Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman: A Short Book Review
Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
Having grown up before widespread use of computers and the Internet, I remember when things were inconvenient. Much of my childhood was spent running errands with my mom. Today, two hours of shopping has become five minutes on Amazon (where we place at least one order per day on average) or, in a pinch, a quick trip to a big box store. If I see a box of Cheerios running low, I order it on Amazon in 10 seconds and it magically arrives a day later, or a week later if I’m trying to build up Amazon digital credits.
But despite automation and technology, the system that makes life much more convenient runs on people doing a lot of hard work—driving trucks cross-country, unloading shipping pallets, stocking shelves, packing orders, and making deliveries. Walmart and Amazon are the world’s two largest employers, employing over 3.5 million people, and more than 15 million people work retail in the US. But most of us (myself included) think little about what it’s like to actually work in the sector.
Adelle Waldman’s Help Wanted, written after the author worked the night shift at a big box store, is a gripping fictionalized account of these extremely demanding jobs, focusing on a group of employees in the “Movement” department who, night after night, unload boxes and stock the shelves of a local “Town Square” store. Each employee has their own unique stories and challenges, and navigate challenging circumstances (potential promotions, a difficult boss, policy changes from corporate) as best they can.
From the org chart at the book’s beginning to a deep discussion of challenges facing physical retail, you can tell that Waldman has a real understanding of business and economics and compassion for the characters’ struggles. The book avoids politics and is never preachy, and is a quick but gripping and enjoyable read. I highly recommend it!
And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
A Teacher Did All He Could to Keep Kids Off Phones. He’s Quitting in Frustration.
Test Scores Down, GPAs Up: The New Angst Over Grade Inflation
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