Thursday, June 2, 2011
"Capitalism: A Love Story" and "Sicko"
By ROBERT CARBAJAL
Documentary Compare & Contrast
The two documentaries that I decided to see were "Capitalism: A Love Story" and "Sicko," both were written, directed, and starring Michael Moore. Both of these films have a couple of things in common. They focus on what is currently happening in the United States during this period of crisis. Most of his films get to the point and clearly tell you what’s currently going on. They also say that there is a financial crisis in both of their areas in the pharmaceutical and nationwide financial dilemma.
The film Sicko was directly about the American healthcare system. It focused mainly on the managed care and the pharmaceutical industry. At least four major industries ordered their employees not to do any interviews with Michael Moore. It too compared and contrasted the United States healthcare to other countries such as Canada, England, and Cuba. A numerous amount of people from Wisconsin and Michigan head up to Canada just for free healthcare and use fake documents to do it since it’s so outrageously over priced to see a doctor here without medical insurance. They just cross the border to see the doctor and come right back. Many also tend to do this with their children. Moore then travels to England and finds that medical healthcare isn’t bad at all. It’s free and not only that but when you leave they give you money for your cab fare back home. The doctors in England also get paid just as well or better than the ones here in the United States as well. Lastly when he went to Cuba he went to find medical attention and they bought medicine for a very affordable cost.
In Capitalism a Love Story it focuses on the financial downfall of the late 2000s. With this you saw Wall Street’s casino mentality, profit for prisons, home foreclosures, how corporations own a life insurance on their workers and they don’t know, and the very high poverty level. In the beginning of the film Michael Moore compares us to the great empire of Rome and how their civilization was. They rose quickly had great power and then slowly but surely eventually fell. Things that happened to them is now happening to the United States and most don’t realize it. It also shows many robberies that have currently occurred in security camera footage. This film also shows families getting evicted from their homes even before the day comes. Also one of the most alarming parts of the films is when you find out that pilots get paid less than even a Taco Bell Manager and some are even on food stamps and have a second job with only getting paid 16,000 to 20,000 a year. Another part that caught much attention was when there was pilot failure and a plane went down, the pilot was killed the company he worked for had a life insurance policy on him. The already wealthy company got a over a million dollars more rich over an employee’s death and his wife and children didn’t receive a single dollar. This too happened with Wal-Mart one employee died and with the life insurance policy that Wal-Mart had they gained 800,000 dollars then once again the family members didn’t receive anything from it. Many families were also evicted from their houses and had nowhere to go. They got evicted no nessesarily because they didn’t get paid well but because they kept getting paid the same but the rent on the home kept increasing so there wasn’t any balance on it.
There were a couple of things that were also different from both movies. In Capitalism it referenced to the passed a lot saying how this recession eventually came to be. Such as the beginning of the downfall of it all was Ronald Reagan’s second term in office. That was when poor decisions were made which then eventually made General Motors close down in Flint, Michigan. It talked about the past again comparing how people used to live. It used to be that only the father had to work and the mother worked only if she wanted too. The father had a pension plan set and he could use once he retired. Lastly with only one working parent you were able to send your child to college without any debt in loans. In Sicko there wasn’t any reference to the past just comparisons to other countries because this focused on American healthcare and how ours could probably better like other countries.
I believe that both of these films very much told you the truth of what’s going on currently today and most of your questions will be answered. These two documentaries got to the message fairly quick. They did a good job at exploiting the problems to show the public. This could help us on making our financial decisions. They also taught you a lot of things you don’t learn in school and that in today’s world we have to work ten times harder than we did 60 years ago just to be as financially as stable as them.
"Nickel and Dimed" and "Roger and Me"
By JOVON SUTTON
“Nickel & Dimed (On Not Getting By In America)”
In the recession that we’re living in, minimum wage in jobs is just not going to cut it. Living in poverty is dangerous and life risking. When Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover to see how hard it is to live in these kinds of condition, she found out that it wasn’t easy. Her life took a major turn when she started working in a minimum wage environment. Even though she had it hard, many of people just like her found out that minimum wage pay can’t make survival methods in living life.
