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Read the excerpt from Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. Then reply to one of the questions from your assignment sheet. For discussion, observe how her writing is a bridge between an ethnography and a trend analysis.
23 comments:
Superbad quote of the day:
"I assume you all have guns and crack."
Ben Hendricks- CIS Comp, December 18, 2007
Selling in Minnesota
Essay question #2
Having to take a drug test in a couple of days, The author of "Nickeld and Dimed" realizes that many of the prescription drugs she is taking could cause her to fail. She worries that the Claritin-D she is taking for a chronic nasal congestion will show up as crystal meth, rendering her application useless. To make sure this is not the case, the author does a Web search to find ways to pass the test. Detox, she finds, is a common solution. Another product she encounters is "CleanP," which is a type of detox product, sold for a mere $50. This program works by constantly drinking water and taking doses of diuretic, avoiding salts and processed foods, which will supposedly flush out traces of any drugs taken. Another deceitful way she finds to pass the drug test is with a product ordered online. It is a vial of pure, drug-free urine, battery heated to body temperature.
With so many options for deceitfully passing the drug tests, the author definitely has a poor opinion of the usefulness and validity of the tests. It is obvious that she thinks these test are not useful because in her opinion, she has a lot to offer, whether or not she takes drugs. She makes her feelings clear when she writes, "It rankles – at some deep personal, physical level – to know that the many engaging qualities I believe I have to offer—friendliness, reliability, willingness to learn—can all be trumped by my pee."
In my opinion, these tests are obviously not the best, because there are so many deceitful ways to pass them. If a drug user knew ahead of time that they had to take this test, they would obviously be able to pass them anyway. Therefore, a drug user would not stop taking drugs simply due to the fact there are drug tests at a job he or she is applying to in most cases. Of course, there are the few people who might realize the foolishness of taking drugs upon finding out they would fail a test required for a job.
As far as getting more productive people by using these tests, I do not think that would happen. People who really needed or wanted a job would find a way around the tests, and there productivity would not increase merely because they passed a drug test. Having a drug test would not weed out many lazy people, if any, from the job pool. Even if it did, the tests would still not matter, because the same type of people would be applying for the job, no matter how productive they are.
If I was faced with such a test, I really would not worry about it since I do not take drugs. Obviously, since some people are considered that there medications would fail them, I would make sure any medicine I was taking would not affect the results, or check with my doctor to make sure there wouldn't be any problems.
WC 502
Apple-bottom jeans! Boots with the fur!!!
p.s.s
In today’s workforce, drug tests are mandatory hoops to jump through in almost every occupation one applies for. Our country is so full of fear that drug addicts are going to be infiltrating our common locations and hurting us and our children. The common mentality is that if we prevent drug-users from having jobs, we will be safer.
The author of Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, discovered several deceitful shortcuts to get around drug tests. She realized that hard-core drugs like cocaine and heroin are water-soluble, so they will be flushed out of your system within a day. Marijuana on the other hand, is fat soluble, and can remain in your body for weeks, even months. Ehrenreich went online and found many sites offering detox help. One stie offer to send you a vile of pure, drug-free urine that was battery-heated to body temperature. She also found out that the leaner you are, the less places there are for the Cannabis to remain in your body and the only way to flush it out is to drink massive amounts of fluid, at least three gallons a day. She also bought two detox products called CleanP, one a diuretic and the other a type of creatinine supplement.
She feels that drugs tests are completely useless and invalid because anyone who does use drugs and has to take a drug test in order to get a job, will prepare for the test and detox themselves so they can pass it. Most people are smart enough to get around the system and find a way to pass the test. Since people are cheating or “preparing”, companies are still hiring drug-users, they just don’t know it.
I think that the idea behind drug tests is good, but they are just not doing a good enough job. I think that drug addicts, should be prevented from holding higher paid jobs that affect many people, but if one person just tried drugs once, and it happened to be right before their test, I don’t think that it is fair to eliminate them automatically. I think the drug tests should be changed to test for chronic drug use, not just general drug use whether it was only once or once every day.
Drug tests don’t prevent people from doing drugs. They may prevent them from taking drugs in the time prior to their test, but after they take the test, they will go right back to using drugs. A person’s behavior isn’t going to be changed forever because of a small test they have to take in order to get a job. I don’t think that companies are any more productive from using the information from drug tests. The companies want to believe that they are going to be more productive, but I don’t think that a few employees who experiment or like to have some fun every once in a while will hinder the productivity of the company. The drug tests don’t matter because most of the time they aren’t reporting accurate results anyway. If I was asked to take a drug test, I wouldn’t make a big deal about it because I don’t do drugs, so I wouldn’t have anything to worry about.
Shelbie Johnson
Nickel and Dimed, By Barbra Ehrienrieich
Drug test in the United States were established in the late 1980’s and have grown in the business world since then. These days if you want to work in the commercial business it is almost mandatory that you will take a drug test. The five main drugs that businesses test for are marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and phencyclidine. While reading the excerpt from the book Nickel and Dimed I discovered many troubles companies have with drug problems in the United States. The woman discovers many untrustworthy shortcuts and she feels that the tests are un-useful and not valid. Drug tests in the United States should be mandatory even if they do not prevent people from using drugs. This test may not prevent companies from avoiding all the non-productive workers. If I was needed to take the test for work, I would not hesitate at all. Drug tests are needed in the United States to prevent them from even entering the work force, so they are not able to make money to buy more addictive drugs.
