Did anyone catch the program: "30 DAYS" on FX last night?

[Sugarbleus]

The people involved in these weekly programs started the first installment with the subject of "Living on Minimum Wage".

It was FABULOUS. The "star" of the program did a film called making it big or something like that. For the first installment program, He with his wife left their comfortable life behind. Emptied their wallets of credit cards etc and went to stay with a friend in Columbus Ohio until they found an apartment of their own. Then they looked for work all over the place for federal minimum wage. They had no children.

They found work. His wife had one, the man found one first, then took two jobs. They immediately put themselves on a budget and HAD to find a dwelling for under $400. They looked everywhere and ended up in a section of town called the "Bottoms". Crack folk lived downstairs and a homeless person had previously occupied the unit they rented. The cost was just under $400. There was no heat, no phone. No furniture.

The gist of the program was to live this way for 30 days. Each of them hurt themselves and had to use the emergency room. One of the free clinics was over crowded and had to turn away patients, thus the emergency room. The bill was over the top for minimum wage workers. The "Stars" were pissed off at what the hospital charged for JUST WALKING IN THE DOOR. They couldn't turn on the heat unless they put out a huge deposit first so they went without heat and it was winter. They ate beans and rice A LOT.

The characters met other people who had some very stressful stories to tell. One man had to support 4 children on his minimum wage income. Another man had worked for one of the industries in Ohio for a couple decades until it closed down; now the guy had to work for LESS wage than he started out with in that Ohio Plant all those years ago. They showed that single mothers were the worst afflicted. Day care, clothes, laundry costs, food etc..all play into the misery of single women in low income situations.

A latino couple were sitting in a clinic waiting to be seen. They both had diabetes but weren't getting what they needed. The husband when asked said he felt like killing himself...he was going to die at that rate anyway.

By the end of the show, the couple was at each other's throat to some extent because of exhaustion and bills and money. The wife was barely able to keep it together. The man/husband was in disbelief about the whole thing. He said he NEVER even considered how rough it was to make a living on low wages doing manual unskilled labor, with NO CAR...they had to bus it everywhere.

In order to catch a bus (if there is one in your area) to get to your job, you have to rise VERY EARLY in the morning. Then the bus ride home....the day is shot and they are exhausted. They had to manage their money so carefully that they went without eating in some instances.
They were fortunate to find a church run program that just gave away furniture and clothing to the poor working class. The wife in this program cried when she found the charitable works of that program. Finally, they had a bed w/clean used blankets to sleep in so they could get off the carpet and away from the infestation of ANTS and other bugs. She was so relieved at simply having an old used kitchen table to SIT at instead of eating on the floor.

An EXCELLENT first piece to bring the truth to the American people. Wages need to come up OR the cost of living has to COME DOWN and adequate, accessible HEALTHCARE is a MUST for everyone. No ifs ands or buts.

I wish I had taped it.

Peace~~ SB

[jeff30997]

1. Sounds very interesting !

I wonder if it can be found somewhere on the web...

[knowbody0]

2. sounds good

some people cannot even imagine living on rice and beans.

[Sandpiper]

3. Yeah, it was great

The star of the show is Morgan Spurlock, the guy who made Supersize Me.

The saddest part to me was when he was riding out to his job site, and one of his co-workers, a middle aged black man, was talking about how he made less now than he did at his first job, working at GM for $7.55 an hour in 1976.

[NYCGirl]

4. The "star" and creator of the program is Morgan Spurlock, whose film,

"Supersize Me" was nominated last year for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. It also won the Director's Award at Sundance and the Writers' Guild of America's Documentary Screenplay Award.



BTW, the film is an indictment of MacDonald's, and played a large part in the company's somewhat lame but a-step-in-the-right-direction attempt to make their offerings more "healthy."

[Sugarbleus]

6. That's the one! Thanks, couldn't remember that part..eom

[NorCalDem]

5. Go here...

http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/30days/main.html

Look at the Episode Guide, he has some pretty interesting shows planned. The SF Castro one sounds good, as does the binge drinking mom (I'm sick in the head that way).

I might actually watch some TV for once. Besides The Daily Show that is, but that goes without saying.

[Sugarbleus]

7. Thanks, I'll go look. Maybe I can get a copy of this first episode..eom

[Sugarbleus]

8. Wow, the right wingers are on that site just RAMBLING on

about socialism and all sorts of ridiculous blind propoganda. There are some posters who are pro minimum wage increases and the show...but wowzers, the other side is just dumber than a doorknob or just plain hard hearted... sheesh :wow: and :grr:

[bumblebee1]

12. I saw that episode (Castro District)

[shrike]

9. Damn, I missed it

I'll look for the re-runs. I always thought that'd make a great subject for a documentary. Glad Spurlock was the one to do it.

[Sapphire Blue]

10. The minimum wage episode will be rebroadcast Sunday, June 19th @ 11:00 PM

http://www.fxnetworks.com/schedule/

[oscar111]

11. '5O, Minimum Wage 5O Cents "If you raise it, earth will end"

said the RW then and every time.

It has gone up and the economy does just fine.

PS check my memory of a post here that gave the fifty cent figure

Use this when the RW today says "raise it? Small businesses will collapse, you workers will lose jobs, and the earth will end as God destroys you evil liberals for trying to raise the minimum wage".

They always say that same thing.

Tell them of 195O.