Comparing “Nickel & Dimed” to “Capitalism & A Love Story,” these working condition are the same. The type health insurance that, “Capitalism & Love Story” mention is, in Canada the cost of health insurance is zero. Meaning that they don’t have to pay nothing for health insurance. In the documentary it explains how some countries have it greater than America, far as the health plans. When visiting England, you should go to the doctor or get injured. The reason why is because it is known that when you go to the hospital in England and you’re treated once leaving, they will provide a taxi for you or some kind of transportation for you to get home from the hospital. Also a lot of people living in Michigan will sneak from there to Canada to get free health care, when they are sick.
Talking about Michigan, their was another documentary called “Roger & Me” that touch bases on minimum wage jobs and lay-offs. In Flint, Michigan the birth place of “GM” motors was the town star. Everyone who came to Flint came for one thing only, and that’s to work. These workers would come to work at the “GM” plant. This was the town trademark. Until a man named Roger Smith decide to close the plant down. 30,000 workers lost their jobs and roger didn’t even care about his employees. The reason why I say he didn’t care is, because when he closed the plant down he open one right up in Mexico.
When Roger done this a lot of Flint residents hated him. Even though Roger Smith did this madness, Ronald Regan came up with a plan to help the Flint residents. Having to live in poverty and survive on minimum wage pay is nothing to joke about. Especially if you have a family, that doesn’t even have a decent income to provide and help out, it’s going to be even harder. The things that children need to learn is, that education is the only option provided for kids to try and do something to help out. In the long-run education would pay for your rent, food and house. All you have to do is be willing to except the knowledge that is being taught.
One choice that Barbara made, is to see how hard it is to live in the type of environment and poverty. From the feedback, the choice that she made was one that she will probably never make again. She lived in poverty for over three years and found out that it’s nothing to mess around with. Knowing what she knows now, she would rather get her normal income, than receive minimum wage.
"Sicko" and "Capitalism: A Love Story"
Recently I viewed several Michael Moore films and was shown a side of the United States of America that most families are not accustomed to. In his film Bowling for columbine although not on the topic of the economy he identifies many key problems that he believes led to the tragedy at columbine high school. In this movie he introduces his persistent idea that the government here in the United States instills fear into society in anticipation of consumption. Moore blames advertising to the overall feeling that Americans to have a gun and use it. Canada, Moore says has as many guns as the US, yet has less gun related violence. When he visited Canada the media was not fixated on violence.
In Sicko he uses this “formula” to explain the reason so many Americans are so willing to accept a system of healthcare that shuns its paying customers and denies so many from being covered. He goes on to say that the public is willing to have their right to live because they have a fear of socialistic ways and communism. Why? Because they had been taught this for many years and were trained to play follow the leader .He states that the government in the 80s decided to have for profit hospitals following the capitalistic ideas of this country. He follows to bash the whole idea of capitalism in his film Capitalism: A love story. In his films Moore gives examples of how the whole system has failed and gives many suggestions of how the problem could be fixed but goes on to explain that the very base of the government is too greedy to ever want to change.
A very interesting opening sequence in Capitalism: A Love Story he compares a crumbling roman empire to the existing government. He did this excellently noting that the Romans depended largely on slave labor not far off is the US using foreign labor that’s cheap. He also goes on to say that not many jobs are available to the unskilled. Another interesting subject was the one of what unskilled workers were worth to CEOs and those higher up on the working scale. It turns out the unskilled were worth more to the companies they were employed under, dead. hundreds of dollars were paid to companies after the passing of their employees in the form of life insurance policies, were as families were paid nothing. Companies known to do this were Wal-Mart Citibank, bank of America…just to name a few Another underlying theme in Michael mores films was the job his father was stripped from after Gm decided to close down their factory in Moore’s home town. He proudly shows clips from his happy childhood and goes on to criticize GMs decision. Overall the tone of his movies is sarcasm he feels the government has lied to the public and that they I guess don’t deserve respect from him. His main target most of times is George bush the head of the “organization” he seams to despise.