One puff of a simple drug, Barbra has to go through many worries when it comes to applying and maintaining a job. Many tests that supposedly prevent you from scoring positive on the drug test are misleading. Barbra looks for tests that might stop her from coming up as a drug addict, and comes across a drink of “medicine” that is supposed to flush out your system. After drinking gallons of water each day along with this drink she starts to believe that these things are just deceptive. She believes that these tests are not very useful. First off, they make you pay for them yourself, and they are not cheep in anyone’s eyes. Also for some jobs they just send you to a public bathroom where you could easily cheat by getting someone else to pee in your cup. Third she knew that she smoked marijuana and was still hired at both jobs, configuring that they are not very valid. Barbra believes that these tests should not be necessary when it comes to hiring someone for a job.
More and more companies are requiring random drug tests for people that work for them. I believe that these should be necessary. Drugs are illegal and people should not be using them anyways. If they do use drugs they should be accountable for their actions and live up to the consequences. If they are the occasional drug user, I think that drug tests may prevent them from using them anymore. Adamant drug users are not going to even blink and eye about stopping the use of drugs when applying for the job and taking a drug test. They do not car about their health, why would you think they would care if they failed a test and was not able to get the job. I don’t think that these tests are preventing companies from receiving all productive workers, but it may stop the occasional ones that wont even come to work they are so “high” on any drug. There are many people that are just lazy and not productive even if they do not use drugs, so I don’t think that it would help the company out that way.
If I had to take the test, it would not bother me one bit. I am not a drug user so I don’t have to worry about things like that. It seems like these drug tests should be used to maybe even prevent drug users to apply to the jobs in the first place, but it won’t stop people from using drugs. Barbra did not believe the tests were valid and that the shortcuts did not work. Maybe these drug tests have made the statistics of drug using gone down since they have required it. Drug tests in the United States are necessary hopefully preventing drug users from getting into the job force and providing them money to buy more of these addictive drugs.
Kelsey Stupica - CIS Comp, December 19, 2007
Selling in Minnesota
Essay question #3
In the excerpt we read from Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich had a very difficult time trying to find affordable housing in the Twin Cities. She started her search by looking for apartment finding agencies in the phone book. Then, she went on to calling specific apartment buildings to check for availability. Most of the apartments she found listed apartments came equipped with hot tubs and on-site gyms but cost an average of $1000 per month, way too expensive for someone making seven dollars and hour working at Wal-Mart. After all of the calls she made to places that seemed reasonably affordable, only two apartment buildings called back, and they didn’t have anything promising to say. One apartment owner told her, “you picked a bad time to come to Minneapolis; the vacancy rate is less than one percent, and if we’re talking about affordable – why it might be as low as a tenth of that.” Despite this bad news, she had no choice but to keep looking for a place to stay. Out of the entire Twin Cities area, she found one place that offered an apartment at an affordable price and was based on a weekly/monthly basis.
She decided to go check the place out in person. When she got there, she saw that the place was okay – the hallways were noisy and there was an obnoxious odor. The apartment owners told her that as of now, the only apartment that was available for rent was a basement apartment without a kitchenette. That apartment would cost her $144 a week. That price seemed a little steep, so she decided to find a cheap motel room to rent on a weekly basis and stay there until some affordable apartment came along.
Through trying to find an affordable apartment, Barbara learned that in the first three month of 2000, apartment rentals in the Twin Cities had increased by an amazing 20.5%! In the mean time, the Twin Cities were experiencing some of the lowest vacancy rates in the entire U.S. Combined these factors made it virtually impossible to find an affordable apartment. One reason for this low availability was a “stronger economy” which put a greater “upward pressure on rents.” Based on this information, it could be said that the rich, successful people who were causing the economy to increase, were also causing the price of the average apartment to increase. This resulted in a fewer amount of affordable apartments available for all of the numerous people moving into the area. With the supply being low but the demand being high, it’s no wonder she couldn’t find a nice, affordable place to live.
I believe she has several options. One, she can get another job to help pay for a more expensive apartment. Two, she can continue staying in a motel until she is able to find a decent apartment to rent. Three, she can live in a shelter and save up enough money to pay for rent and the deposit of an apartment; four, she can board with a friend or co-worker; or five, she could leave the Twin Cities to live someplace where affordable apartments are more readily available. If I were her, I would try and find a part-time job to do on the weekends, or find a higher-paying job than Wal-Mart, in order to increase my income. In the mean time, I would stay in a cheap motel, a shelter, or with a friend until I had saved up enough money to afford a decent place of my own.
W.C. 592
Drug tests, an employers way of discovering if their potential employee is worthy to receive a position, or at least to see if they have been clean for a few months. The truth is that our society is so fearful of evil, drug users coming into a workplace and causing moral decay, that for almost every occupation one must jump through the hoop of taking a drug test before being hired.
