Kelsey Timmerman's Where Am I Wearing And Where AM I Eating?

751 Words2 Pages

In his books Where Am I Wearing? and Where Am I Eating?, Kelsey Timmerman humanizes the issues of globalization and provokes readers be informed about the origins of their products. By traveling the world and telling the stories of the people he meets, Timmerman is able to enlighten his readers and intiate communication about how to improve our world economy. After tracking down the origins of his blue jeans, Timmerman meets Nari, a factory worker in Cambodia. Timmerman describes Nari’s living conditions as poor and crowded. Nari, and seven other girls, live in an 8’x12’ room with no air conditioning, and a squat toilet walled off in the corner. To gain a semblance of privacy, the girls use a sheet hanging from a sagging cord in the back corner as a changing room. Four of the girls sleep on a bamboo bed and the other four girls sleep on the floor. (Where Am I Wearing? pp.99-103) Timmerman, then, writes of his meeting with Nari and her roommates. …show more content…

As she tells Timmeran about her own experiences involving the factory in Cambodia, the reader can see the Nari is grateful for her job, despite the unsatisfactory circumstances. Due to her uneducated, rural background, Nari’s dreams to open up her own beauty salon and provide for her family would probably go unrealized without her job at the factory (Where Am I Wearing? 122). Although the conditions are poor in comparison to American standards, the workers need the jobs the factories provide. Timmerman describes the “reality of the workers’ lives as harsh,” but says that “they don’t want you to boycott their products to protest their working conditions.” Overall, workers would like to work less and make more, but receiving $50 a month is more of a necessity than better working conditions (Where Am I Wearing?

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