AUTHOR: linda TITLE: Conversation starter DATE: 7:21:00 AM ----- BODY:
Going on a thirty-plus minutes wait for an outbound N-Judah train, smashed up against exasperated office drones, in a sea of white iPod tails, and the arrival of a curious pack of girls all wearing the same pink-printed T-shirts, at one of the busiest Muni stations smack in the middle of commute-hour yesterday evening, a kind-faced woman surprised me with a question about how I like my book.


I'm already half-way through Nickel & Dimed since starting it a week ago, a refreshing change from the tedious serious of "should" reads before this (GTD; Rules for Renegades).

She looked not unlike Barbara Ehrenreich herself, asked me if I'd heard the author speak, and then said to me, "I hope there's more class action suits... well, at least they're still in court over Wal-Mart." Then her M-train arrived.

I've noticed a lot of eyes on the train scan the cover of my book with the same curiosity and concern about the working poor that's attracted me to keep turning these pages. Maybe they are, or have been, or know someone on welfare. I looked up her website and wikipedia page, and notice that since being publishing in 2001, she continues to tour the country to speak about economic inequality.

Is upper-class America listening?

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