While employers are testing for drugs everyday, Barbara Ehrenreich, the autor of Nickel and Dimed, discovered several ways to get around the drug tests. Through research she discovered that while all of these employers are testing for drugs, the only one that they usually catch is Marijuana. Someone can easily past a drug test if they have used drugs such as cocaine or heroin. These drugs are water-soluble and are washed out of the body within a couple days, leaving no trace on any drug test as long as the user can stay clean right before the test. As for some of the truly hard core drugs, such as LSD, well, they aren’t even tested for. The only drug that these tests can truly catch is if you have used marijuana within the last several months, as it is fat-soluble and stays in your body for much longer periods of time. Of course, there is also the fact that these tests can pick up on cold and allergy medicines, such as Claritin-D or Sudafed, giving false readings as other types of drugs. Even marijuana traces left in body fat can be cured in some cases though. There are many products available to help flush the drugs out of your system. A simple internet search can lead you to products such as CleanP or GNC, which help remove the toxins from your system. On top of that, there is always the option of ordering a clean sample of urine on line, to be delivered directly to you and easily switched at the test center.
Overall, Ehrenreich thinks that drug tests are a waste of time since there are so many ways to cheat them. She makes it very clear that there are many ways around the tests, meaning that prospective employees may still be users, but the employers just took the time and money to test for drugs without finding the true results. I completely agree with her opinion. There are far too many loops in the system to make drug tests work. People only have to make it a few days before their drug test without using, and then they will pass with a golden star and are free to go back to using their heroine, cocaine, or LSD. Even with marijuana, there are so many ways to cheat the test that it is simply ineffective.
Drug tests do not prevent people from using drugs; they only make them take off a few days before the test. Also, with all the ways to cheat the test a potential employee wouldn’t even have to stop using before the test day. I don’t think that companies are getting more productive workers from using the test information either. Since the results of the test can be so greatly swayed they companies can’t even truly know weather the employee they are bringing on is clean or not. Really I think that drug tests don’t matter, because they don’t show true results all of the time. If I were asked to take such a test, I would take it willingly because I don’t take drugs and it wouldn’t really matter to me. Overall though, I think that drug tests in the employment process are too easily manipulated and a waste of time.
In the excerpt from Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich is forced to try and find a job in the Twin Cities area. At Wal-Mart and Menards, her top two choices for employment at the time, she is required to complete drug tests along with her applications and interviews. Barbara realizes that if she had taken cocaine or heroin, these tests would prove to be no problem because these drugs are water-soluble and can be removed from the body in the matter of a few days. Marijuana, on the other hand, is usually the only drug detected by this testing because it’s fat soluble. Barbara worries that prescription drugs she’s been taking for nasal congestion might show up on the tests, so she sets out to find a way to remove any traces of drugs from her body in the matter of a few short days. After conducting a Web search on the topic, Barbara finds many deceitful ways to pass drug tests, including ingestible products and even battery-heated, drug-free urine. She doesn’t have time to order the products, so she learns that the only effective method is to flush out the drugs with mass quantities of fluid. Barbara sets out to the local GNC to purchase a few detox products, which speed up the process. After looking at the various products, such as CleanP for $49.95, she settles on ceatinine and a diuretic called uva ursis for $30. During the weekend before the drug test, she takes frequent doses of diuretic, drinks water constantly, and avoids eating salt in any form.
In her experience with the drug tests, Barbara Ehrenreich feels that these tests are pretty much a waste of time and do nothing to weed out bad potential employees. In the excerpt, she states, “It rankles—at some deep personal, physical level—to know that the many engaging qualities I believe I have to offer—friendliness, reliability, willingness to learn—can all be trumped by my pee.” She thinks that these tests will do nothing to find potential employees; in fact, they may make the search harder.
Part of me thinks that these drug tests may be somewhat of a good idea because drugs are illegal and shouldn’t be taken anyway. However, these tests may be a violation of someone’s privacy. Overall, I do not think drug tests are really useful at all in a search for employees. People who take drugs more than likely know how to pass drug tests; therefore, most of the time the drug tests aren’t doing anything to “weed out bad employees” because I don’t think they prevent people from using drugs. Drug users just find ways around the tests, like Barbara Ehrenreich did. Since there are many deceitful shortcuts in passing these tests, they really do nothing for companies looking to get more productive workers. In the end, this shouldn’t matter anyway because it really is a violation of someone’s privacy. Instead, companies should look at a person’s qualities rather than decide to (or to not) hire them because of their pee.
If I was required to take a drug test while applying for a job, I would take the test without complaint. I do not take drugs, and therefore would not have to worry about passing the test. (546 words)
Mike Bartusek
Essay Question #2 - Drug Tests
Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of Nickled and Dimed, is applying for jobs around the Minneapolis area. She gets some interviews and seems to be qualified for the job. Everything is going right until she hears of the drug test that she has to take before she gets the job. She doesn’t do drugs or anything but she’s worried about what may happen if they find other substances that may look like a drug. Barbara takes a prescription and Claritin-D which may show up as some various drugs which then she would lose her chances at acquiring the job.
I think that the drug tests look like a good idea to the employers but may not be the truth in all cases. People that take drugs would most likely be bad workers but in some cases they may be their best. Why do the employers care if the person is one of their best employees and they do drugs on their free time? It’s bad but it doesn’t really affect the workplace at all. Then, you have the possibilities that the drugs that they find on the tests aren’t really drugs and they’re a normal prescription like Claritin-D. It doesn’t seem like a very good reason to not hire someone because they take Claritin-D for their allergies.