I believe his movies are entertainment and are meant to open the eyes of those who view it. It is also moving to see that through all of these hardships, Moore cares enough to go out of his way and make a film to inform an ignorant public about the reality the public unwillingly ignore.
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"The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Sicko"
By Ty Tillman
“The Pursuit of Happyness” shows you can be on top and just fall down and low wage jobs can break you down as a person. Working at a low wage job is even harder. “Sicko” is another movie that portrays how a person struggles for certain benefits, but in the end they gain these benefits with the power of hope.
Christopher Gardner Jr. made it harder on his father, Chris Gardner, because he had to work a low wage job and had to take care of Christopher. Chris Gardner and his son went through a lot of struggles such as getting kicked out of the house for not being able to pay for rent and having to move into a hotel. I really felt bad when he had to play with Christopher Jr. like he had a time machine so they can sleep in the restroom. Christopher Jr. is five years of age. It is really unbelievable to me that Chris Gardner as a single father was able to work hard and try to keep his son happy. Chris showed us that being a single father is very hard; that you should always be there for your child as a father no matter how bad you are doing, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. Chris Gardner as a single father tries to teach his son a lesson even though there at the bottom at the list he can grow up and become a better person from learning off his father mistakes.
In the documentary “Sicko”, it shows the health care of North America n and the situation of the average American citizen. Michael Moore compared people who had better health care to the people who don’t have health care. There were people who went through a lot of struggles but had their family to lay on and that cared about them. The people that had good jobs then later lost them had to struggle because they were not making enough money or not making any at all. When people injured themselves they don’t have enough money to pay for their injury or because they don’t have health care.
“The Pursuit Of Happiness” and “Sicko” are to different kind of stories because one is about going through struggles trying to raise a child by yourself and working a low wage job. Then on top of that not having anyone to help you when you need help but to never give up in life no matter what you are going through. Then the other one is a documentary on how people struggle but had their family to lean on when they needed help. The people in the documentary went through struggles such as not able to pay for surgery problems, not having health care . the thing that caught my attention is that “The Pursuit Of Happiness” and” Sicko” both showed that no matter what you are going through at the time try to stay strong and not able to pay for what you really want and not able to pay for your rent .
"The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Sicko"
By Ruben Borbon
In 1981, a man named Christopher Gardner with a wife and child living in the San Francisco bay area is trying to get by with what they have. Spending their whole lives savings on a revolutionary machine called a portable density scanner. A medical device he sells for a living that gives a slightly denser picture than an x-ray for twice the money. The problem was he hasn’t been selling any. He needed to sell two scanners a month to pay rent and daycare. His wife tries to find the best job that’s available for her to pay as well. But then Christopher came across a business which he could do, which was being stock broker. It would take him six months or more if he was the one to get the job and there was only one out of the twenty getting the job for the internship. He got the job and after beginning his career of Dean Witter, Christopher went on to found the investment firm Gardner rich in 1987. In 2006 Gardner sold a minority stake in his broke age firm in multi-million dollar deal.
The movie relating to the working poor is that Christopher Gardner was not in a good situation, leading him to become poor and for a long time with a child. It shows that Gardner really had nothing but his child and this internship opportunity as a stockbroker. After six months of evaluation and test he got the job. He was at the bottom and got to the top allowing him to support his child. He struggled through life without a stable job and in the end he became a wealthy stockbroker.
“Sicko”, is about people who don’t have health insurance but people that do. This documentary includes interviews and questions about what’s going with health insurance effects the people. It explains that health care insurances are really not helpful when you need them. Insurances tend not to aid the people until their situation is as bad as it can get. After the support they even try to get their money back as best as they can, leaving you deficient at times and becoming broke.
