Hand To Mouth Living In Boots Trap America Analysis

One of the many topics Linda Tirado discusses in her novel Hand to Mouth: Living in bootstrap America is the working conditions that many poor people have to work in every day as well as the repercussions of these conditions. She shares her experiences in poor conditions as well as the challenges she faces while seeking medical care. Tirado explains how these conditions can affect your health. She also explains the struggles that she has faced as a patient on Medicaid. Poor working conditions force low-income people to continue spiraling further into poverty because they cannot afford to be picky about their jobs as well as the high price of health care. Tirado describes the scars she has earned from the fryers, and the burns she has gotten from ovens due to her gloves being worn through. She even recounts how her shoe size changed due to having to stand for long periods of time. She makes it very clear that not all working conditions are healthy or safe, especially for poor people. While these conditions can be unhealthy or emotionally tolling, it can be hard to leave these jobs. Poor people typically cannot

When describing her experience with Medicaid during her first pregnancy, Tirado said “The ones with open spots didn’t take Medicaid, and the ones that accepted Medicaid were full,” (49). When she talks about her trip to the dentist, Tirado said the dentist accused her of being a meth user despite lacking other common symptoms of one. Her dental issues were from a car accident but since she is poor people often assume the worse. The same assumption is often made in Emergency Rooms or in Urgent care. She said “My guess has always been that they assume you’re an addict or a seller” on the topic of painkillers (45). People have a bad habit of assuming the worst of poor people even when presented with evidence that says