If people do drugs I don’t think that they‘ll quit just to get a job at Wal-Mart. In most cases the people that do drugs are in the black market anyway and they deal for their money. The company just does it because they don’t want any bad publicity for their company. They don’t want to hear that Wal-Mart has a bad reputation in that they all smoke crack. In most cases it is probably a good idea for the companies to have the drug test for all their applicants. Nine times out of ten, if you have to choose someone to work for you that either do drugs or don’t, you’d probably pick the person that doesn’t.
If I was in an interview and at the end I was asked to pee in a cup for a drug test it would kind of make me angry, but I would have nothing to worry about because I’m totally clean. After that, I would kind of be scared of what might show up on the test like if I took Advil and it showed up as cocaine or something like that. That would make me very angry if I found out that I didn’t get the job because they found “drugs” from my test specimen. I think that the drug test relates to some jobs but it shouldn’t apply to some. Some jobs, like Wal-Mart, should have drug tests because there, it would be the best possibility that there was someone that would be a huge druggy. Compared to a store like Gander Mountain, where it’s more of an outdoors place where the possibility would be quite slim.
Essay Question #1
Companies feel that personality tests act as pesticides, weeding out the bad customers, leaving a beautiful garden of employees to help their business flourish. However, sometimes even the strongest pesticide cannot eliminate some weeds and this is true of these tests. People know what their future employers want and so they answer according to what they want to hear. For example, if there is a question about whether stealing is right or wrong, obviously the participant will choose wrong.
Wal-Mart and Menards, who both hire partly based on pre-employment personality tests, should realize that these tests might not reveal a person’s true character. A personality is not something you can capture in a multiple choice questionnaire, it is much too complex. On Wal-Mart’s test, the potential employee is asked to agree to a situation strongly, very strongly, or completely. Menards test is shorter than Wal-Mart and as the author states “aimed at a rougher crowd”. This test asked about crime, drugs, stealing, and fistfights. There are no ‘right or wrong’ answers on these tests as Ehrenreich said, so of course I would score well. But they do indeed have correct answers and I think with common sense I could chose the answer they want to hear, even if it wasn’t what I felt. Anyone could do well on these tests; sex-offenders, drug dealers, and the occasional pen stealers. The test really just encourages people to lie; I find it hard to believe that a lot of truth comes out of these tests.
The impression I inquired from the reading lead to my conclusion that Menards and Wal-Mart are very different. Menards seemed much less finicky about hiring new employees. She went to the store with no plumbing knowledge and after taking a short personality test was hired. At Wal-Mart the test was pretty grueling, they really took hiring seriously. Menards will take anyone willing to work and Wal-Mart wants to find dedicated, friendly employees. Wal-Mart gives presentations, day long workshops, and even books on being a good employee and what it means to work at their store.
Essay #2
Ehrenreich disagrees with the usefulness of drug tests for the hiring of work positions. She says she is okay with the fact of other employees are smoking pot on their break. She also mentions how another employee who was offered a job at Menards said that she had not even taken the drug test and was still being offered the job. When she has to take a drug test the following week, she starts to worry if she will even pass after taking marijuana within the last few weeks. Marijuana, a fat soluble, was said in the story to linger in your system for months. Looking online for tricks to clear out your system she was able to come up with a solution that may work. The most important factor that she found was drinking lots and lots of fluid, about 3 gallons per day. Another suggestion she found that will help to clean out the body faster along with the consumption of liquids was certain Detox products. The two she ended up buying were Creatine and Uva Vrisis, a diuretic. Her test came out clean and she was offered both jobs that had the passing of the drug test as a requirement. This showed her that the tests were not very reliable. She overall just believed that the test does not show the type of employee a person will be and that it should not be the deciding factor for hiring. If it is possible to cheat the system, then why is there a system in place? I believe that drug testing is a good thought overall, but it does not work every time. For the drugs that do not stay in a person’s system, it will not even be read on the test as long as it was not taken over the last few days; as this story shows also, there are ways around it and to clear the body out. If it is a person who has just stayed clean long enough to pass the drug test, they will not stop taking drugs for good, and as soon as they are offered the job, they can start up again right away. Drugs are illegal so a person can not get too mad at the companies’ desires to have drug free employees who will be able to concentrate and put forth the best effort. The main factor in whether or not to hire someone should probably be based on something more constructive though such as the resume, the experience, and the interview. If a person keeps the drugs a weekend thing or whatever that keeps it separate from work, then they still may be a very dependable employee, versus the lazy teenage boy who does not do drugs. If I was put into a situation were needed to take a drug test, I would not be worried or upset at the request. I can see where the view held by some people comes from. I can respect that it is a privacy issue and can be unwanted by citizens of a free nation, but as for me, I do not do drugs and would come out clean anyhow!
Word count: 532
Barbara Ehrenreich was living on the streets and trying to earn money to survive. She had been using marijuana and she was surprised when I came to her drug test at Menards and Wal-Mart. It was surprising that both of the tests were totally different. The Wal-Mart test was relaxed and would be easy to cheat on, while the Menards test took a long time and was a little stricter, but they both were cheatable tests.
The author isn’t too fond of the drug tests being required to all employees. She thinks that it just wastes her time. It also costs money every time you need to take the test, and plus you have to pay for a babysitter. The companies are looking for entry-level workers and people that would be good with a low wage job. Since Barbra had been on marijuana and it stays in your system for a long time, she tried to take some medicine to try to get it out of here system. I don’t think that this medicine would really get marijuana out of your system. It seemed like something to just get people to buy it, so they can get money.
