介紹一下美國的農民工以及歌曲 Times Is Hard

今天上班的時候收聽廣播節目，討論的話題是美國的 "農民工"。

且慢，農民工是專門指從中國農村來城市打工的農民弟兄姐妹們，難道美國也有 "農民工"？

答案是：美國不但有，而且還很多呢。

聽完這個節目我才知道，原來在美國的就業人口中，有三分之一左右並沒有固定職業，他們做的工作多是以合同工 (Contractor)，臨時工 (Temporary)，季節工 (Seasonal) 以及項目谘詢 (Consultant) 等形式出現。工資收入不高不算，而且工作根本也沒有保障，更沒有醫療保險 (Health Insurance)，殘障保險 (Disability Insurance)，退休金 (Retirement) 以及社保基金 (Social Security)。如果他們失去了工作，連失業金 (Unemployment Benefit) 都一分拿不到，當然也不會統計在失業人口中!

當然，在美國這部分就業人口也是有尊稱的，但不叫 "農民工"，因為都是洋人嘛。他們被尊稱為各式各樣的 "Freelance (福利爛死) worker"。比如，freelance driver，freelance economist，freelance writer 等。在這部分工作人口中，有不少是家庭主婦，但也有很多專業人士，當然更多的還是西裔等少數族裔人口。

但可喜的是，當今美國經濟衰退嚴重，在 "裁員滾滾" 的浪潮下，"Freelance" 們卻沒有受到嚴重打擊，因為正式員工裁去後，老板再招回一些 "Freelance" 們，可以省下不少開支呢!

Long live FREE ----------- Lance!

在這艱難的時刻，介紹一首詼諧幽默充滿樂觀的歌曲

Times Is Hard

By Loudon Wainwright III



(請點擊箭頭播放)


Times is hard. Times is tough.
Nothin's easy. It's all rough.
There's not much right; so much gone wrong.
All I can do is play this song.

You're watchin' the news. It all looks bad.
The worst half-hour you ever had.
What in God's name is goin' on?
All I can do is play this song.

You're losin' your job, your house and your car.
Hittin' rock bottom don't feel that far.
Nothin' good is gonna come along.
All I can do is play this song.

Folks are scared watchin' that news.
Folks feel bad. They're gettin' the blues.
My poor stomach, it ain't that strong.
All I can do is play this song.

Times is rough. Times is hard.
Take a pair of scissors to your credit card.
Circuit City just said, 'So long.'
All I can do is play this song.

Who's at fault? Who gets the blame?
Let's string up Bernie what's-his-name.
And ask Alan Greenspan to come along.
All I can do is play this song.

They want your gold, and they'll pay cash.
The only silver lining is the price of gas.
Money's short and the odds are long.
All I can do is play this song.

The factory's closed. The bank is bust.
On the money it says, 'In God We Trust.'
So pray for all your stocks and bonds.
All I can do is play this song.

Outta luck. Outta hope.
I'm wonderin' why I even cast that vote.
I took that sign offa my front lawn.
All I can do is play this song.

There's a new man down there in D.C.
They say he's gonna help you and me.
They sure know how to bang the gong.
All I can do is play this song.

Last man in D.C., he had eight years.
Now the whole damn country is in arrears.
We got two, three, four wars goin' on.
All I can do is play this song.

Times is hard. Times is rough.
I guess you folks need some cheerin' up.
Well it ain't me babe. You got that wrong.
All I can do is play this song.

You heard it here. I sang it first.
Don't feel so bad; things are gonna get worse.
Consider yourselves all strung along.
All I can do is play this song.

All I can do is ...