QA问答：在经济困难时期，你能记得的最穷的一顿饭是什么？
What is the poorest dinner meal that you can remember eating during a time of financial hardship?
译文简介
网友：我喜欢这个问题的所有答案，所以我决定加一些我自己的记忆。我21岁就开始当酒保了，从那以后我发现自己几乎每个工作日和周末都要上夜班。我还在上大学，虽然我大部分都是晚上在工作，但我只是做兼职。我手头很紧，因为我把积蓄都花在了上学、买书、加汽油上，剩下的都花在了自己第一次出去住的房租上......
正文翻译
What is the poorest dinner meal that you can remember eating during a time of financial hardship?
在经济困难时期，你能记得的最穷的一顿饭是什么？
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I loved all the answers to this question, and so I decided to add my own memory.
I started bartending as soon as I turned 21, and right after that found myself working almost all weeknights and weekends doing the night shift.
I was still taking classes for college, and although I worked most nights- I only worked part time hours. Money was tight because I spent my savings on school, books, gas, and the rest put towards moving out on my own for the first time.
I loved it all. I felt free. But I was starving.
I had a 99cent store near by that I would go to with a $10 a week budget (if that). So about $40 a month. And for one whole month it was hard. That month all I ate was a half can of tomato soup ($1 each- I added extra tap water heated so it was a larger portion), a cheese cracker packet (they were like 20–30cents per pack of 6 crackers), and a flavored water (69cent each). I would buy enough for the week and I ate this Every Day.
我喜欢这个问题的所有答案，所以我决定加一些我自己的记忆。
我21岁就开始当酒保了，从那以后我发现自己几乎每个工作日和周末都要上夜班。
我还在上大学，虽然我大部分都是晚上在工作，但我只是做兼职。我手头很紧，因为我把积蓄都花在了上学、买书、加汽油上，剩下的都花在了自己第一次出去住的房租上。
我喜欢这一切，我感到了自由，但是我饿坏了。
我在附近有一家99美分的商店，我可以每周花10美元（如果有的话）。大约一个月40美元。整整一个月都过得很艰难。那个月我只吃了半罐西红柿汤（每罐1美元——我加了一些水，所以份量更大），一个奶酪饼干包（每包6块饼干大约20 - 30美分），还有一罐调味水（每包69美分）。我会买足够一周吃的东西，每天都吃。
I also remember the last time I ate watered down tomato soup and crackers.
After the food bonuses helped me get to my first paycheck, I made myself my usual meager meal, and then left for a late night shift. After I was done I went out to a 24/7 diner with said manager, and a couple coworkers. I was so excited! I had a terrible, but wonderful, steak dinner, and I threw it all up later because it was too much. Even now I still remember the joy I felt being able to buy myself something good after so long. And on top of that, I got to pay back the manager with buying his dinner that night. He tried to fight me on it, but I won (it was cheap but still a win for me at the time).
It wasn’t until years later, still keeping in touch, that I asked my old manager why he did what he did, and that I knew he had bought me the food, that it wasn’t just given. I told him it meant so much to me. He just smiled and said he didn’t know what I was talking about.
He truthfully was an angel.
最终，我的经理（一个和蔼的老家伙）开始注意到我看起来更瘦了，而且体弱多病。他提到过一次，我一笑置之，并撒谎说我吃得够多了。他再也没有问过我，而是开始给我留“额外的”披萨片或外卖。他总是说他点的太多了或者他改变主意不想要了。这些对我来说是随机的食物奖励。
我还记得上次我喝了加了水的西红柿汤和饼干。
在“食品奖励”帮我拿到第一份薪水后，我像往常一样给自己做了一顿简陋的饭，然后去上晚班。完事后，我去了一家24小时营业的餐馆，和我的那个经理，还有几个同事一起去的。我太兴奋了！我吃了一顿很糟糕但很美味的牛排晚餐，后来我全吐了，因为吃太多了。即使现在，我仍然记得在这么久之后能够给自己买到好东西时的喜悦。最重要的是，那天晚上我还得请经理吃饭来回报他。他试图在这个问题上反驳我，但我赢了（虽然很便宜，但在当时对我来说仍然是一种胜利）。
直到多年以后，我仍然和他保持着联系，我问我的老经理为什么当时他要这么做，我才知道那是他给我买的食物，而不是别人给的。我告诉他这些食物对我很重要。他只是笑着说他不知道我在说什么。
他确实是一个天使。
When I moved out on my own I had a rough February with only one paycheck due to the short month
We got paid on the 15th and 30th of every month no exceptions. Since February only has 28 days, that money was rolled into the 15th of March check.