From how the test was taken you can tell the Wal-Mart and Menards are places where anyone can work. The author thinks that the drug tests are fake and easy to get around. Since the author is on drugs, she was watching how easy it would be to cheat. She soon found it was easy to cheat on the tests. This makes the companies look bad, because they don’t seem to care about their workers. I think that the companies should be stricter in choosing their employees and not just focus on not having to pay their workers a lot of money. If you can cheat on the drug test, then why even have their workers take them.
After she got the test results back they didn’t even say if it ended up positive or negative, all they said was that she was hired. That mad her concerned, because she knew that she had drugs in her system and they still hired her. I don’t think that’s right and what the point is in taking the test if it doesn’t matter what you come up as.
If I took the test I would have a negative score. I think thought that anyone that did drugs had to take a drug test like these, it wouldn’t matter, because they would just cheat or they would get hired anyways, because it doesn’t really matter to the company if they really need workers.
The author of Nickel and Dimed proves that drug tests aren’t very useful for the job hiring process. Applying for jobs at Wal-Mart and Menards, she finds the application process for both companies includes a drug test. The author mentions how using drugs such as cocaine or heroin, being water-soluble, wouldn’t even show up on the screening, as fat-soluble drugs like marijuana can remain in the body for months. Although the author seems to be a fit employee for both jobs, she notices the possibility of failing her drug tests after taking prescription drugs. With a chronic nasal congestion, she worries about Claritin- D showing up as crystal meth.
The author turns to the internet to find a variety of information relating to detox. She finds one site offering to send clean urine that is battery-heated to body temperature. She also finds many other available products surfacing around the Web that are indigestible. With no time to wait, the author finds a CleanP product located at a nearby store. The author purchases two products at a cost of $30 and finds the process to be very easy to follow. The program simply revolves around drinking lots of water.
While the author prepares to take her necessary drug test for Wal-Mart, she is sent down the hallway with two cups and quickly realizes how easy it would be for anyone to substitute another person’s urine. The test for Menards is slightly different. The author enters a bathroom with goo-filled hands after the lady observing squirts the liquid into her hands and waits outside, holding the author’s purse. The author finds the tests to be invalid and not very useful because people wanting to be accepted for any job position can find multiple ways of passing the test. The author gets a reply from Menards and finds another woman at “orientation” that hasn’t even taken a drug test, yet all signs lead to her being hired. The lady didn’t have a photo ID after her wallet was stolen, so she couldn’t be drug screened, however she can receive an “orientation” for a job position. While at Menards, the author isn’t even told for sure that she has been hired. Wal-Mart replies to the author and tells her the “drug screen is fine.”
Drug testing for job applications isn’t efficient and doesn’t prevent people from taking drugs. It is possible for people to get away with being clean from drugs for some short amount of time during the hiring process and later turning to drugs. With periodic testing under strict conditions, however, working people may possibly be stopped from using drugs. Still, the circumstances the author revealed during her application process showed how useless the drug testing is. She even met a woman who wasn’t drug tested and still was ready to be hired. I don’t think the tests help companies get more productive workers. People cheat and lie to make sure they get a needed job. For me, a drug test wouldn’t be a big deal because I don’t have problems with drugs. If anything, I would dislike taking a drug test because it would consume my time.
Mitch Fratzke
Barbara Ehrenreich’s biggest challenge in getting a job is the drug tests. Apparently, she is a user of marijuana, which is the main drug that companies test for, since cocaine and heroin are water-soluble and leave the body after a couple of days. Marijuana is fat-soluble and can stay in the body for months.
Ms. Ehrenreich discovers that there is a way to wash the drugs out of her body quicker, but has to pay an extra thirty dollars at GNC for the detoxification treatment. She also drank a lot of water to help clean out her body. While doing research on the internet, she discovered many people with the same problem. There are many products to cheat on the drug test. One site offers to send a container of drug-free pee, which was heated to body temperature by a battery.
Barbara Ehrenreich doesn’t believe that drug tests should be administered. Drug tests were created so companies wouldn’t hire any drug addicts, which would hurt the company’s productivity because the employees would be getting high. She states that there is information showing that companies who make drug tests mandatory for their employees actually are not as productive as employers who do not require the test. Supposedly, employee morale is higher without the mandatory tests also.
I don’t really have an opinion on drug tests. If I was applying for a job which required one, I could care less. The only way it would affect me is by wasting my time. However, if I was a large scale employer, I think I would require a drug test too. I wouldn’t want employees that smoked marijuana on their breaks. They wouldn’t be worried about helping the customer; all they would be thinking about is the next time that they can get high.
I don’t think drug tests prevent people from using drugs. It may prevent an addict from doing drugs prior to the test, but they would continue right afterwards. In my opinion, drug tests just scare people who do drugs away from applying. It’s more of a counter-measure against them.
Apparently, from the data that Barbara Ehrenreich gave us, drug tests are not as effective as we’d like to think. Companies waste more money than what it is worth to screen their potential employees. If the drug test is expected, it’s fairly easy to prepare for it through the method of detoxification described in the reading. From information included with the text, drug tests decrease morale and make workers who are not as productive. This seems a little backwards to me. I might question the author’s sources because she may be a little biased. Being a marijuana user and having to take a drug test probably makes her upset because it hurts her chances of getting the job. I would probably be a somewhat biased in the same situation.
