给总统的一封信——美国硕士也会落魄失业

敬爱的总统先生，

Dear Mr. President,

我现在给你写这封信是因为我不知道我还能写给谁。在2012年的9月我失去了一份全职工作。现在我只能打些零工，一周工作16个小时，每小时12美元。但是我也不能保证每周都能接到活。12月我的税后工资只有365美元。

I write to you today because I have nowhere else to turn. I lost my full time job in September 2012.I have only been able to find part-time employment -- 16 hours each week at $12per hour -- but I don`t work that every week. For the month of December, my net pay was $365.

因为没了工作，我和我丈夫现在住在房车营地。我们每月的房租是455美元而且还不包括别的开支。我失去工作的时候，我们就开始住在这辆房车上了。

My husband and I now live in an RV at a campground because of my job loss. Our monthly rent is$455 and that doesn`t include utilities. We were given this 27-ft. 1983 RV when I lost my job.

这就是今天的美国。我们没有自来水，只能用管子自己去外面接水。家里也洗不了澡，只能出去营地洗。我们也有一个厕所，但它只能在下水管道不结冰的时候用。

This is America today.We have no running water; we use a hose to fill jugs. We have no shower but thecampground does. We have a toilet but it only works when the sewer line doesn`t freeze -- if it freezes, we use the campground`s restrooms.

到了晚上，如果天气冷的话，我床上的毯子冰到能把房车都冻住。我们没有火炉也没有炉灶，只有一个微波炉，所以就不能正常的做饭。最近我们买了个打折的小烤箱，所以我们现在可以随便拷点什么吃的。光吃微波炉加热的东西完全行不通。

At night, in my bed,when it`s cold out, my blanket can freeze to the wall of the RV. We don`t havea stove or an oven, just a microwave, so regular-food cooking is out. Recently we found a small toaster oven on sale so we can bake a little now because eating only microwaved food just wasn`t working for us.

我们没有冰箱，只有一个能装冰让食物冷藏的箱子(冰每块还要1.89美元)。这勉强可以让食物冷藏。但如果外面天气太冷，我们只要把东西放到外面的餐桌上就好了。

We don`t have a rrigerator, just an icebox (a block ofice cost about $1.89). It keeps things relatively cold. If it`s freezingoutside, we just put things on the picnic table.

不幸的是，我们买不了太多东西。因为来不及吃就坏了。我们也买不了太多的干粮，因为房车里面没地方放。

Unfortunately, we can`t buy things in bulk because they will go bad bore we can use them. We can`t buy dry goods in bulk either,because there is no room to store them anywhere in the RV.

我们很幸运，在营地外面还能洗澡。但每两分钟就要收费25美分。有些时候，我们没钱去洗澡，就只能去营地的厕所用水池里的水去洗。

We are very lucky that the campground has showers, but it costs 25 cents for two minutes. There have been times when we couldn`t afford a shower and had to resort to bathing in the campground restroom sink.

其实在房车里有洗澡的地方，但是管道锈坏了，所以我们现在把那当衣柜用。

There was a shower in the RV but the plumbing hasdeteriorated so now we use it as a closet.

房车的墙壁隔热效果并不好，所以很多次都会因为内壁潮湿而结冰。这意味如果不定期把放在床上的毯子拿走或者弄干，这些毯子最后都很容易发霉。其实在地毯下面，我们椅子后面的墙上都有地方长霉了。

The walls of the RV are not well insulated, so many times the inside gets wet from condensation. That meansall of the blankets that we have stored above the bed may end up moldy if we don`t remove them and dry them periodically. There is mold under the carpet onthe floor and there is mold along the walls behind our seats.

但是我们在尽可能地把这弄的干净卫生了。房车里的加热系统坏了，所以我们买了个小的散热型加热器，我们还得不停地挪动加热器去烘干地面，这样才不会长霉。

But we keep it clean the best we can. The heating systemin the RV no longer functions, so we have a small radiator-type floor heater and we move it around to dry the floor to keep it from molding.

我丈夫得了一种特殊的并被诊断为残疾，还在接受SSI治疗。当初医生只给他看了12分钟，从来没有问过他的特殊情况，就直接诊断我老公为残疾。

My husband is bipolarand was considered disabled and was receiving SSI. Prior to my job loss, he was seen for 12 minutes by a disability physician, never asked about his bi-polarcondition and was kicked off disability.

以前我老公每月还会有1000美元的补助，但现在已经没了。

He had received $1,000 per month, but it is gone.

之后，我失去了我在大学的工作。我们原本住在加利福尼亚州的克恩县，那里的失业率超过10%，现在搬去了太平洋的西北地区，这的失业率低一点，而且离我儿子和孙子的家也更近。但是由于加不起油，我们还是不能经常去看他们。

After I lost my job at a college, we moved from KernCounty in California, where the unemployment rate is over 10 percent, to the Pacific Northwest where the unemployment rate is lower to be near my son and grandson but without gas money, we still can`t visit them.

所以我们现在什么都做不了。我每天或申请很多岗位。我有硕士学位，并且还有30年的工作经验。为什么我还找不到工作?我有市场需要的技能。

So now we sit. I apply for so many jobs daily. I have a Master`s degree and have been in the workforcor over 30 years. Why can`t I find a job? I have marketable skills.

我的信用卡也没了(里面还有我570的信用点)，所以我现在永远不可能在“真实”世界中找到工作了。我现在只有可能为政府部门工作，但即使是这样，政府部门也通常会内定他们要雇的人只是他们要走这些必要的程序。所以我们现在什么也做不了。

My credit is gone (credit score of 570) and so I am no longer being considered for jobs in the "real" world. I am only ever considered for government jobs and even then, they usually know who they plan to hire but they have to go through the process. So here we sit.

我以前还能收到加州的失业救济金，但随着现在国家失业率的下降，已经没有补助了。

I had been receiving unemployment benits from California but now that the unemployment rate for the state is lower, there are no more funds coming in.

我的丈夫找不到工作。没有人愿意雇我。幸运的是，华盛顿州决定向我们每月提供300美元的食物救济款，但还是不够。我们所有的积蓄都没了。我也没有退休金了。什么都没有。这个月底，我们是真的走投无路了。

My husband can`t find a job. No one wants to hire me.Luckily, the State of Washington has decided to provide us with $300 in food stamps each month but it still isn`t enough to survive on. All of our savingsis gone. I no longer have any retirement savings. Nothing. By the end of thismonth, we will be without anywhere to turn.

您忠诚的国民，

Your devoted constituent,