"Nickel-and-Dimed" was an interesting essay. Most people assume they understand how bad some people have it, but reading something like this really shows you how difficult it is to live in society today as a lower class citizen. I liked the fact that Barbara Ehrenreich reffered back to the fact that she was only a single person living off of the amount she was being payed, while most women on welfare or women working the same job as her and getting paid the same amount, have on average about two children to support. I couldn't believe that, "According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, for example, in 1998 it took, on average nationwide, an hourly wage of $8.89 to afford a one-bedroom apartment, and the Preamble Center for Public Poilicy estimates that the odds against a typical welfare recipitent's landing a job at such a "living wage" are about 97 to 1." Those odds are incredible.

"Pennies an Hour" also showed some horrific statistics. I couldn't believe how little the workers in sweatshops get paid. I had never seen the actual amounts, and like the people I talked about above who assume they understand how bad some people have it, I also assumed I knew. I had no idea that a young femal worker in Bangladesh gets paid only 1.6 cents for a baseball hat with a logo on it that sells for now, probably more then $17. The fact that women in Bangladesh think they could care for their children if their wages rose to 34 cents an hour is amazing. It opens your eyes to read things like this, and look at how different people live across the world.