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Surviving an economic crisis 1 The economic slump so many people suffered through originated in the United States with a regulatory failure of mortgages rated less risky than they turned out to be. As large numbers of homeowners proved unable to repay their loans the companies that had the oversight and those that owned the loans (as well as their subsidiaries and their shareholders) lost sizable amounts of money. The effects of these drastic losses soon spiraled into the US job market as layoffs and terminations. The rebound was slow in coming. Many people experienced long months of struggles just like the character in this story. 2 Facing tenant eviction after several months of unpaid rent Sue Johnson packed up whatever she could fit into her two-door automobile and drove out of town. 3 She wound up at a motel putting down the $260 she had managed to scrape together from friends and from selling her living room set. It was all the money Sue had left after her unemployment benefits had expired. She faced life as a migrant a previously unimaginable situation for a woman who not that long before had held a corporate job in a large metropolitan city and was enrolled in a graduate business school. 4 Sue knew that in all likelihood she would end up living in her car. She was part of a hard-luck group of jobless people who called themselves "99ers" because they had exhausted the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits that they could claim. 5 Long-term unemployment was at record levels according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Modest payments of unemployment benefits were a lifeline that enabled people who were out-of-work to maintain at least an appearance of normalcy keeping a roof over their heads putting gas in their cars paying electric and phone bills. 6 Without the checks people like Sue who once was a director of client services at a technology company began to tumble over the economic cliff. The last aspects of their former working-class or middle-class lives were gone and all of them faced unsure futures. 7 When Sue received her last unemployment check she felt a wave of profound grief. With no income to deposit Sue's checking account deteriorated into negative balances. Her car was on the verge of being repossessed. And the constant harassment of the financing company for her car loan added to her daily stress. Each day like a ping pong ball Sue went back and forth between resolve and despair. 8 It was a sickening plunge considering that only a short year and a half before Sue was earning $56000 a year at her old job enjoyed vacationing in places like Mexico and the Caribbean and had started business school at an excellent university. 9 Initially Sue had tried to finish her university certification remotely but finally dropped out because of the stress from her sinking finances. She applied for every possible job in the employment spectrum from minimum-wage retail jobs to director positions. 10 Sue should have been evicted from her two-bedroom apartment for non-payment several months before she was but thankfully the process was delayed by paperwork and bureaucracy. Eventually the bureaucracy caught up with her and a municipal council gave her 10 days to leave her apartment for good. She had no choice but to comply. 