In The Fountainhead, one of the characters, Dominique Francon, is asked to give an address to a group of social workers after having lived in a poor East-Side tenement for two weeks. After her experience living with the poor, this is what she says:

"'The family on the first floor rear do not bother to pay their rent, and the children cannot go to school for a lack of clothes. The father has a charge account a corner speak-easy. He is in good health and has a good job...The couple on the second floor have just purchased a radio for sixty-nine dollars and ninety-five cents cash. In the fourth floor front, the father of the family has not done a whole day's work in his life, and does not intend to. There are nine children, supported by the local parish. There is a tenth one on its way...' When she finished there were a few claps of angry applause. She raised her hand and said: 'You don't have to applaud, I don't expect it.' She asked politely: 'Are there any questions?' There were no questions."