Like I said before, a drug test wouldn’t bother me. I have nothing to hide. Personally, I would prefer drug tests if I was an employer because I think employees would be more effective if they weren’t occupied with getting high. Data that Barabara Ehrenreich provides us with shows otherwise, but I would question her source.
Words: 536
Adam Michel
Question # 1
Pre-employment personality tests are given to potential workers to see if they have what it takes to become a worker. The tests vary from store to store, but nearly all businesses have something to test their potential workers with. In the reading, the author tries to get a job at both Menard’s and WalMart, so she was able to explore the differences and similarities between the two.
The most noticeable differences between the two business’s tests are the extent and the type of people it is directed toward. WalMart’s test is longer than Menard’s test and is aimed at different people. They say, “There are no wrong answers.”, and are much softer with the customers. Menard’s test is directed more toward rougher people and had an emphasis on stealing above all other things. Walmart’s test is a bit softer since they know troubled people are going to be the ones applying anyway, but Menards has a better reputation and wants to weed out some people to make sure their workforce is better.
Mrs. Ehrenreich’s opinion on personality tests is not a very good one. They are too long and the questions are more pointless than anything else. She doesn’t much care what her coworkers act like or do and wouldn’t tattle on them even if she did care. On the extent of the questions in the tests, she says they, “whittle you down to lie up to fifty times in the space of the fifteen minutes or so it takes to do a survey.”
By using the results of these tests, they are looking for someone that is a subject and will be the model worker if hired. They are virtually not interested people with opinions and want more of a robot than a human. This was shown when Ehrenreich was called back for marking “strongly” instead of “very strongly” or “totally” on the test. You can never be too much of a suck up while presenting yourself to the employer, because that is exactly the type of person they want to hire.
One can make the observation that the companies are trying to be proactive by giving the tests, but the workers don’t much seem to care who is hired and the potential employees are lying and not taking the tests too seriously, making the tests basically pointless. They are just given because the employers feel they need to, when really the drug test is the all deciding factor. The applicants in turn worry much more about finding ways to pass the drug tests since they know they can just lye their way through the personality test
If I were to take one of the two personality tests, I think I would score pretty well. I have a clean record as far as crime goes and I think my personality would be agreeable with management, as I am a pretty hard worker. I may get in a little trouble like Ehrenreich when it comes to the brown-noser questions, since I have some of the same views as her, but overall I think I would do pretty well.
In the short excerpt from Nickel and Dimed, a woman, named Barbara Ehrenreich sets out to get a job at minimum wage in Minnesota. She applies to two different retail stores, one of them being Wal-Mart and the other one being Menards. When Ehrenreich goes to these stores to turn in her application she fins that she has to take a mandatory drug test. Now this shouldn’t seem to bother her as she doesn’t do anything illegal, but she is worried about her prescription drugs, and she thinks they might show up on the drug test. Ehrenreich goes on to say that heroin or cocaine wouldn’t even show up on the tests, because they are water soluble, while marijuana is the most looked for drug.
These tests are used to get rid of sketchy workers and looks for the most “clean” workers. Ehrenreich feels that she needs to pass these tests and doesn’t want her prescription drugs to affect the drug test, so she goes and looks on the internet to find ways to pass the test. What she finds is that there is so many different ways to pass theses tests. With some having you take use fake urine or another where you rid of all the bad fluids in your body. She feels that she needs to get rid of the fluids and looks for the best way to get rid of them.
Ehrenreich goes to the local GNC store which sells supplements among other things. She picks up a detox product of creatinine and diuretic for only thirty dollars. All she has to do is drink water at all times with frequent doses of the diuretic and avoid all salts and she should pass the drug test cleanly.
Ehrenreich thinks that these tests don’t really matter and all they are doing is trying to limit workers in the company’s work force. She feels that they don’t make a search for potential workers easier, it makes it harder.
As for my opinion on this issue, I would have to it is really up to the company that is conducting the search. I mean if they have a big pool of employers I think it is a good way to get rid of some of them. On the other hand, as Ehrenreich showed, it is very possible to pass these drug tests and I think that drug users would have no problem passing these tests if they really wanted the job. I don’t know if these tests really prevent anyone form using drugs because users are so wired to get their drugs and they will get them at any cost and like I said before if they need to pass the test it would be very simple for one to do. I also don’t know if companies are getting harder workers or not with theses tests. I mean someone can take drugs and still be a hard worker, it’s all up to the individual and how they live their lives.
As for the test itself, I think if I had to take it, I could care less if I took the test or not. I would feel sure of myself to pass the test and work hard for the company.
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When Ehrenreich finds out that she must first pass a drug test before being hired at Wal-Mart, she immediately goes to her computer to find a way to cleanse her body. She never tells us that she has done drugs, but she does tell us that there has been a chemical indiscretion in the recent weeks. She also tells us that had she used heroin or cocaine she would have no problem, but her indiscretion involves the only drug detected by drug tests-Marijuana. She quickly states that she is also concerned that she is worried about her prescription drugs showing up on the tests too. It seems to me that she does this to make us forget that she may have done marijuana, and there is no doubt in my mind that she has done it.