“Sicko” is about a necessity you would like but too expensive and not trustworthy to people which is health care insurance. A women named Becky Malke who’s in the health industry says, “I could be a bitch some times on the phone with patients because I don’t to hear their life story of whatever the situation is because I know there going to get denied and I can’t tell them that”. Tasha Harris says, “whatever happened to helping the person that sick… not make their problems worst.” Insurance companies try to get their money back by hiring people like Lee Inor, to find one slip on your application or pre-existing condition you didn’t even know you had. Lee Inor explains and says, “They would go through your health profile from five years. In some states its legal to have what is called a prudent person pre-existing condition and that says if prior to your insurance finding you had any symptom which would incline normally prudent person to have side medical care then the condition of which that symptom was a symptom is excluded”.
“The Pursuit Of Happyness” was about a man at the bottom and his struggle through life to get to the top. “Sicko” was about people that have health care insurance and getting money taken away from them. The people were covered by the insurances based on their situation, thus making it very difficult for people to trust the insurances.
Waging a Living
Struggling to Make Ends Meet at a Poverty Level Wage, Claudia G. Supports Her Family of Six With One Pay check.
Like millions of Americans, Claudia G. struggles to support her family of six and herself.
By Eloise J. Rives
Claudia G. (who did not want to be identified) works at an elementary school in the office as a secretary. She is a single mom that supports six people and herself with a single paycheck.
They all share a one-bedroom house. Living with her is her 23-year-old son and daughter-in-law, her two grandsons and her two teenage daughters.
Claudia, like millions of Americans in the United States, struggles just to make ends meet.
Sometimes she worries about how she might pay the rent for that month.
Her family and her live on paycheck after paycheck because she is the only one that works. There are rare times were she has any extra money left over.
“Life would have been a lot easier if I went to college.”
She wants her kids to have a better life than she did. Every day she reminds her kids that education is the key to a happy successful life. There is not one day that goes by that she does not want a better life for her kids.
As the go by she knows how to manage everything that is going around her.
She knows that all of her children will be a success in life. In whatever they plan to do with their life they will be great at their job.
“If you enjoy what you do for a living, you never work a day in your life.”
She says that if anything were to happen to her … her kids will be okay because she knows that they will know what to do when that time comes.
“Sometimes you have to make the best with what you have.”
Many people say that in order to be privileged you have to have the determination for it. That is true because if you really desire something, you will try your very hardest in order to reach your goal and that means going to college and/or university. Even if you do come from poverty.
“The only way to get out of poverty is to get a good education.”
Claudia wants her kids to go to college. But for sure her first daughter, Samantha is perusing her dream of going to university.
Even though Claudia lives with six other people and only receives one paycheck, she still tries her very best to provide what is needed, and sometimes the things that her kids want. She sees though how sometimes she needs to stare into the sad eyes of her kids wishing she could do more.
To her kids she seems pushing and asking for too much but she is trying to show them the way to a life she can’t give them. So they can go out and be better than she was.
That’s what she lives for to support and push her kids in the direction that she feel they can be happy with so they can have all that she couldn’t give them.
"Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices" and "Roger and Me"
By VALERIE KOVNER
The two documentaries “Wal-Mart: the high cost of low prices” and “Roger and Me ” both equally evaluated and showed the lives of the working poor. Although sharing some minor similarities such as that they each focus on the poor but from different angles, expose corporate greed and the two documentaries are also very different from each other because one focused on the openings of Wal-Marts around America while the other focused on the effects of closing the GM factories around America.
The documentary “Wal-Mart: The high cost of low prices” focused on one issue How Wal-Mart is the world's greatest evil: (and I agree). It did shine some light on those affected by Wal-Mart super low wages and unfair treatment of human beings, but it felt rushed and unorganized. The movie felt like a random collection of scattered facts on Wal-Mart and their wrongdoings. The movie did shortly focus on the family that owned a plumbing store and explain how Wal-Mart swooped in and ruined not only the private business of these people but also their town. It was later refreshing to see people protested Wal-Mart from moving into their neighborhoods/towns and resisting against their grip on low prices and low wages. The documentary not only exposes Wal-Mart but also the government and how it's constantly providing supplements to “boost the economy” but in return that cities education budget and other city financed things like the maintenance of parks stops existing and the community and the children end up feeling the blow. Overall the documentary exposes Wal-Mart for what it truly is, and it accurately shows the before and after of cities that have been affected by the new existence of Wal-Mart's all over America.
