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Once upon a time, a world-shaking documentary blockbuster "The Rich Man's War" aroused enthusiastic responses from all walks of life! This film closely follows the theme of several rich people who truly experience the lives of the poor, and deeply analyzes the reasons why the poor are mired in poverty - a social problem that has long plagued countless people.
In this humane documentary, the rich still stubbornly believe that the poor are often too lazy and lack motivation to be motivated before they officially enter the door of poor life.
In fact, Barbara Allenswick, a well-known American female writer who graduated from a top university in the United States and obtained a doctorate in biology, resolutely decided to embark on the road of field investigation with questions after thinking deeply about social issues, and through being a poor person, she personally experienced and gained an in-depth understanding of the real living conditions of the people at the bottom of American society.
Barbara originally envisioned that as long as she could find a job that paid $7 an hour (about 47 yuan today), set aside another $500 to pay rent, and the remaining $400 to buy basic necessities and fuel, then she should have some savings each month.
However, as she searched for a suitable place to live and worked hard to find a job, she was shocked to find that her vision was so fragile. In West Island, Florida, Barbara found a house with poor conditions and poor infrastructure, but the rent was staggeringly high, as high as $675 (equivalent to about 4,600 yuan at the time).
In the end, she had no choice but to choose a small cabin 48.3 kilometers from the city center with a monthly rent of only 500 US dollars (equivalent to about 3,400 yuan at that time) as a habitat.
At the same time, Barbara began to travel around looking for a job opportunity that suited her. She has participated in more than 20 interviews for different positions, but the results of each interview have been nothing.
The mobility of low-income people, who have been overlooked, is enormous! Employers advertise a lot of jobs just to find the right person to fill the vacancy when the current employee leaves or changes positions.
After two weeks of patience, Barbara finally had a rare opportunity to wait for a position. A small catering company called "Fireside Restaurant" threw an olive branch to her and made a serious phone call to ask her to arrive on time the next day and immediately devote herself to her busy work.
In desperation, Barbara had no choice but to put aside the pen in her hand for the time being, faded away from her elegant literati temperament, changed into an unpretentious shirt, and became a diligent waiter in the "fireside restaurant".
This documentary reveals the grim reality of the plight faced by the poor with its profound insight, and the personal experience of Barbara, a well-known American female writer, shows us the real life of the people at the bottom, completely subverting people's traditional concept of poverty.
Barbara's story has aroused widespread public concern and deep thinking about this social issue.
Although Barbara graduated from a top university in the United States with a Ph.D. in biology, in order to experience the real life of the people at the bottom, she decided to hide her identity and go to the field to conduct research.
In West Island, Florida, Barbara found a home with poor living conditions and poor infrastructure, but the rent was staggeringly high at $675. Despite the harsh conditions, Barbara had to face the harsh reality and chose a cabin 48.3 kilometres from the city center for $500 a month.
The 45-minute commute every day left Barbara exhausted.
After solving the housing problem, Barbara began to run around looking for a suitable employment opportunity. She has participated in more than 20 interviews for different positions, but each interview has been a failure.
Employers advertise a lot of jobs just to be able to find the right person to fill a vacancy when an existing employee leaves or changes positions.
After a long two-week wait, Ms. Barbara finally got good news and was picked up by a small catering business called "Fireside Restaurant". For this invitation, she gave up the heavy pen and ink work at hand, lost her usual elegant writer's temperament, and transformed into an ordinary waitress to contribute to the "fireside restaurant".
Every day, starting at 2 p.m., Barbara devotes herself to her busy service work until 10 p.m. Sadly, despite all that hard work, she was paid a measly $2.43.
Compared with the $7 an hour she was expecting, the gap is so big that it is embarrassing.
Barbara had imagined that if she found a $7-a-hour job, set aside another $500 for rent, and the remaining $400 for basic groceries and fuel, she would have some savings each month.
However, the harsh reality shocked her, and despite all the difficulties, Barbara still resolutely conducts research and uses her own experience to gain insight into the real life conditions of the people at the bottom of American society.
The colleagues who work with Barbara also face great challenges in life. For example, Barbara's colleague Gail actually lives in a downtown place called a "cheap hotel", but the rent is ridiculously high, paying $250 a week, so the monthly rent cost is as high as $1,000, almost twice Barbara's rent!
Another female colleague, Marianne, lives with her boyfriend in a dilapidated trailer house for a measly 680 yuan a month. Billy, the highest-paid colleague, is undoubtedly the best among the working class, earning up to $10 an hour and living in a trailer house he has bought, but still has to pay up to $400 a month for parking, which is a huge expense.
Barbara barely earns $583 a month, while her housing costs are a staggering $500. Faced with such high rents and meager wages, the lives of the poor are in dire straits.
In order to survive, they have to turn to friends and relatives for help, endure the relentless debt collection of their landlords, and the heating costs make their financial situation even worse.
Determined to find a new job, Barbara works as a waitress at another well-known restaurant called Jerry. Barbara worked from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at dawn, and in short breaks she went to another restaurant called the fireside, where she continued to work until 10 p.m.
It is with this perseverance that these grassroots employees can persevere in a difficult environment and survive every challenging day.
However, the oppression of the wealthy class and the ruthless exploitation of the upper leadership have undoubtedly made their lives worse.
Over the course of her career, Barbara was shocked to find that restaurant managers would use all sorts of tactics to ruthlessly deprive their employees of their legal rights.
For example, when an employee receives a tip from a customer, the manager is entitled to pay only $2.13 per hour, and the rest goes into their own pocket.
Although the Fair Labor Standards Act clearly states that if the base salary of $2.13 is still not enough to meet the minimum base wage, the manager must compensate the employee for the shortfall.
Regrettably, however, the vast majority of managers have chosen to turn a blind eye to the second half of the law.
Even more distressing is the fact that the plight of many migrant workers is even more dire. After their wages are exploited by managers, they also face a second exploitation by intermediaries. In the case of Mr. George, a worker from the Czech Republic, who became a dishwasher at Jerry's restaurant through an intermediary company, was paid $5 per hour each time by the agency, when in fact the minimum hourly wage for a dishwasher at Jerry's restaurant was $7.
In addition, the managers of the restaurant keep an eye on each employee for fear of being lazy or stealing. If they find any omissions, they will reprimand them mercilessly, and even assign heavy tasks, leaving employees tired.
For example, once Barbara was busy and accidentally picked up a newspaper left by a guest, but the manager Stu was keenly aware of it. He immediately ordered Barbara to thoroughly clean the entire dining room's floor, even though it had been carefully cleaned that morning.
In the face of such ruthless treatment, all employees are in prison, as if they have fallen into the torture of nightmares, and they have no choice but to grit their teeth and stick to their posts in order to maintain their professional ethics.
There is no doubt that the level of exploitation of employees by these managers is outrageous, and it is a serious violation of relevant laws and regulations, not to mention the basic rights and dignity of employees.