So after bills and filling my tank with gas I had $5 to last me for two weeks and all I had to eat in my new apartment was some creamed corn, green beans and salt.
I discovered a day old bakery that had expired loaves of wonder bread for 11 cents per loaf so I grabbed six and put them in my freezer, I then found a five pound sack of small russet potatoes at the grocery for $1.30 and a 3Lb bag of small red apples for $2 that left me with a few cents change which I put away in case of emergency.
So I ate a small baked potato and toast for breakfast, cream corn spread on wonder bread for lunch and for dinner a small baked potato, toast and a small apple for dinner.
Over the course of 17 days I lost about 20 pounds but I was still alive, I got a decent paycheck on March 15th and used some of it to treat myself to a pizza.
当我独自搬出去的时候，我度过了一个艰难的二月，因为这个月很短，我只有一份薪水
我们每月15号和30号发工资，没有例外。由于2月只有28天，这笔钱被转到了3月15日的支票上。
所以，在付了账单和给油箱加了油之后，我身上只有5美元可以维持两个星期。我在新公寓里只能吃一些奶油玉米、青豆和盐。
我发现了一家老旧的面包店，里面有过期的神奇面包，每块11美分，所以我拿了6块，把它们放在冰箱里，然后，我在杂货店里找到了一袋五磅重的小黄褐色土豆，花了1.3美元，一袋三磅重的小红苹果，花了2美元，还剩下几分钱的零钱，我把它们存起来以备不时之需。
所以我早餐吃了一小块烤土豆和烤面包，午餐吃抹了奶油的玉米面包，晚餐吃了一小块烤土豆，烤面包和一个小苹果。
在17天的时间里，我减掉了20磅，但我还活着。3月15日，我得到了一份不错的薪水，我用其中的一部分犒劳自己，吃了一份披萨。
I was broke and neglected growing up because of my parents drug addiction. Me and my brother haven’t ate in days and I went to go look in the fridge to see if there was ANYTHING to fill us up. That night we ate an entire jar of grape jelly and it wasn’t very good but it was all we had. Also a lot of times there was a food box in front of the church in town that people would put things they didn’t need in. I woke up at about 5:00am so I could get there before school started and before everyone woke up so I could make sure my brother had something to eat. Most the time is was wheat bread and peanut butter in there and sometimes canned soup but it was better then nothing. Sometimes I would jus heat up a can of peas or corn and that’s all we ate. School lunch and breakfast was usually all we ate everyday but the school would give us a bag of food every month because they understood how broke we were but it was never really enough because of the conditions we were in and didn’t eat pretty much all week. We’re both in a good place now different homes but we see each other often. For some reason though it’s still hard for us to put on weight. I weighed 79 pounds when I was 12 and now I’m 14 and weigh 89. Idk if that’s normal or not. I’ve tried eating healthier and I’m gonna get a gym membership soon. My dad went to rehab and now he’s doing better than I could ever imagine he even started his own business. My mom is in county jail and on her way to prison tho. If you read all of that thanks for listening or reading I should say. I’m happy with my new family and so is my brother. We’re beyond thankful.
