為了拯救郵政服務(wù),人們紛紛去買郵票
Thousands have taken to social media the last few days in support of the U.S. Postal Service. With the agency in financial trouble due to the Coronavirus crisis, Twitter users are urging others to buy stamps as a lifeline for the beleaguered agency.
過(guò)去幾天,數(shù)千人通過(guò)社交媒體支持美國(guó)郵政服務(wù)。由于該機(jī)構(gòu)因冠狀病毒危機(jī)陷入財(cái)務(wù)困境,推特用戶正敦促其他人購(gòu)買郵票,作為這家陷入困境的機(jī)構(gòu)的生命線。
Since the crisis began, the Postal Service's business has tanked. Mail volume has decreased by nearly a third and the agency is projecting a $13 billion shortfall for the year. As a result, the Postal Service is asking lawmakers for as much as $89 billion in cash infusions to weather the financial storm.
自從危機(jī)開(kāi)始以來(lái),郵政服務(wù)的生意就一落千丈。郵件數(shù)量減少了近三分之一,該機(jī)構(gòu)預(yù)計(jì)今年將出現(xiàn)130億美元的缺口。因此,美國(guó)郵政總局要求立法者提供多達(dá)890億美元的現(xiàn)金注資,以抵御金融風(fēng)暴。
But that demand was denied.
但這種要求被否決。
That upset some people, like Bill Prady, who says the U.S. Postal Service helped launch his television career.
這讓一些人感到不安,比如比爾·普拉迪,他說(shuō)美國(guó)郵政服務(wù)幫助他開(kāi)創(chuàng)了電視事業(yè)。
He writes for popular broadcast sitcoms.
他為廣受歡迎的廣播情景喜劇撰稿。
"In a sense, I can credit my entire career to them [the Postal Service] and that moment, so this could be a way of paying them back," said Prady.
“在某種意義上,我可以把我的整個(gè)職業(yè)生涯歸功于他們(郵政服務(wù))和那一刻,所以這可能是一種回報(bào)他們的方式,” 普拉迪說(shuō)。
Jenna Dewar, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, was also taken aback when she heard the news about the Postal Service.
內(nèi)華達(dá)大學(xué)里諾分校教授珍娜·杜瓦聽(tīng)到有關(guān)郵政服務(wù)的消息時(shí),也吃了一驚。
"I immediately just kind of had my jaw dropped to the floor because it's such a fundamental service to the community," said Dewar. "There are many other things that you would think would [disappear] before that, and so it was kind of just a shocking moment to hear something that's written into our constitution might be going away."
杜瓦說(shuō):“我馬上就有點(diǎn)被嚇到了,因?yàn)檫@是對(duì)社區(qū)的一項(xiàng)基本服務(wù)。”在那之前,你會(huì)認(rèn)為還有很多事情會(huì)(消失),所以聽(tīng)到寫入憲法的東西可能會(huì)消失,這是一個(gè)令人震驚的時(shí)刻。”
So she went online to order stamps from the USPS website on Monday. But for the next few hours, the page wouldn't load. She figured the site got overwhelmed by the volume of orders.
所以她周一上網(wǎng)從USPS網(wǎng)站訂購(gòu)了郵票。但在接下來(lái)的幾個(gè)小時(shí)里,頁(yè)面無(wú)法加載。她認(rèn)為網(wǎng)站因大量的訂單而崩掉了。
Later that day, Dewar got through to the site's order page and was able to purchase a sheet of heart stamps.
當(dāng)天晚些時(shí)候,杜瓦進(jìn)入了網(wǎng)站的訂單頁(yè)面,并購(gòu)買了一套心形郵票。
Derek Bauman said he bought as many stamps as he could, purchasing a few extra sheets of the JFK-themed ones. Bauman, a retired police officer who lives in Cincinnati, used to collect stamps as a kid.
德里克·鮑曼說(shuō),他買了盡可能多的郵票,多買了幾張肯尼迪的主題郵票。鮑曼是一位居住在辛辛那提的退休警官,他小時(shí)候喜歡集郵。
His primary concern is that if the Postal Service gets slashed or goes under, then people in hard-to-reach areas may not be able to send and receive mail as easily.
他主要擔(dān)心的是,如果郵政服務(wù)被削減或倒閉,那么在交通不便的地區(qū),人們可能無(wú)法像現(xiàn)在這樣輕松地收發(fā)郵件。
"The ability to send and receive mail to every single address in the United States--I just don't know that the private sector would be willing or able to do that in an affordable way," he said.
他說(shuō):“向美國(guó)每個(gè)地址發(fā)送和接收郵件的能力——我只是不知道私營(yíng)部門是否愿意或能夠以一種負(fù)擔(dān)得起的方式做到這一點(diǎn)。”
Bauman says that he's been happy to see the support on social media for the Postal Service.
鮑曼表示,他很高興看到社交媒體上對(duì)郵政服務(wù)的支持。
"I guess the the positive takeaway from it is that you see an outpouring of support for the post office from the American people," said Bauman. "I think that speaks volumes."
鮑曼說(shuō):“我想,這件事的積極意義在于,你可以看到美國(guó)人民對(duì)郵局的大力支持。”“我認(rèn)為這很有說(shuō)服力。”
Prady sees getting people to buy stamps as a rare moment of positive action in a pandemic that has otherwise made him feel somewhat "helpless."
普拉迪認(rèn)為,讓人們購(gòu)買郵票是大流行中罕見(jiàn)的積極行動(dòng),否則他會(huì)感到有些“無(wú)助”
"Most of us are just sort of trapped in our houses, but this was a really simple thing," Prady said. "The post office is short on money, and there's an amazingly easy way to get money to the post office: buy stamps. If you take all the adults in America, and if all of them bought $10. worth of postage, you're in the billions."
“我們大多數(shù)人都被困在家里,但這件事真的很簡(jiǎn)單,”Prady說(shuō)。“郵局缺錢,有一種非常簡(jiǎn)單的辦法可以把錢送到郵局:買郵票。如果你把美國(guó)所有的成年人都算上,如果他們都買了10美元的郵資,那你(郵局)就是億萬(wàn)富翁了。”