The second documentary “Roger and Me” follows the ex-journalist Michael Moore as he pursues GM's CEO Roger Smith to confront him. This documentary focuses on the effects that the closing of the first GM Factory that was opened had on the small town of Flint, Michigan. Since GM Factory was a major part of the city and closing of it had a huge impact on town. Through out the movie Michael Moore was tracking down (unsuccessfully) the CEO Roger Smith so that he can maybe convince him to visit Flint and show him how the closing of his factory has affected that city. This documentary also exposes the corporate greed of one of America’s biggest car manufacturers: The GM Corp. was not losing money at the time when the factory was closing in Flint, they simply moved the factory to Mexico to make a bigger profit. Even though GM most likely knew what would happen to Flint economically: it was going to go down in economic flames because of this drastic change.
This documentary exposes corporate greed and the fact that the CEO of GM is a heartless man of steel who doesn't care about his workers. Most of which have been working for his factory for 20 to 30 years. The documentary showed what happened to Flint after the closing of the factory and how the city and the people in it attempted to pull their city out of poverty. This documentary is a devastating story of a once economically sound town and how it struggled to keep afloat after the closing of the GM Factory.
Although these documentaries are very different, they have many similarities. The most discussed throughout their length the corporate greed of Wal-Mart and GM. Wal-Mart is corporately greedy because they use the system. They purposely underpay their employees so that they can be eligible for government assistance and then the corporation wont have to spend money on the employees Health Care. GM's corporate greed lies within themselves really. The the only reason they close down the factory in Flint was to simply open the same exact one in Mexico to make a bigger profit. The GM Company didn't even consider how the closing of the factory would affect the people of the town. Another similarity between these two documentaries is but they shown are each corporate giant affected the community where they closed a factory or where they build a brand new one.
The two documentaries were very informative and interesting to watch. Although “Wal-Mart the high cost of low prices” was attempting to quickly cover all the bases of Wal-Mart's evil doings (all with which I agree with), which it did very successfully. It might of have been better if the documentary focused on one subject but non the less it still carried out its purpose. The second documentary “Roger and Me” was heartbreaking and was a little outdated (because of the year it was filmed). The documentary felt like it was split into 3 parts: Mr. Moore trying to talk to Roger Smith, the sheriff evicting (what seemed like) the whole city of Flint, and Mr. Moore getting kicked out of placed while trying to talk to/ reach/ find out where Roger Smith is. Through out the documentary some parts felt like they were over used (the evictions that were spread through out the film), and there were some that were totally unnecessary and made me want to stop watching the film (the skinning of a rabbit, while it was still alive.....I think). Although this documentary didn’t make a strong enough point it still made its message across. Both of these documentaries show the lives of the working poor and how corporations effect them, they also show how powerless people are against them (how Flint couldn’t really do much), or how strong they can be when they truly want to (when people protested against the building of a new wal- mart in their town). Over all they inform the consumer about the true goals and the treatment of their workers of the 2 of America's biggest corporations.
Economy Gets in the Way of Dreams
By Raquel Gonzales
Our generation was taught to grow up to believe that our dreams jobs are able to be fulfilled with a good education background. With college tuition rising, it seems as many students are second guessing whether they can fulfill their dreams. Students are finding themselves placing a hold on going to school to be able to pay tuition. Instead of being in school students are forced to juggle jobs to raise the money to go back to school. Many students in our country struggle to live these lifestyles. Rhea Gonzales with a Bachelors degree is living this lifestyle.
