我刚开始工作时，一个白人老太太同事经常向我借钱。每次借不多不到$20。工资一发就还。她虽然工资不高，年薪三万多在30年前也不算很低。那时候我不理解她为何能窘困到 from paycheck to paycheck。后来才发现她一发工资就毫无节度地花，对孩子朋友开party花钱都非常大方。结果每个月最后几天连上街吃顿饭的钱都没有了。象她这样，工资加倍估计也还是需要借钱。
For Seal, it has meant that her 18-year teaching career alone can no longer provide for her two children, ages 15 and 12. It has meant feeding them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and explaining that she cannot afford the gas to drive both her son to boxing lessons and her daughter to volleyball.
