To Be or Not To Be...Busy? Political writer, social critic, and essayist, Barbara Ehrenreich showcases to an audience of the middle class; and anyone else who lives a life of “to do” lists and due dates that perhaps they're taking on their lives with the wrong approach. Persuasively, she discusses her personal experiences and unique observations of our obsession with preoccupation and busyness. She writes with humour, clever aphorisms, and clear examples to appeal to, interest and connect with the reader. She begins with an overwhelming list of things a former friend had to keep herself occupied with. Notice how she says “former friend and soon to be acquaintance” (Ehrenreich par. 1), a degradation of friendship. Tragic. However, she puts