Rhea Gonzales is 21 years old and currently lives in Long Beach where she shares housing with her roommates. Gonzales works two jobs to juggle the pay for her college tuition for this upcoming fall. She took one year off of her college life to save up for her upcoming plans to continue in finishing her Masters to become a nurse practitioner. She has to sacrifice many things in her life now that she has two minimum waged jobs. Being a floor store manager at a restaurant and being office assistant at the Clubhouse Academy Boys and Girls Club. Her reason of having two jobs is because of how poor economy is. She says,
“With poor economy going on, it can be difficult to survive in the real world. I cannot always rely on my parents to support me. There is only so much they can pay for. I like living on my own and I pay for my own rent, groceries, and other expenses.”
Living on her own means having responsibilities she has to take care of, rent, groceries, and also having to set aside money for school. She pays rent $350 a month, which varies based on utility. To be able to survive expenses she needs to survive on her own she has to work two jobs and also having to set aside money to save for tuition for college. Even as a student it’s hard to survive on your own without a job. Having a job that’s not even your dream job are the many consequences getting to your dream. A person has to think about how to manage their money. Gonzales explains on how she manages hers.
“With the money being earned, I make sure I have enough for the bills that I have to pay. I make sure I have enough for my gas expenses as well. I spend my money wisely and avoid eating out all the time. Instead, I try to prepare my own meals and pack lunch.”
Taking care of yourself is hard to do on your own. Many students around us go through lives where money plays a big obstacle of their education. Managing on your own to follow you dreams take consequences like having two jobs or taking a break from school. This is what Rhea Gonzales is going through right now. For the many generations yet to come economy will always get in the way of our dreams.
The Working Poor
By SABRINA CHAVEZ
In America were the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, conditions for the working poor deteriorate every year. These days a person cant survive on minimum wage without having to depend on the government, a spouse, or another job. Because of this people who work minimum wage jobs have difficult lives. And while they’re struggling to survive the companies they work for export their work so that they can earn more money because they can pay the workers overseas even less than they do in America. You can see these conditions in the documentaries, Wal-Mart:The High Cost of Low Price and Roger and Me.
Both of these documentaries expose the conditions of employees of General Motors and Wal-Mart. Both companies also make millions are a year, and have very affluent owners. To make even more money than they do, they export their labor to other countries such as Mexico and China. In Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price you can even see the conditions of the those working in China, and you can see they are treated very poorly as well, with very low pay and no benefits. And overseas workers are payed only a fraction of what American workers are payed.
Wal-Mart is a huge is a multimillion dollar corporation known for their low prices. Most people didn’t even know how unjustly their employees were being treated. Employees aren’t even payed enough to support themselves without government assistance or a spouse. The Wal-Mart healthcare plan isn’t affordable so many employees depend on Medicare or Medicaid to be able to take care of their children. Some also need the support of welfare or food stamps and these Wal-Mart employees who require government assistance because they aren’t payed enough cost tax payers$1,557,000,000,00 a year. Wal-Mart also cheats their employees out of overtime pay which amounts to millions of dollars. They have lawsuits from almost all 50 states for a multitude of charges. Wal-Marts have been detrimental to the small family owned businesses in many communities. Cheaper prices and convenience of Wal-Mart take business away from the small businesses and they must close; putting many people out of work. And some communities protest the placement of Wal-Marts in their communities.
The documentary Roger and Me on the other hand doesn’t talk so much about the mistreatment of the employees but rather the town of Flint and how the closing of the General Motors plant effected the lives of the employees that were let off. While General Motors justified their closing on the recession, they opened new plants in Mexico, another example of exporting work. Micheal Moore who is a citizen of Flint and who’s father once worked for the GM plant in Flint investigates the effects of the shut downs. He finds that many let off employees were being evicted from their homes because they could not pay their rent. The town tries to get back on their feet by building an indoor amusement park, a hotel and a convention center but can’t find a way to persuade people to visit Flint, and many of their newly built attractions had to be closed because of the lack of business. Micheal Moore tries on many occasions tries to confront General Motors CEO Roger Smith about the closing of the plants in Flint but is removed from private buildings, and when finally he does confront him Roger asking to see the conditions of the families in Flint, Roger tells him its not GM evicting the x-employees and that he cannot to Flint to see the outcome of the closed plants.
