Advertising executive Prioleau Alexander was fed up. His job was all about office politics and ungrateful clients.
So he embarked on a series of minimum wage jobs: fast food cashier, pizza delivery driver, medical tech, and more.
And he wrote a book: You Want Fries With That: A White-Collar Burnout Experiences Life at Minimum Wage.
For anyone who’s wanted to leave a high-powered executive job, hoping for less stress, this book will be a wake-up call. Research has shown that higher level executives live healthier, less stressful lives than lower-ranking employees.
Alexander, an ex-Marine, chooses to report his experience with humor. His approach contrasts sharply with the moralistic approach of Barbara Ehrenreich and the idealism of Michael Gates Gill in How Starbucks Saved My Life.
My only quibble is the misleading title. Alexander never really lived a minimum-wage lifestyle. He had already secured a publishing contract and advance for this book. He commuted from his own home.
No problem. I just wish he had revised his approach to emphasize that he was, in a sense, an outside reporter.
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