因为父母吸毒，我在成长的过程中家里破产了，在被忽视的环境中成长。我和我弟弟好几天没吃东西了我去冰箱看看有没有东西能填饱我们。那天晚上，我们吃了一整罐葡萄果冻，味道不太好，但我们只有这些。还有很多时候，镇上的教堂前会有一个食物盒，人们会把不需要的东西放进去。我早上5点起床，这样我就能在学校上课前到学校，也能在大家都醒过来之前到学校，这样我就能确保我弟弟有吃的。大多数时候里面都是小麦面包和花生酱，有时还有罐装汤，但总比什么都没有好。有时我会热一罐豌豆或玉米，我们就吃这些。我们每天只吃学校的午餐和早餐，但学校每个月都会给我们一袋食物，因为他们知道我们有多穷，但这永远不够，因为我们所处的环境，几乎整个星期都没吃多少东西。我们现在都在一个很好的地方不同的家里，但我们经常见面。尽管出于某些原因，我们仍然很难增加体重。我12岁时体重79磅，现在我14岁了，体重89磅。我不知道这是否正常。我试着吃得更健康，而且我很快就要成为健身房会员了。我爸爸去了戒毒所现在他的状况比我想象的要好，他甚至开始了自己的事业。我妈妈在县监狱里，正在去监狱的路上。如果你读了所有这些我的叙事，我应该说，谢谢你的聆听或阅读。我对我的新家庭很满意，我弟弟也是。我们很感激。
When my husband and I got married We were in grad school I worked for minimum wage he didn’t work. Every week we bought 2 pounds of meat, usually chicken a pound of rice and about $7 worth of vegetables and that was what we had. By the end of the Week it was broth made from the chicken bones, with about a 1/4 cup of rice a half an onion and whatever left over vegetables we had. There was a glorious week when our next door neighbor gave us 2 tomatoes and a pound of green beans from her garden. We didn’t snap the beans and throw away the tops and tails we ground up the tops and tails into a green mush and added it to the broth the onion and some cabbage and we had sliced tomatoes. IT was lovely. The beans we had for breakfast the next day. We were thin grad students. Our weekly food budget was $21. Everything else went to rent and utilities. It was a tragedy when my bike got a flat it cost Seventy cents to repair it and that came out of our food budget. That was the week my parents dropped by and gave us an early Christmas present after looking into our cupboards. They went shopping and spent almost $250 and stocked us up with beans, rice salt coffee powdered milk and sugar among other things. We almost felt drunk drinking coffee we hadn’t had coffee since our wedding day. That was totally outside of our budget in 1975. About 6 months later my darling mother in law did the same. For a graduation present my brothers took us out for Pizza. We felt so so lucky and loved.
我丈夫和我结婚的时候我们还在读研究生，我拿最低工资，他不工作。每周我们买两磅肉，通常是鸡肉，一磅大米和价值7美元的蔬菜，这就是我们所拥有的。到了周末，我们吃的是用鸡骨头做的汤，加上大约1/4杯米饭、半个洋葱和我们剩下的蔬菜。有一个愉快的星期，我们的隔壁邻居给了我们两个西红柿和一磅从她花园里摘来的青豆。我们没有把豆子掰碎，没有把顶部和尾部都扔掉，我们把顶部和尾部磨碎，做成绿色的糊状，把它加到肉汤里，还有洋葱和卷心菜，还有切片的西红柿。味道非常不错。我们第二天早餐吃的豆子。我们都是很瘦的研究生。我们每周的食物预算是21美元。其他的都用来租房和交水电费了。我的自行车没气了，修理它花了我70美分，这还得从我们的伙食预算中扣除。那个星期，我的父母来看我们，在查看了我们的橱柜后，提前给了我们一份圣诞礼物。他们去购物，花了将近250美元，给我们储备了豆子、大米、盐、咖啡、奶粉和糖等。我们喝咖啡的时候都快醉了——自从结婚那天我们就没喝过咖啡了。这完全超出了我们1975年的预算。大约6个月后，我亲爱的岳母也这么做了。我的哥哥们带我们去吃披萨，作为毕业礼物。我们感到如此幸运和被爱。
When I was a child, I remember a rather large family on our block. I think they had about 7 children. One Sunday evening I was at their house when they were called to dinner. Placed on the table were several sleeves of saltine crackers and a large pitcher of water. I asked them what they were having for dinner. They said that they had crackers and water every Sunday for dinner. That is the poorest meal those kids had every Sunday.