Wal-Mart and General Motors are both very powerful corporations that can’t seem to find the money to invest in their employees well-being. Instead of helping the American people they chose to further their greed by sending the work overseas and making more profit. The American working poor suffer for the greed of the corporations, either by losing their jobs completely or by not being able to survive on their salaries.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
My First Job
By Francisco Larios
Many people don’t know the hardships or the stress people go through to find a job. I had my first my experience of working in a real job a few weeks ago for the purpose of this project. My uncle got me the job as his assistant at his engineering shop in Oxnard. He said he would pay me eight dollars an hour and I would have to make sure not to hurt myself on one of the machines in the shop. For lunch time me and my two uncles would go out and eat at a fast food restaurant.
I would have to go in at the same time as everybody, which was eight in the morning, which for me was going to be very hard because I’m not a morning person. It was hard for me to wake up at that time and then make the drive with my dad to Oxnard, which was like a forty-minute drive because of the traffic. When I got there I was still half asleep which could be a dangerous thing so I had to get myself a cup of coffee to wake myself up. I didn’t like it very much but it did the job so I couldn’t complain after I was done it was time for me time for me to start my first day at work.
The first thing I hear when I walk into the shop is the loud machines and the cutting of steel and the radio to lighten the mood in the shop. My uncle stopped everybody so I could introduce myself to them so nobody would get confused. After we got the introduction out of the way it was finally time to start working. I looked around to see how big it was I was really out of breath because I wondered how I was going to do this all by myself. But as I started to work it didn’t feel that bad until it was lunch time because I kept thinking of how much time was left. I even asked my uncle how much I had earned for the time that I worked he told me thirty two dollars. At that moment I felt so proud of myself because there isn’t a better feeling then earning my own money.
After lunch I got back to work I had to organize all the bolts and screws in the shop. At first I was confused because I didn’t know where they went but after thirty minutes I got the hang of it and finished in two hours. All my time in the shop was spent working in the office which was like answering phone calls or organizing papers. The rest of my time working there I spent it in the shop organizing the tools. Until one of the workers offered to teach me how to use the welding machine I was excited but I had to ask my uncle for permission and he said “you have to be very careful”. When I first go to hold the torch I almost burned the table because the flame was to strong and I had to lower it but I didn’t know that so I left it like that. After that I didn’t use it again because I didn’t want to burn down the whole shop.
After the long day at work I was so tired that I just wanted to get picked up and go home and sleep. Working is not my thing but it feels good when you get the money that you worked for and dam it is very tiring. That’s how I got my first experience in working and I don’t regret it because it was an eye opener to me.
My First Job
By Francisco Larios
Many people don’t know the hardships or the stress people go through to find a job. I had my first my experience of working in a real job a few weeks ago for the purpose of this project. My uncle got me the job as his assistant at his engineering shop in Oxnard. He said he would pay me eight dollars an hour and I would have to make sure not to hurt myself on one of the machines in the shop. For lunch time me and my two uncles would go out and eat at a fast food restaurant.
I would have to go in at the same time as everybody, which was eight in the morning, which for me was going to be very hard because I’m not a morning person. It was hard for me to wake up at that time and then make the drive with my dad to Oxnard, which was like a forty-minute drive because of the traffic. When I got there I was still half asleep which could be a dangerous thing so I had to get myself a cup of coffee to wake myself up. I didn’t like it very much but it did the job so I couldn’t complain after I was done it was time for me time for me to start my first day at work.
The first thing I hear when I walk into the shop is the loud machines and the cutting of steel and the radio to lighten the mood in the shop. My uncle stopped everybody so I could introduce myself to them so nobody would get confused. After we got the introduction out of the way it was finally time to start working. I looked around to see how big it was I was really out of breath because I wondered how I was going to do this all by myself. But as I started to work it didn’t feel that bad until it was lunch time because I kept thinking of how much time was left. I even asked my uncle how much I had earned for the time that I worked he told me thirty two dollars. At that moment I felt so proud of myself because there isn’t a better feeling then earning my own money.
