establish an intimate and caring relationship with Miss K. She loves Miss K as her own mother.
Although problems always exist on the process of her struggle to gain a better life, Clare is always able to respond to them using the most proper ways.
She tries to implement the right strategy in dealing with problems happening in life while struggling to satisfy her basic needs.
b. Working as a Cleaning Service
One day all the family members move from 19 Sutherland Square to 5 Vaughan Road, but Clare. However, at last Pauline and Patsy go back to the
previous house together with Clare since there are not enough rooms yet in the new house. Unlike her sisters who have standing invitations for dinner on
Saturday and Sunday in the new house, Clare has to fend for herself totally. Moreover, she has to pay for the gas bill since she is the only one in the house
who has money. After couples of weeks, Clare finds out that her money from Roses is no longer enough to pay for essential items since whenever she buys food
her sisters eat a lot of it Briscoe 323. As a tough girl, Clare does not give up to the situation but she keeps
struggling to survive. She then implements her problem solving strategy. While dealing with difficulty, a person will seek for the solution of the problem Braun,
Linder, and Asimov 478. Having recognized the problem, Clare then decides to find another additional job that she can do before school. The situation leads her
to meet Angela Fuentes, an old friend of her mother as well as a cleaning supervisor for a block of office buildings in the West End. At first, Angela refuses
to provide Clare with a job by considering that she is too young. But after Clare explains the home life situation, Angela agrees to give Clare a job as a cleaning
service at Whitehall starting on Monday. She works there from Monday until Friday at about 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. Briscoe 342.
Although it is very hard for Clare to adjust with her new job, at last she can manage it. She exhaustedly passes the first week and gets paid £14. And on
her way back home from school she spends the money she earns on buying some jellybeans and a bag of apples. Clare starts to love her new-found independence
Briscoe 348. In line with Maslow’s theory, it can be concluded that Clare is struggling to satisfy her physiological needs when she works as a cleaning service.
Maslow as quoted in Goble 38 considers physiological needs as the most powerful and important of all basic needs since they consist of the needs for
physical survival. Consequently, these basic needs have to be fulfilled first before satisfying the higher level of human basic needs. In this case, Clare is intending to
satisfy her needs for survival by doing her cleaning job. Having passed a couple of weeks, Clare becomes accustomed with the
jobs she has. As she is a smart one, she is able to make the best use of her time. Often during her break time after cleaning the offices, Clare manages to finish her
homework. I had got into routine with my jobs, cleaning during the week, selling
clothes at the weekend and doing my own housework on a Sunday after church. My homework was always completed in good time. No piece of
work has handed in late. In fact, there were a number of occasions when I finished off my homework after I cleaned the offices, sitting at a nice large
polished desk until it was time to set off for school Briscoe 349. After leaving her daughter, at last Carmen pops up and pays Clare a visit
only to ask money from Clare as her rent of using the electricity and gas. Carmen asks for £14 from Clare but she protests that she does not have that sort of money.
Braun, Linder and Asimov 478 mention the third category of adjustment called defense mechanisms such as repression and denial. They point out that these
defense mechanisms are very helpful in alleviating stress and anxiety while dealing with difficult situations. While dealing with this event, Clare makes her
mind up to apply one of the defense mechanisms that is denial in order to reduce her anxiety. She denies that her mother is asking for some money and decides to
ignore her. I had no idea where to get that sort of money from. I did have a cleaning
job and I did have a Saturday job, but they were for essentials. I couldn’t pay the electricity bill as well. I decided that I would ignore my mother
from now on and adopt a wait-and-see strategy Briscoe 354. Clare’s ignorance towards her mother’s request of money leads into a
further terrible situation. For her next turning up, Carmen takes Clare’s blanket and pillow away with her. And the most terrible one is that she removes the
electricity fuses and leaves her daughter in the darkness. After facing such condition, Clare comes to a decision that she will pay for the rent. At last they
agree on £3 per week. In this situation, Clare uses one of the adjustment strategies called acceptance of the situation as there is nothing else to do except accepting
her mother’s demand. Sometimes it is better to accept problems and the consequences when we are unable to look for the solutions Braun, Linder, and
Asimov 478. As her blanket and pillow are taken by her mother, Clare then intends to
buy the new ones. She is lucky to find a reduced price pillow in Woolworth’s, but
it is a pity that she cannot afford for the blanket as the price is too expensive Briscoe 361. Using the money she earns from her Saturday job and cleaning job,
again Clare manages to fulfill her physiological needs which are considered as the most important among all human basic needs Maslow in Goble 38.
Carmen always asks more from Clare. Every time Clare refuses to pay for the rent Carmen will take serious actions. Her last visit costs Clare to lose her bed.
Coincidently, on the way to school from her early morning cleaning job Clare notices a furniture shop called Thoroughgoods. Her attention comes across a
delightful four-poster bed. When she asks for the price, the shopkeeper mentions that the bed costs £120. Clare tells that she does not have that much of money and
will never be able to afford it. Clare then bravely asks the man if it is possible to pay for the bed over a period of time. At last the man agrees and Clare hands him
£5. After the man promises that he will not sell the bed to anyone, Clare leaves the shop Briscoe 382-383. Based on Maslow’s theory, once again Clare tries to
fulfill her physiological needs.
c. Working as a Nurse
