Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Nickel and Dimed Hiring a Maid
On p. 91, Ehrenreich writes that hiring a cleaning person was "not the kind of
relationship
that she wanted to have with another human being." What does she mean? How would
such a relationship be similar to or different from the ones that she must have with the person
that changes the oil in her car, or the person who cuts the meat that she buys at her
grocery store, or the person who cleans the offices in the building that she might work in
at her real job? Is society better off because Ehrenreich does not personally hire a maid?