这场流行疾病会让我们学会节俭吗?

这场流行疾病会让我们学会节俭吗?

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.

每天吃晚饭的时候，我和丈夫从各自的家庭办公室来到厨房，盯着一个相对满满当当的冰箱。这里有大量的新鲜水果和蔬菜，一些肉类，大量的奶制品，还有大量的剩饭剩菜。每次我们打开门，我们仍然对食物的丰富感到惊讶。在大流行之前，我们只是把事情拼凑在一起，很少做任何实质性的东西。现在，我们花了更多的时间来仔细考虑我们的饮食计划。我们关心营养、健康……不要浪费任何东西。

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.

我跟朋友们视频聊天，节俭似乎是我们在这场全球危机中学到的一个普遍教训。他们分享了如何处理剩菜的烹饪技巧，并提供了DIY花园床的建议。有些人把酵母开胃菜放在前廊，让陌生人拿起，分享在后院养鸡的建议。

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.

我的父母向我灌输了重复利用、节约和永不浪费的重要性。他们从意大利移民到美国，希望有更好的机会，早期这意味着他们都要长时间地做好几份工作，即使他们有一屋子四个小孩。我的父亲可以修理任何东西——所以很少有东西被扔掉。他们自制面包、沙司、香肠和火腿，我们没有浪费任何东西。偶尔我们的大餐是一桶肯德基和一罐夏威夷潘趣酒。但大多数时候是意大利面。

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，当流感大流行更加严重的时候，我的父母在他们储存丰富的家中休息。他们有一个装满食物的冰箱和另外两个储存丰富的冰箱。我肯定他们还有很多卫生纸。

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.)

我爸爸最近有点紧张，因为没人能给他找到酵母。他在一家仓储式商店买了一大堆，现在只够做10个面包。是的,只有10个。(如果你认识我的父母，请在他们的门廊上放些酵母。我爸爸不需要为面包而烦恼。)

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。我的一个兄弟和我爸爸一样能干。我敢肯定，他的房子和游泳池大部分都是自己建的，而且还能复制饮料瓶喂鸟器。我们不像他们那样囤积。但我确实学到了一些他们的习惯。

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.

我想知道我们现在所经历的一切是否会影响我儿子这一代人。几个月后，刚从大学毕业的他就要去做一份很酷的新工作，成为一名软件工程师。他和室友们大部分时间都待在公寓里，无所事事。他说，现在，这意味着他们实际上花了更多的钱。一个朋友买了一辆自行车;他的女朋友买了一些十字绣图案。

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

“每个人都在买东西，试图找到自己的爱好，”他告诉我。“也许真正的成年人更节俭了。”

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

或者他只需要一个2升的瓶子和一些鸟。