這場流行疾病會讓我們學會節(jié)儉嗎?

這場流行疾病會讓我們學會節(jié)儉嗎?

Around dinnertime each day, my husband and I make our way to the kitchen from our respective home offices and stare at a relatively full refrigerator. There's a decent collection of fresh fruit and vegetables, some meat, lots of dairy, and an amazing array of leftovers. Every time we open the door, we're still surprised at the abundance. Pre-pandemic, we cobbled things together and rarely cooked anything of substance. Now, we're taking much more time to be deliberate in our meal planning. We care about nutrition, health ... and not wasting a thing.

每天吃晚飯的時候，我和丈夫從各自的家庭辦公室來到廚房，盯著一個相對滿滿當當?shù)谋?。這里有大量的新鮮水果和蔬菜，一些肉類，大量的奶制品，還有大量的剩飯剩菜。每次我們打開門，我們?nèi)匀粚κ澄锏呢S富感到驚訝。在大流行之前，我們只是把事情拼湊在一起，很少做任何實質性的東西?，F(xiàn)在，我們花了更多的時間來仔細考慮我們的飲食計劃。我們關心營養(yǎng)、健康……不要浪費任何東西。

This is my mom and dad in 1965, on the front porch of their new home in the U.S. Dad probably still owns that rake. (Photo: Mary Jo DiLonardo)

I'm watching friends on social media, and it seems that frugality is a common lesson we're learning during this global crisis. They're sharing recipe tips on what to do with leftovers and offering DIY garden bed advice. Some are leaving sourdough starters on their front porches for strangers to pick up and sharing advice on raising backyard chickens.

我跟朋友們視頻聊天，節(jié)儉似乎是我們在這場全球危機中學到的一個普遍教訓。他們分享了如何處理剩菜的烹飪技巧，并提供了DIY花園床的建議。有些人把酵母開胃菜放在前廊，讓陌生人拿起，分享在后院養(yǎng)雞的建議。

My parents instilled the importance of reusing, saving, and never wasting. They immigrated to the U.S. from Italy in hopes of better opportunity, and early on that meant that they both worked several jobs for long hours, even when they had a houseful of four tiny children. My dad could fix anything — so rarely did anything get thrown away. They made homemade bread, sauce, sausage, and prosciutto and we wasted nothing. Once in a while our big treat was a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a can of Hawaiian Punch. But most days it was pasta.

我的父母向我灌輸了重復利用、節(jié)約和永不浪費的重要性。他們從意大利移民到美國，希望有更好的機會，早期這意味著他們都要長時間地做好幾份工作，即使他們有一屋子四個小孩。我的父親可以修理任何東西——所以很少有東西被扔掉。他們自制面包、沙司、香腸和火腿，我們沒有浪費任何東西。偶爾我們的大餐是一桶肯德基和一罐夏威夷潘趣酒。但大多數(shù)時候是意大利面。

Previous generations have proven that you can always do less with more. But will those lessons in frugality take hold after the current crisis passes? (Photo: Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com)

When the pandemic took a firmer grip in early March, my parents hunkered down in their well-stocked home. They had a freezer full of food and two other well-stocked refrigerators. I'm sure they also had plenty of toilet paper.

3月初，當流感大流行更加嚴重的時候，我的父母在他們儲存豐富的家中休息。他們有一個裝滿食物的冰箱和另外兩個儲存豐富的冰箱。我肯定他們還有很多衛(wèi)生紙。

My dad has been somewhat flustered recently because no one has been able to find yeast for him. He buys his in bulk at one of the warehouse stores and only has enough right now for about 10 loaves. Yes, just 10. (If you know my parents, please drop off some yeast on their porch. My dad doesn't need to stress about bread.)

我爸爸最近有點緊張，因為沒人能給他找到酵母。他在一家倉儲式商店買了一大堆，現(xiàn)在只夠做10個面包。是的,只有10個。(如果你認識我的父母，請在他們的門廊上放些酵母。我爸爸不需要為面包而煩惱。)

My siblings and I aren't quite like my parents. One of my brothers is just as handy as my dad. I'm pretty sure he built most of his house and his swimming pool and could duplicate the soda-bottle bird feeder. We don't hoard like they do. But I've definitely picked up some of their habits.

我和我的兄弟姐妹不太像我的父母。我的一個兄弟和我爸爸一樣能干。我敢肯定，他的房子和游泳池大部分都是自己建的，而且還能復制飲料瓶喂鳥器。我們不像他們那樣囤積。但我確實學到了一些他們的習慣。

I wonder if what we're going through now will impact my son's generation. A brand-new college graduate who's going off to a cool new job as a software engineer in a few months, he and his roommates are spending a lot of time in their apartment with not a lot to do. He says, right now, that means they're actually spending more money. One friend bought a bike; his girlfriend bought some cross-stitch patterns.

我想知道我們現(xiàn)在所經(jīng)歷的一切是否會影響我兒子這一代人。幾個月后，剛從大學畢業(yè)的他就要去做一份很酷的新工作，成為一名軟件工程師。他和室友們大部分時間都待在公寓里，無所事事。他說，現(xiàn)在，這意味著他們實際上花了更多的錢。一個朋友買了一輛自行車;他的女朋友買了一些十字繡圖案。

"Everyone is buying things to try to find hobbies," he told me. "Maybe real adults are being more frugal."

“每個人都在買東西，試圖找到自己的愛好，”他告訴我。“也許真正的成年人更節(jié)儉了。”

Or maybe he just needs a 2-liter bottle and some birds.

或者他只需要一個2升的瓶子和一些鳥。