当我还是个孩子的时候，我记得我们街区有一个很大的家庭。我想他们有7个孩子。一个星期天的晚上，他们被叫去吃饭时，我正在他们家里。桌子上放着几个苏打饼干和一大壶水。我问他们晚餐吃什么。他们说他们每周日的晚餐都有饼干和水。那是那些孩子每周日吃的最糟糕的一餐。
My husband and I got married when I was half way through college. No, I was not pregnant. Everyone was sure I would drop out. I graduated with honors, thank you.
But we were broke all the time, without ever fully realizing it. I finally realized this when I had to write out a mock budget for a college course I was in. That was easy; I wrote down our budget that we actually lived on!
The teacher gave me a C for using unrealistic figures. I talked to her about it. Apparently the most unrealistic figure was the $50 per month allotted to feed two people. Even fifty years ago, when we were first married, it was not much. And, no one would dream of applying for food stamps.
I explained to the professor that that was what we actually spent every month for the two of us. “Why?” she asked.
“Well,” I replied, “ by the time we pay for gas, rent, car repairs, insurance, etc, that is what is left.”
我和我丈夫在我大学念到一半的时候结婚了。不，我没有怀孕。每个人都确信我会退学。我以优异的成绩毕业，谢谢。
但我们一直都处于破产的状态，却从未完全意识到这一点。我终于意识到这一点，当我必须为我上的一门大学课程写一份模拟预算时。很容易，我写下了我们赖以生存的预算！
老师给了我一个C，因为我使用了不真实的数字。我也跟她谈过了。显然，最不现实的数字是每月配给两个人的50美元。即使在50年前，当我们第一次结婚时，也不多。而且，没有人会想申请食品券。
我向教授解释说，这是我们两个每个月实际花的钱。
她问为什么
“嗯，”我回答说，“等我们付了汽油费、房租、汽车修理费、保险费等钱，就剩下这些钱了。”
Was money tight? Yes. Was it financial hardship? Yes and no, as our struggles from the past made us the people we are today.
Quite a few of you asked in the past four weeks if the professor ever raised my grade. I answered, but it got buried in your many kind and thoughtful comments, so let me move it up to here:
Yes, she did raise my grade, but not to an A. She said I wasn't setting money aside for depreciation of major purchases (like cars), that we would have to replace! We were so broke that we asked our equally broke friends to give us $5 or $10 cash for a wedding gift so we could buy a mattress and bed frx to sleep on. We did get a mattress, but did not set money aside to depreciate it!
I learned to let go of things like this long ago. She simply did not understand what it was to be poor, nor did she understand that she did not understand! Patience, concern, and trying to educate have worked better for me. It is never my intention to expose the ignorance of another person.
她想知道我们是怎么做到的。我们从不出去吃饭。肉从来不是一顿饭的中心；每人3到4盎司的蛋白质就足够了。我成为了一名优秀的面包师。自制面包是我的拿手好菜。自制汤和面包仍然是我准备的特色菜。自制面条，馄饨，肉桂卷，芝士通心粉。意大利面酱汁，涂在面包片上。不准吃方便食品，不准出去吃饭。即使在一起五十年后，这些仍然是我们喜欢的食物。
是因为钱紧张吗？是的。是因为经济困难吗？是也并不是，因为我们过去的挣扎造就了今天的我们。
在过去的四个星期里，你们中有不少人问教授是否给我提高过分数。我回答了，但被你们的许多友好和体贴的评论淹没了，所以让我把它移到这里：
是的，她确实提高了我的分数，但不是A。她说我没有把钱存起来用于购买大宗商品（比如汽车）的折旧，因为我们必须买新的！我们是如此的穷，以至于我们要求我们同样穷的朋友给我们5美元或10美元的现金作为结婚礼物，这样我们就可以买一个床垫和床架睡觉。我们确实得到了一个床垫，但没有留出钱来折旧它！
我很久以前就学会了放手。她根本不明白贫穷是什么滋味，也不知道自己不明白！耐心、关心和努力教育对我来说效果更好，揭露别人的无知从来都不是我的本意。
I was laid off from my job in January of 2012, and had to apply for unemployment. My unemployment benefits totaled about $1,200 per month, which was just enough to cover rent, bills, and necessities. Unemployment only lasted 6 months, and I had not found another job, so in August I had to file for an emergency extension, but I had two weeks before I even knew if they would approve it, and a grand total of $10 to my name after paying my rent and bills.
