The Nolans are a young family living in Brooklyn, New York. Members of the Nolan family are the main characters in the novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, beautifully written by Betty Smith. Johnny, Katie, and their two children Francie and Neely describe what life was like in Brooklyn in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This family is forced to make many important decisions, as all families must do. However, unfortunately, often the best result was not the final one. Before the birth of Katie and Johnny's (Francie) first child, the couple lived a stress-free life. Johnny and Katie lived and worked together, happily married at the age of sixteen. They worked together on the night shift at a school, where they put away items and cleaned classrooms. They enjoyed this job because they laughed, relaxed, danced and had fun while they worked, not to mention they had the whole day ahead of them where they could do whatever they wanted. With the expectation of their first child, everything changed dramatically. Katie's pregnancy has left her unable to perform some cleaning tasks. The Nolans could no longer work the night shift, as Johnny could not do it himself. Johnny couldn't work the night shifts alone. They were forced to leave their once convenient occupation as janitors. Johnny decided he should get a new job. He chose to follow his past, working as a singer/waiter as he had previously done until his marriage to Katie. The decision Johnny made, which I think could have been wiser, was his decision to work as a waiter in a restaurant. restaurant that had a bar. The reason I believe this was not a good choice is because it placed Johnny in an environment that made him vulnerable to drinking. Because of his immense fondness for alcohol he had a tendency to overindulge. This was a problem because he didn't want to use his earnings wisely. Johnny spent his tips on drinks, leaving only the wages of non-fixed nights to take back to his family. Since he never knew how many nights he would have to work, his tips were a valuable source of income. When the Nolans were now raising their two children on a single income and were already poor, Johnny not bringing home all of his earnings was definitely a bad decision. bad luck for the children. Francie and Neely received very little food and wore shabby clothes.