve just been stripped naked by the crazed enforcer of some ancient sumptuary law: No chatting for you, girl. No fancy service ethic allowed for the serfs. Chatting with customers is for the good looking young college-educated servers in the downtown carpaccio and ceviche joints, the kids who can make $70–$100 a night. What had I been thinking? My job is to move orders from tables to kitchen and then trays from kitchen to tables. Customers are in fact the major obstacle to the smooth transformation of information into food and food into money — they are, in short, the enemy.” Here, the readers are able to observe a dichotomy of narrative between Ehrenreich The Waitress and Ehrenreich The Social Critic.