After lunch I got back to work I had to organize all the bolts and screws in the shop. At first I was confused because I didn’t know where they went but after thirty minutes I got the hang of it and finished in two hours. All my time in the shop was spent working in the office which was like answering phone calls or organizing papers. The rest of my time working there I spent it in the shop organizing the tools. Until one of the workers offered to teach me how to use the welding machine I was excited but I had to ask my uncle for permission and he said “you have to be very careful”. When I first go to hold the torch I almost burned the table because the flame was to strong and I had to lower it but I didn’t know that so I left it like that. After that I didn’t use it again because I didn’t want to burn down the whole shop.
After the long day at work I was so tired that I just wanted to get picked up and go home and sleep. Working is not my thing but it feels good when you get the money that you worked for and dam it is very tiring. That’s how I got my first experience in working and I don’t regret it because it was an eye opener to me.
The Real World
By Brian Medina
Everyone who works a low wage jobs, knows how hard it is to live. The movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” shows how one man’s dream to make his son’s life better, can happen. The show “ True Life” shows two young adults deal with working in a minimum wage job, while trying to take care of there families. These people show how difficult life can be for anyone who is just trying to make it by these days. Life can be hard but everyone has to get through somehow.
Even having some money can’t be enough, to pay a bill, get clothes, or even to get a simple meal to go eat. Having to take care of yourself, but to take care of your family is just amazing to do. In “True Life” Jobe and Ashley have to deal with working but having to take care of there parents who don’t work. The movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” shows a man Chris Gardner, struggling with paying his bills, and having to take care of his son Christopher Gardner. Each one of these people struggle with just trying to get through the next day.
Chris Gardner had to deal with his wife leaving him, but wanted to take care of his son Christopher even though he wasn’t working. Chris soon entered an internship with Dean whiter, where he wouldn’t get paid for all the work he would do. It was a chance for him to do better for Chris and Christopher. As he would sell bone density scanners for money, reality would sent in when the bank took his money from his savings account. Chris would go to shelters to just find a place to sleep in, but when he couldn’t, him and his son would go sleep in the subway station. The thing that hurt him most was when he had to sleep in a public restroom. For as a last resort for money he would donate blood to just have some money, to have a decent meal to just eat. As when he fells all hopes are lost, Chris went to the church as a sense of hope. All of his hard work paid of when he got the job at Dean Whiter.
Jobe and Ashley who are young teens are both struggling with paying to take bills and having to take care of there parents. Jobe is working so that child protective services are threaten to take him and his little bother away. Ashley’s father was laid off, but it is hard for him to look for jobs when no one will hire him. Jobe’s mother has always had a hard time looking for job, but is struggling to make rent. While Ashley is working to provide for her son, her father is broken down that the fact is he is forced to work for minimum wage job for five dollars an hour. Jobe is working but is just too worried about helping his mother out. They both feel like no matter what they have to help out with everything. Ashley is still working, but her father doesn’t know how they are going to pay bills next month. Jobe’s is looking for job to support his mother, while his mom goes to school to get a better job.
Minimum wage jobs can break a person mentally and physically to the point where you can be lost in the world. Chris Gardner said “If you have a dream protect it, if you want something go get it period. “ Chris shows how you can make it in the world even in though your in the lowest point of your life. Jobe and Ashley show how it’s hard for teens to work and support there families. Low wage jobs can be bad for a person but if you don’t have ant choice you have to work. Everyone struggle these days but we all have to get through it no matter what happens.
Living within one's means
Living within one's means
Danny and Stephanie interview someone who manages to live within his means.
Danny and Stephanie interview someone who manages to live within his means.
Surviving on Low Wages
Surviving on Low Wages
Mayra and Eman interview a woman trying to survive while working at a fast-food restaurant.
Mayra and Eman interview a woman trying to survive while working at a fast-food restaurant.
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