11 That last day of her old life Sue wept as she drove away. She wondered if she would ever again be able to reclaim that life of comfort and respect. Sue even considered turning the steering wheel of her car into a tree and ending her life story right there. 12 Friends came to her aid. One friend wired her $200 while she was driving away from her old apartment enabling her to find refuge in a motel along the way. But Sue worried there wouldn't be any more charity for the money and gas she desperately needed. 13 Helped by gas cards donated by a church Sue decided to return to her hometown. She figured the health-care safety net there was better as well as the job market. She contacted a local shelter but learned there was a waiting list. Welfare was not an option because she didn't have young children. And Sue knew that none of her three adult sons were in a position to help her. 14 "I knew the only help I was going to get was from me myself" Sue said. "I thought to myself: I have to take care of myself. I really really need to get work. I need a job. I don't want to be seen as a parasite." 15 Sue's motel room was depressing. Lining the shelves underneath the television were her food supplies: rice and noodles that she mixed with water in the motel's ice bucket and heated up in a microwave; peanut butter and jelly; a loaf of white bread the subsistence of a desperate person. Sue's days were spent surfing Internet job indexes applying for jobs where the silent "No." "No." "No." gave way to a feeling of helplessness. 16 Sue had all new struggles and obstacles to deal with too like what to do for an address for job applications. She worried about what would happen when her cell phone was cut off for non-payment and calls to her number would disappear into an invisible world she could not reach. 17 Finally an old friend sent Sue a ray of hope a small miracle: $300 cash just enough for another brutal week of struggle. 经济危机中求生存 许许多多的人正经历的这场经济萧条发端于美国。对抵押贷款监管不力，致使当时的风险评估远低于现在的最终结果。由于大量的房产所有人无法偿还贷款，负责监管的公司、放贷的公司（以及其子公司及股份持有者）都损失了大笔的金钱。这些巨额亏损的后果很快就影响到美国就业市场，造成下岗或解雇。经济复兴迟迟不来。许多人几个月来都是苦苦挣扎，正如下面故事中的主人公那样。 苏·约翰逊有好几个月都未付房租了，面临着被逐出的境地，她把能塞进她的那辆双门轿车的东西都打包收拾好，离城而去。 她最后在一家汽车旅馆落脚，交付了260美元的定金，这还是她设法从朋友那儿以及卖掉家具后凑齐的，是苏在失业救济金被终止后所有的余钱。她面临流浪生活，这在以前是难以想象的，而她不久以前都还在大都市里一家公司供职，并就读于商学院研究生班。 苏明白自己最终很可能以车为家。她如今已成为倒霉的失业群体中的一份子，他们自称“99周人”，因为他们已经领完至多99周的失业保险救济金。 根据劳动统计局的数据，长期失业率已达到创纪录的水平。些许的失业救济金对那些失去工作的人来说可是救命钱，这使他们不至于形貌落魄，无立锥之地；不至于无钱加油，缴不起电费话费。 一旦收不到失业救济支票，哪怕是像苏这样曾经贵为技术公司客服经理的人，也会日益跌入经济窘迫的深渊；原有工薪阶层或中产阶级的最后一抹荣光也已消逝不在，所有人都前途未卜。 当苏收到最后一笔失业救济支票时，阵阵悲凉涌上心头。由于没有收入进账，苏的活期账户余额转为负值。汽车行将被收回！而且信贷公司不断骚扰，催还车贷，让她成天压力倍增。每天，苏就像乒乓球一样在信心和绝望之间起落不定。 生活境遇真是令人痛心地一落千丈！想想仅在短短的一年半之前，苏在原有工作岗位上可挣到56,000美元的年薪，可在像墨西哥、加勒比那样的地方度假，还就读于名校商学院。 最初，苏还试图通过远程教育完成学业，但是由于自己经济状况每况愈下，最后只好辍学。她通过各种就业渠道求职，不管是起薪干起的零售活儿还是部门经理。 由于未付房租，苏早在几个月前就应被逐出她那两居室的公寓。不过，谢天谢地，这一过程因为繁琐的文件手续和官僚主义作风而拖延至今。最终政府机构还是找上了她，市政委员会限定她十天内彻底走人。除了遵从，她别无选择。 就在告别昔日生活的最后一天，苏流着泪驾车离去。她不知道自己还能否重温那舒适而又受人尊敬的生活。苏甚至想过打转方向盘一头撞向大树，就此了结一生。 朋友们及时施以援手。就在她驾车离开公寓的路上，一位朋友给她电汇来200美元，使得她能够在沿途的一家汽车旅馆觅得栖身之所。但是她担心不会再有人来援助自己急需的钱和汽油了。 有了教堂赠送的加油卡，苏打算返回家乡。她想那儿的医疗保障体系会好一些，找工作也容易些。她联系了当地的收容所，但是得到的回答是先得排队等着。领取福利救济没有她的份，因为她没有未成年的孩子。苏知道她的三个已成年的儿子也帮不了她。 “我知道，只有自己才能帮自己，”苏说。“我告诉自己：我得养活自己。我确实得干活，我要找份工作，我可不想被人看成寄生虫。” 苏在汽车旅馆的房间极其窘迫。电视下面的壁橱里存放着几样食物：大米和面条，这两样她可在旅馆的冰镇桶里与水和在一起，然后在微波炉里加热；另外还有花生酱、果冻和一条白面包——这些食物也就供一个走投无路的人勉强度日而已。苏连日来都在上网查找各种工作指南，四处求职；但一次次无声的拒绝让她陷于无助。 苏还有新的烦心事要应付：比如求职信的通信地址该如何填写。她还担心要是手机因为欠费停机了怎么办？别人拨打她的号码，就如石沉大海，她无法接听。 终于，一位老朋友送来一缕希望，一个小小的惊喜：300美元的现金——勉强够她再苦撑一周。 |