From the internet, she learns that she needs to flush the drugs out of her body. She races to the GNC to buy CleanP, a detox product, which will help cleanse her body faster. When she gets to the GNC, she is led to a large glass case full of detoxification products. She buys the product and transforms herself into “an unobstructed pipe: water coming in and water just as pure and drinkable coming out.”
When Ehrenreich takes the drug test for Wal-Mart it is at a chiropractor’s office. She is given two containers and is sent down the hall to pee. She notes that she could have easily taken someone else’s pee or had a vial of clean pee in her pocket. The Menards drug test is much more strict. It is a hospital and the nurse squirts soap onto her hands. The soap is to make sure that she doesn’t have any drug-dissolving powders into her urine. She is instructed to leave her purse with the nurse. She talks of the irony of how she is supposed to trust the nurse with her purse and the nurse doesn’t even trust her not to alter her urine.
I think that drug tests are pointless. As the author showed us, not only can you buy products to rid your body of the drugs, the tests really only detect marijuana. Who can really prove that marijuana leads to more absenteeism than heroin or ecstasy? If you can’t test for all drugs, it is pointless to have the tests. Also, people can easily cheat the system. In the hallway of the chiropractor’s office, Ehrenreich could have switched her pee with a drug free sample. While companies may keep some of the drug addicts out of their stores, with the tests they have they can only keep out the marijuana addicts and many drugs are much worse than marijuana. If I were required to take a drug test, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I have nothing to hide. I do think that companies are wasting their money with drug testing because it really isn’t very effective, but if they want to spend their money on that then that’s up to them.
Robbie Solheid- Question #2
One of the biggest challenges for some people are drug tests. For most of us, drug tests aren't a problem. However, those people who decide to use drugs, such as as marijuana, can run into major problems when applying for jobs. Some places don’t require a drug test, but most bigger companies do. This puts drug dealers into a bad position. They need a job in order to pay for their drugs and food but they are unable to get a job because of the drugs they use. However, there are ways of fooling the drug test or at least making it less likely to get caught.
Like always, people find ways to cheat on tests. Some drugs, like alcohol, are water soluble, but others, like marijuana, are fat soluble so they stay in the body for months. Since it stays in the body for so long, it is an accurate test to show whether a person takes the drug or not. When a urine test is conducted, they look for small amounts of that drug in the urine. One of the best ways to get rid of a fat soluble drug is to flush it out with lots of water. In the book, Ehrenreich tries to drink two gallons of water each day and a diet low in salt, since salt causes the body to hold in water in the body rather than flushing it out. She also goes to the GNC store and buys some drugs that will help get rid of the illegal drugs.
Drug testing is a hit-and-miss test. Some people might smoke marijuana and then take all the drugs that would flush out the body and still pass the test. There is no way of telling whether a person has taken marijuana lately or not with all the things out there to mask the marijuana traces. It also makes it unfair to those who smoke marijuana because they don’t test for heroine or cocaine, since they are water-soluble and pass through the body in a matter of days. So someone could be taking heroine, which is a much stronger drug than marijuana, and still get the job, whereas a person that takes marijuana would be denied that job. It doesn’t make any sense that they would test for the drug with the lesser negative effects but not for the more dangerous drugs. What is the point of even testing if there are ways to hide the traces of marijuana and not being able to test for stronger drugs?
Many people question why companies do drug tests and whether they are ethical or not. But I feel that they are necessary and a good thing. First of all, people who don’t do drugs are much more likely to be trusted and are much more reliable. No matter what someone thinks, drug users can’t be trusted, because they will almost always need more money in order to buy more drugs so they will resort to stealing from the store. Also, one thing that drugs do to a person is lower their want to succeed and their ability to think clearly. They might not show up on time for work one day, or not care about how they treat the customers. So employees who take drugs have much more negative effects than just doing something illegal.
Drug tests may not be as accurate and reliable as many people hoped they were, but they still are the best way to make sure workers don’t do drugs. If someone takes drugs, it might seem like they are getting ripped off, but to the employers it is a good way of weeding out the workers most likely to cause trouble.
Allison Stupica- CIS Comp, Dec. 19, 2007
"Selling in Minnesota"
Essay question #2
Drug tests are now becoming a more popular trend when filling out job applications. You would think that a test as demoralizing and invading as this one would determine whether you were hired or not, but Ehrenreich finds many ways to prove that drug screenings aren’t as accurate as some people may think. In fact, she discovers many deceitful ways to get around one. Along with ways of avoiding a drug test that reads positive, she finds that many drugs do not even show up on the test if they are in your system! Certain drugs like cocaine and heroin are just a few drugs that don’t show up on the test, and LSD isn’t even tested for! The main drug that is tested for is marijuana, which can stay in your system for months. And even if you have been on marijuana in the past six weeks before a test, you can actually buy detox products, like CleanP, to help “clean your system.” These drugs work by taking them along with constant intake of water, up to three gallons a day. Also, she found websites where you could actually buy “clean urine” samples that would be shipped to you in a couple of days.