I used my $10 to buy several pounds of store-brand pasta, a few cloves of garlic, a loaf of cheap white bread, and a jar each of peanut butter and jelly.
There wasn't really any “dinner", because I only ate once a day, usually in the afternoon. My daily meal was either a plate of pasta aglio e olio (garlic and oil), or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (You'd be amazed at how good a PB&J on shitty white bread can taste when you know it's the only thing you're going to eat that day.)
我在2012年1月被解雇了，不得不申请失业。我每个月的失业救济金总额约为1200美元，仅够支付房租、账单和生活必需品。失业只持续了6个月，我还没有找到另一份工作，所以在8月份我不得不申请紧急延期，但在我知道他们是否会批准之前，我还有两周的时间。在付了房租和账单后，我名下总共有10美元。
我用10美元买了几磅商店自有品牌的意大利面、几瓣大蒜、一条便宜的白面包、一罐花生酱和一罐果冻。
其实没有什么“正餐”，因为我一天只吃一次，通常是在下午。我每天的食物要么是一盘大蒜和橄榄油意面，要么是花生酱和果冻三明治。（当你知道那是你那天唯一能吃的东西时，你会惊讶于用劣质白面包蘸花生酱和果酱的味道有多好。）
I did have a luxurious day toward the end, when my friend Irina invited me over to watch a movie. She noted that I looked skinny, and I confessed that I was flat broke and eating once a day. Declaring that I needed “nourishment”, not only did she ply me with every leftover in her fridge — baked chicken, pork stew, homemade refried beans, and a divine slice of key lime pie with raspberry drizzle on it — she then insisted on taking me out for ice cream. I am not a big ice cream person, but that fudge brownie ice cream cone was amazing. (Thanks, Irina. I'll never forget that.)
I did end up getting the extension, and finally was able to eat more than once a day. When I finally got my next payment, before I even went grocery shopping I walked up to Good Times burgers on Colfax Avenue and splurged on a burger, fries, and a chocolate malt.
That two weeks certainly taught me to appreciate having enough to eat.
最重要的是，我很无聊，我花了一天的大部分时间在我的社区里散步，拍人们的花，所以我在那两周减掉了很多体重——最后，我成了我成年以来最瘦的人。我确实度过了奢侈的一天，最后我的朋友艾瑞娜邀请我去看电影。
她注意到我看起来很瘦，而我也承认自己身无分文，每天只吃一顿。
她说我需要“营养”，她不仅用冰箱里剩下的每一样东西——烤鸡、炖猪肉、自制的炸豆泥，还有一片美味青柠派——不停地给我吃，还坚持要带我出去吃冰淇淋。我不是一个喜欢吃冰淇淋的人，但那个软糖布朗尼冰淇淋蛋卷太棒了。（谢谢你，伊丽娜。我永远不会忘记。）
最后我确实得到了延续，终于可以每天吃不止一顿饭了。当我终于拿到我的下一笔付款时，甚至在我去杂货店购物之前，我就走到科尔法克斯大道的好时光汉堡店，在汉堡、薯条和巧克力麦芽上挥霍了一笔。
那两个星期确实教会了我珍惜有足够的食物的时间。
When I was struggling to make ends meet in college I worked at a pizzaria so often that is where dinner would come from on the nights I worked. I was so grateful for those free slices! During the day I was able to use a stipend through my second job on campus to get a meal or two. Sometimes though it wasn’t enough and meals would come from the dollar store or discounted section at the grocery store.
