Maid

This is one of those memoirs that make you think a little differently about the world. I'm not rich and privileged and certainly not wealthy, however, this books makes me realize how much I take for granted. Having a safety net of family and friends. Never being one paycheck away from homelessness. Being able to afford nights out and trips to the bookstore. I always gripe about how I wish I had more money or how I should be better at saving, but after reading Maid and seeing what one single mom can survive on a month, I feel ashamed. I've got lots of cushion. Stephanie Land's memoir is about how broken our country's welfare and workforce is. About how she had to work full time scrubbing toilets and showers only to bring home practically nothing and then be denied other government benefits that she needed to help feed her kid. It's about how no matter how hard you work, there are still barriers all around you keeping you away from achieving financial stability. It's also about one of the most undervalued and underpaid jobs in the workforce, being a maid. It's thankless, invisible work. Most won't bother to learn your name, yet for the maid, she sees all. She knows the family most intimately based on their homes. The puke in the toilet, the pills on the counter, the sad little romance books hidden in a corner, the lube on the nightstand. It's an unflinching look at what many of our poorest have to suffer through. A great memoir.