A run in the underground economy can come to a quick end if interference from the police comes at an inopportune time. Because of this those embedded in the economy are forced to develop a sixth sense of fear that protects them from police matters. The greatest hit that police interference can make though is cuts into daily profit. To be careful drug-dealers will often avoid engaging in business practices. Profits will plummet if there are suspicions of looming police action.

Violence is the most dominant factor in the life of the underground economy. Drug dealers must create an image of violence to maintain safety. As shown in In Search of Respect, one of the critical aspect of Primo’s daily operations at the Game Room was Cesar. Cesar’s value was not directly in the physical strength he offered as security and look-out, but the perception he maintained on the streets. Cesar was not only strong enough to kick anyone’s ass, but he was crazy enough to do it as well. This insane violence was the best protection for the Game Room’s daily operations. Cesar’s insane violence was no match for the violent aura that Ray presented as the owner of the Game Room along with various other illegal pharmacies in East Harlem. Ray’s power was not only in his financial and managerial control over his operations but also in the same senseless violence that Cesar used to protect the Game Room. If Ray was upset about the functioning of any of his facilities, he had a wide range of tactical resources to get more from his employees, one of them being senseless violence, which is only an acceptable form of managerial power in the underground economy.

The silent majority of the streets are forced to barricade themselves inside their own homes as protection from street life and the underground economy. The fear of the underground economy is two-fold for the people who are surrounded by it but do not participate. The first fear is of the violence that surrounds the economy. Daily life in the underground economy offers the threat of violence, and this threat of violence is not only for participating members. Neighbors face the threat of violence as either senseless victims or as innocent bystanders. For many families, the threat of the underground economy invading their home is just as present. Families become shut in fearing that encounters with the people who make up street life will take away members.

It is reasonable to understand why families would fear younger members entrance into the underground economy. It is life that offers much to ghetto youth. Faced with atrocious education systems and economic decay that allows few to leave the poverty of the ghetto, from a young age the underground economy is championed, as the easiest way to live a more-privileged life than what would ever otherwise be available. It is easy for ghetto youth to look towards the life of Big Daddy or Ray and see a route to success. The cars, the nice dinners, the money, the adoration of women, these are all powerful things that were captured by these men by rejecting traditional ideas of work and success, and plunging head-first into the underground economy.

The life surrounding the underground economy is demanding and dangerous, but the transition to a place in the legitimate economy is difficult for the entrenched. Most often entry into the underground economy is based on a lack of skills that can be translated to ‘downtown’ jobs. Dropping out of high school in order to pursue economic dreams is a route many have taken. Minimum wage jobs in the neighborhoods they live are highly competitive and often shutout to men of the underground economy, due to their offensive self-projection. The dream to succeed outside of the illegal life leads many to still pursue these avenues of self-change.

When the jobs become available, there still is great difficulty in the transition. Especially for Latin-American males who are imbued with the archaic ideals of machismo, alternate forms of masculinity prevent many from accepting the roles they are given in the legitimate working world. Two factors play into this. Occasionally when work is found, either downtown or in the neighborhood, women are the supervisors and the co-workers. After existing in a hyper-masculine street culture, which can often included a machismo-mentality, being subordinate to a woman is a difficult task. Furthermore, men are asked to assume duties that contradict their ideas of gender roles. Especially for Latin-American, and even more for Puerto Rican immigrants, their heritage of strong, union factory work dissuades them from taking jobs of food preparation at the local Burger Barn, and makes the responsibility of a copy machine at a downtown office job.

This creates the dividing line in ghetto economies. The question is presented at an early age, legitmate or underground. For those that chose the legitimate economy the reasons are numerous. Most of the decision is based on personal values. When the value of legitimate work, even if it is minimum-wage, is reinforced often enough, the choice is easy for ghetto youth. When that path is taken, minimum wage work starts at a young age, only while working an amount of hours that allows school work to come first. If minimum-wage work carries on past schooling, friends that haven’t made the same life decisions are often moved aside for friends that are found at work. The culture of working in the legitimate economy becomes as great a force as the street culture that is so much a part of the underground economy. The greatest force driving communities towards legitimate work is an internal promise. It is the hope that if rules are followed and legal work is prioritized, the opportunity to move out of the ghetto will materialize. Both economic choices promise exodous, but many see minimum wage work as a better bet than illegal work.