I am gratful to be in a better place out in the real world, but the struggle to survive on my own as a young adult taught me a lot of valuable lessons. I am really passionate about helping others with food insecurity, and donate to causes to help others every chance I get.
当我在大学里努力维持生计时，我经常在一家披萨店工作，那是我工作的晚上吃晚饭的地方。我很感激那些免费的切片披萨！白天，我可以用我在学校的第二份工作给我的钱，用来吃一顿或两顿饭。有时这还不够，我会去一元店或杂货店的打折区买一些食物。
我很感激能在现实世界中找到一个更好的地方，但年轻时独自生存的挣扎教会了我很多宝贵的经验。我非常热衷于帮助那些没有粮食保障的人，并且一有机会就捐款帮助那些人。
We were quite poor growing up, my mom was on disability for anxiety, and she did not have a job. There were times that the only thing in the fridge was a bucket of Country Crock spread and garlic salt.
Sometimes she’d make us eat roadkill, while she enjoyed steaks or entire pans of pasta, but she’d give us kids what was left over or what we could scrounge up for ourselves.
I remember walking down to the grocery store every day because they would take pity on us and give us a cookie each day from the bakery.
One day in particular I remember my mom had spent all the food stamp money on food for herself and all that was in the fridge was the Country Crock spread. I took my siblings to the store for that free cookie, and I brought mine home and spread Country Crock on it, and some garlic salt because I thought that it might be more filling that way. I was about 10 years old.
我们小时候很穷，我妈妈因为焦虑而身患残疾，而且她没有工作。
有时，冰箱里唯一的东西就是一桶咖啡酱和大蒜盐。
有时，她会让我们吃路上被撞死的动物，而她喜欢吃牛排或整盘意大利面，但她会把剩下的东西给我们，或者我们可以自己捡起来吃的东西。
我记得我每天都去杂货店，因为他们会同情我们，每天从面包店给我们一块饼干。
我特别记得有一天，我妈妈把所有的食品券钱都花在了自己的食物上，而冰箱里只有克罗克果酱。我带我的兄弟姐妹去商店拿了那块免费的饼干，然后我把我的饼干带回家，在上面撒上Country Crock，还撒了一些大蒜盐，因为我觉得那样会更好吃，那时我大约10岁。
When I was 12 people started hiring me to babysit. fairly often it was sketchy people that were also neglecting their children. One lady refused to pay me cash and instead paid me in glass cat figurines. I thought, lady I can’t eat that, but I accepted it because what else could I do? When I was 15 I was left alone with a newborn and a toddler for an extended period of time when the mother disappeared. Many times I ended up using what I was paid to babysit to buy food for the kids I was watching. The rest of it went to feed me and my siblings. I would usually buy things like ramen, tortillas, candy…things that had a high calorie content with out being expensive.
On school days I would often put food in my pockets to bring home, but there were many times we went hungry.
在那个年龄，即使和我在一起的孩子欺负我或不喜欢我，我也会设法让自己去别人家过夜。在那里我会问他们要吃的。我记得有一位女士让我想吃多少就吃多少，我吃了一整条面包和一包午餐肉，她已经给我准备好了。我的朋友认为我“缠着”要食物很奇怪，她不再是我的朋友，开始欺负我。我告诉她我们家里没有吃的，她只是嘲笑我。我想这对她来说是件奇怪的事。
我12岁的时候，有人雇我看孩子。往往是那些不太照顾孩子的人。一位女士拒绝付给我现金，而是给我玻璃制的猫雕像。我想，女士，我不能吃这个，但我接受了，因为我还能做什么呢？我15岁的时候，母亲失踪了，很长一段时间，我和一个新生儿和一个蹒跚学步的孩子独处。很多时候，我最后都用我做保姆的工资给我照看的孩子们买食物。剩下的用来养活我和我的兄弟姐妹。我通常会买拉面、玉米饼、糖果等高热量又不贵的东西。上学的时候，我经常把食物放在口袋里带回家，但也有很多次我们会挨饿。