Name _________________________________ World Affairs
Morgan
Spurlock is famous for the documentary Supersize Me, where he did an
experiment
and
ate nothing but McDonalds for a month.
Now he’s living 30 days on minimum wage.
1. The Three Rules
2. They decide to go to ____________________,
Ohio.
3. The state of affairs in Ohio mirrors conditions all over the US. Ohio has lost 250,000 jobs in the last _____ years alone. ________ of the top 20 poorest cities in the US are in Ohio.
4. Even with their two paychecks combined, they only have $356.00 as
their starting balance. Since they
don’t have a car, Morgan and Alex bought a __________________ to get
around, dropping their money to $313.94.
5. They finally find an apartment to stay in for $325 a month in a place called _________________________.
6. A homeless man had broken in and had been living in their
apartment. The downstairs apartment
used to be a ___________________________.
The landlord allows them to pay off the deposit over a couple of
months. They paid $200 towards the
first month’s rent, but still owed the landlord another $125 for the rent and
$325 for the security deposit. Their
balance is negative $336.05.
7. Day 2, they look for jobs. Morgan says that a lot of minimum wage earners go to ________________________ to get jobs fast.
8. Alex gets a job __________________________ at a coffee house
downtown. On Day 3, they’re down to
$82.00 and still owe the landlord $450 for the first month’s rent and
deposit. Their balance is negative
$368.
9. Alex decides to walk to work because every bus trip costs $__________.
10. On the job, Gerald says he’s making less money now than he did on his first job ______ years ago in 1976. He worked at General Motors. His job paid $7.55 an hour. Now in 2005, he’s making $7 an hour and has no ___________________________________.
11. When minimum wage was established in 1938, it was meant to help workers maintain a bare minimum standard of living. The minimum wage hasn’t been raised since ____________, but the cost of living has gone up, so the law no longer does precisely what it was meant to do.
12. Senator Ted Kennedy has introduced a bill to Congress every _________; all have failed. Those who oppose raising minimum wage say to do so would hurt businesses that will have to cut employment & lay off workers.
13. While Congress hasn’t taken any action in the past seven years to raise minimum wage, they’ve accepted their own cost of living increases to the tune of $_______________ (per year).
14. What is their bank? __________________________________
15. The next morning they wake up to find they were now infested with ____________.
16. “There are government programs that provide necessities for the working poor, but where do you go when you need something like ____________________________?”
17. On Day 9, he took a landscaping job for more money, but he injured his ________________.
Fast-forward through
commercial
18. Because they had no health insurance, he had to go to the ______________________ to see a doctor. He hears that they will only take 20 people, so he won’t see the doctor today.
19. “Some people say we don’t have health care in the US, we have ________________.” If you have a heart attack and have no money, you can have open-heart surgery and get the real good care. If you need preventive care to keep you from getting a heart attack, you’re out of luck.
20. In the morning, Alex went to the hospital
for a urinary tract infection. They had
to take a bus to Grove City to find a 24-hour pharmacy. Her prescription was only $_____________,
but she says it’s still a day’s wages.
21. While home sick and cold, she called the electric company. They have to pay a deposit of $_________ in the next 10 days. He thinks the deposit is because of where they live.
22. That night, he goes to the emergency room for his wrist. The doctors don’t want him to go to work the next day, but Morgan decides to get a ___________________________ to make ends meet.
Fast-forward through
commercial
23. Day 15, he begins working two full-time jobs and has been doing everything from making ________________, to washing dishes, landscaping, painting, and making _________________________.
24. Morgan works two 8-hour shifts and with
transportation, this means he spends __________ hours away from home
each day.
25. If you’re on minimum wage, childcare can run up to $_______________ a year for one child. That’s your entire yearly salary.
26. Families that make less than $25,000 a year are twice as likely to ___________________ as those making over $50,000. Hardest hit are single, working mothers.
27. One in five children in Ohio goes to bed __________________________ each night.
28. Day 23, they take the kids to the $1 movies. After the movie Alex gets mad, and they fight because Morgan bought two ______ cent buns.
Fast-forward through
commercial
29. On her 30th
birthday, the Conservatory tickets were too expensive. How much did they cost? $________ each. They went to dinner instead and spend around $20.
30. After waiting 40 minutes for the bud, they find out that buses stopped at 6:00 that day, so they had to pay $________ for a cab ride home.
31. Day 29, the emergency room bill drops them
to negative $29.83. Just for
walking in the door of the emergency room, there is a $____________ fee. His bill charged him $551 to walk in the
door. They also charged him $40
for an Ace bandage.
32. Day 30. The experiment ends. They figure it would take three months to pay off their ___________________.
33. It’s been ____________ years since the
federal minimum wage has changed.