"My Only Crime Was Working Hard"

Mckenzi Kerrigan

What strikes me about the importance of story to raise awareness around the social issues that are present all around us but that can so easily remain hidden is that these stories allow the readers to feel for the storyteller and maybe not completely but better understand struggles they must endure in their daily lives. When reading a story as opposed to just straight facts, the reader experiences emotion and compassion for the storyteller and their challenges. Sometimes we choose not to see things that are difficult, but when it is all laid out on the table and told to you from the perspective of the people who are actually experiencing this it is hard not to listen and be moved by their stories.

Data Center created a compelling argument that actually led to policy changes to support the right of Domestic Workers by putting together a report of all different kinds of facts, statistics, information, and personal stories to really cover and support this issue from all sides. In the story of Diana who had come to the United States from Peru and worked in a floating casino as a cleaner until Hurricane Katrina hit, she described how she often worked overtime and only got paid $6.50 per hour. This reminded me of Data Center’s article when they showed statistics of the percentage of workers’ hourly wages, 8% being less than 5.15 per hour and below poverty line ($5.15-$8.97) at 18% of workers. What really shocked me was that hourly wages reported by domestic workers in New York ranged from $1.43 to $40.00 (Data Center 19). One dollar and forty-three cents an hour… “I was treated like a criminal. My only crime was working hard (Orner 30). Diana describes how she was treated like a terrorist would be treated in her home country of Peru here just because she was undocumented. Another aspect that stood out to me and reminded me of Diana’s story was how many of the domestic workers worked many more hours than they should have like Wilma who was supposed to work 40 hours a week and receive compensation of $400, but worked more than 100 hours a week and only got paid $200 (Data Center 18). Like Diana, Wilma was taken advantage of and treated like a slave.

‘“But we’re here in this country where human rights are respected,” I said. One woman said, “Who told you that? Those are just stories”’ (Orner 28).  Other than the issue of uncompensated over time and below minimum wage pay, human rights were another issue raised in Diana’s story and by that of Data Center. I think Data Center had a compelling argument because they compiled all different types of information in order to really help the reader to understand the issue, which I think, would be best to do in a case like this as well. If you could compile facts and statistics as well as stories against this case people would be more inclined to listen and really build an understanding of the issue and that something must be done to fix it.