Something that cannot be taken from the minimum-wage workers of the ghettos is the pride associated with legitimate work. For many working these jobs, the other options or the options that friends have taken become deplorable. During high school many worker’s counterparts chose hanging out to work. As high school ends and age sets in welfare checks or drug dealing replaces further hanging out. Minimum-wage workers look at the slothful attitude of acquaintances (which is often only replaced by another vice), and take pride that their lives have meaning, and that they are participating in something worthwhile. They aren’t profiting off of a free ride from the government or addiction-ridden junkies. Minimum-wage workers have a legitimate place in the economy and take pride in that.

It is often difficult for these workers to maintain their pride. When working in service professions, especially recognizable in fast-food service, many customers attempt to take advantage of the emotions of workers. Service workers are forced to bow to the whims of the customers. Abuse from customers therefore can get out of control. Ranging from fits of rage ostensibly directed at counter-workers to unreasonable demands, workers must put aside all sense of pride and calmly accept the situation. This is especially difficult for men coming out of the ghetto. Men are taught from an early age in this setting to demand respect in all situations and not accept disrespect. They must ignore this upbringing to survive in their new position in the economy. Furthermore, especially for fast-food workers, but more inclusively all service workers are bombarded with stereotypes of the work they participate in. Common thinking says that service work is a completely mindless practice, which animals could accomplish. Though these theories are far from reality, many workers internalize the rhetoric and are shamed by the work they participate in. Finally outside of work, friends of service workers continue the shaming. Contemporaries that chose to not accept work in the legitimate economy mock those who have. Many times afterwards the ones doing the mocking in the large group will ask for help entering the same positions that were mocked, but a group mentality forces the worst from people.

It is easy to ignoring these shaming experiences when the minimum-wage worker can look ahead at what will be available to them because of their legitimate work experience. Many look at their minimum-wage work as sustenance while they are pursuing academic achievements that will allow them to achieve great things in their futures. Employee’s educations are often a top-priority for philanthropic fast-food resturaunt managers. These workers see ‘Burger Barn’-type jobs as a launching pad to legitimate work that will offer them great economic opportunities. Other workers in minimum-wage positions look within their corporation for advancement. Fast-food companies are famous for seeing front-line employees moving up the ranks of employment, with some eventually becoming top executives. Though most understand it is not likely for them to achieve the highest ranks in their corporation, some see salaried managerial positions within their individual restaurants as career possibilities. Salaried work is an important jump for many minimum-wage workers and it is an opportunity for many in this economic strata.

These are naïve thoughts on the possibilities available to ‘Burger Barn’-type minimum-wage workers. Many do try to pursue education while working at minimum-wage, but eventually the balancing act between these two important endeavors becomes too difficult and one is chosen over the other, often with the immediate power of employment beating the future opportunities offered by education. Even if education is fulfilled, many workers are looking to an economic forecast that is demanding more and more education, which becomes less and less available to those working in the minimum-wage sector. Therefore when a desired level of education is complete for many Burger Barn employees, the only employment opportunities available are at the Burger Barn. Also, when certain service-sector minimum-wage employees seek other jobs, the stereotypes that internalize shame for some Burger Barn employees affect other employment opportunities. Many see work experience only in a Burger Barn, and assume that there would be no transferable skills to other sectors of the economy. Many minimum-wage employees become locked into the minimum wage system early in their working lives.

The line quickly becomes blurred between these two economic pursuits. No Shame in My Game speaks of minimum-wage workers providing money to drug addicted family members so they can further their addictions. In Search of Respect mentions the drug dealers frequent attempts at getting legal jobs. Furthermore the book talks of Ray’s dreams of transferring his managerial qualities in the drug market into a legitimate business, whether it be a bodega or a laundromat. Finally, Random Family blurs the line between legal and illegal work to an unrecognizable point. Minimum wage workers supplement their incomes with drug dealing. Customers of one are found selling products of the other economies output.