I was shocked that Ehrenreich went through all of that and 30 dollars because she was worried that her Claritin-D, nasal medicine might show up as crystal meth or some other type of drug. I think, from hearing the points she chose to write about drug tests, that she thinks they are foolish and a waste of time. She obviously knows that you can easily get around them using detox, store-bought products, and even ordering “clean” pee from online sites. I don’t think they are about to stop anyone from using drugs, for some common drugs like cocaine and heroin don’t even show up on the test! If a drug user knew that those certain drugs would not be screened for, what would be their purpose to stop using them? Personally, I think drug tests would be a lot more effective if they were random and screened for a variety of drugs, including the non-tested drug, LSD. That could also create issues of invasion of privacy and are companies allowed to do that and all of those factors. I’d say if you passed it once, you should easily be able to pass it again, random or not. And if the tests were random, well then managers and bosses would catch their drugged employees and ultimately make their work place better.
From my point of view, if you take the time to go and take a drug test just for the means of employment, then you better be confident that you will test negative for drug use. I think companies that make their applicants take a drug test, then yes, they are getting better employees. For the most part, I don’t think people are buying drug-free urine over the internet, and if they take the time and money to get a drug test, I think it makes the company that much better. If I were told to take a drug test for a job, I wouldn’t think it an invasion of privacy or space, and because of the fact that I don’t do drugs, I would take one confidently, with no doubt in my mind that I would pass it.
Pre-employment personality tests are easy to fool based on the way Ehrenreich describes them. Companies use these tests to predict the probability of the employee causing any sort of trouble. The good employee just has to think what the company would want them to say. Ehrenreich ran into a few problems after the Wal-Mart test. The Roberta had her explain several of her answers, which were not “wrong.” Ehrenreich puts it this way: “When presenting yourself as a potential employee, you can never be too much of a suck-up.”
Companies want workers that share their same set of values. Wal-Mart wanted workers specifically geared toward the service of the customer. Even though many of the questions had proper answers, the right answer was not always the same. Companies only seem to care if the employee knows the proper answer. In theory, this is a good way to get rid of many potentially harmful employees. If an employee does not know what is proper, the employee is more likely to commit a crime or handle a situation improperly. This does not mean that an employee will not improperly handle a situation.
The employees eventually learn how to take a pre-employment personality test. Many places on the internet can offer help and education for those who need it. The employee does not have a choice as to whether or not they actually take the test, if they want the job. Sever issues are raised about the hiring process. If the market becomes over flooded with workers, the workers are forced to lower their standards, and the same goes if the employers need more employees than is available. A give take relationship exists between employers and employees. Many problems come about because of this relationship. Ehrenreich later learned that the bottom line mattered just as much as the customer and many of the values presented by Roberta and the other trainers contradicted each other. Menards targeted their personality test to get rid of thieves. She said that many questions referred to Drugs, theft, and fighting.
The tests have to fit the type of person that usually applies for the jobs in that area. A nation wide test would be a horrible idea. Neither side would benefit from that. The tests leave a huge opportunity to lie. Half the answers Ehrenreich gave where what she knew to be right not what she actually believed in. A better test would have intentions responses to questions. This would force employees to answer what they really believed in, versus what they knew to be true. The example Ehrenreich gave was that “I don’t much care if my fellow workers are getting high in the parking lot or even lifting the occasional retail item, and I certainly wouldn’t snitch if I did.” Many people take this point of view. They do not care what the people around them do wrong, so long as they do not get in trouble for it.
These pre-employment personality tests are pointless. They weed out the worst employees, but they let so many mediocre ones through. The decent employees pass just fine, along with the good and excellent. Most businesses do not want the mediocre employees. These employees will eventually bounce from job to job, trying to find a job that molds to their personal needs.
In the essay, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenriech has just moved to Minnesota and is looking for a job and an apartment. Our excerpt includes her speaking with someone at both Wal-Mart and Menards about a job. At both locations, she is required to take a drug test along with admitting her application and having an interview. Ehrenriech admits to a “chemical indiscretion” near the time of her job search and knows that she won’t pass; the author tells readers she had used marijuana, which can stay in the body for months. She knows that if she had used cocaine or heroin, there would not be an issue, as these drugs clear out of the body in a couple of days. She also reveals that LSD isn’t tested for in typical drug tests.
In order to land a job, the author decided to devote a weekend to detoxify her body. She researches online and finds multiple “sites offering help… mostly in the form of ingestible products.” Ehrenriech does not have time to receive products, so she keeps looking and learns that the only effective method is to flush the drug out with large amounts of fluids - three gallons a day. She also reads of a product to speed up the process called CleanP. After settling for a like-product, called uva ursis, the author devotes two days to drinking water at all times, taking frequent doses of the “speeder-upper,” and avoiding salt at all costs. She says, “If I want that job at Menards, I have to… (put) water in and (have) water just as pure and drinkable coming out.”
When Monday rolls around, the author waits an hour and forty minutes just to pee in a cup. She basically thinks the test is a waste of her time. After getting hired at Menards, along with another woman, Ehrenriech learns that this other employee had not even taken her drug test yet! The author concludes that the drug test is a wasted effort by both the patient and the company and that it is not, by any means, efficient.
I agree with the author on some levels. I didn’t know how inaccurate the test could be. If companies are going to require that possible employees take the test, they need to consider the results, not just skip over that step. People are not going to stop doing drugs if they are under the impression that their employer does not care. In the long run, companies are just hurting themselves. They are not using the tests to determine who to hire, so they are not getting more productive workers. At the same time, what individuals do on their own time is their business, as long as they are not going to work high or drunk. If I had to take a drug test, I would want to know that the results are looked at, considered, and required for every employee.
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