從富有到貧窮是什么感覺？

原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：龜兔賽跑 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處

Jerry Strazzeri, Analytical Lead at Google (2016-present)（谷歌分析主管(2016年至今)）
I can tell the experience of a friend. who married a woman who was multi-millionaire since birth. Saying that they were rich is an understatement. They only flew first or business class, he got a new Porsche or Mercedes every single year and they always lived in the best areas in Manhattan,

我可以講述一個朋友的經(jīng)歷。他娶了一個從出生起就是千萬富翁的女人。說他們有錢是最低調(diào)的說法。他們一直住在曼哈頓最好的地方，他們只坐頭等艙或商務(wù)艙出行，他每年都買一輛新的保時捷或奔馳。

I remember when he and his wife moved to New York they hired an interior designer from Milan to do the decoration. They spent around a million dollars only with the renovation and furniture for the apartment.

我記得當(dāng)他和他的妻子搬到紐約時，他們特地從米蘭雇了一位室內(nèi)設(shè)計(jì)師來裝修，他們僅用在公寓裝修和家具的費(fèi)用就花了大約100萬美元。

They had it all, and not even in my dreams I would imagine that one day they would lose it all.

他們擁有一切，即使我在夢里也無法想象他們有一天會失去一切。



They lived this life for around 10 years. Then, they had some disagreement with their family and they stopped receiving the allowance. They lived by their savings for around 3 years. During those years they lived a very good life, but not so lavish as before. After 3 years, when they were about to start selling everything so they could have some money, her uncle died. He didn''t have any kids so she received a good sum of money that was sufficient for around 3 more years.

他們過了10年這樣的生活。后來他們因?yàn)榕c家人發(fā)生了一些爭執(zhí)，不再領(lǐng)取津貼。他們靠積蓄生活了大約3年。在那幾年里，他們依然過著很好的生活，但沒有以前那么奢侈。三年后，當(dāng)他們開始為獲得一些錢而準(zhǔn)備出售所有東西時，她的叔叔去世了，因?yàn)樗麤]有孩子，所以她得到了一大筆錢足夠支撐她再過3年。

When their bank accounts were about to run dry again her mother passed away and she inherited, along with her brothers, around 4M each.

當(dāng)他們的銀行賬戶即將枯竭時，她的母親去世了，她和她的兄弟們每人繼承了大約400萬英鎊。

For most people, it would be sufficient for a lifetime, but they made very bad investments along with some poor decisions and I don''t know how, but they ended up losing everything in around 3 more years.

對大多數(shù)人來說，這些錢一輩子足夠花了。我不知道怎么回事，他們做了非常糟糕的投資以及還有一些糟糕的決定，最終他們在3年多的時間里失去了一切。

After losing all their money they started living with the money of a trust her parents left to her, Something around 5K per month. But they are on their 50s, they never worked and have no professional skills and they have to pay rent (as they don''t have a home), pay all their bills and above all, health insurance with that amount.

在失去了所有的錢之后，他們開始用父母留給她的信托基金的錢生活，大約每月5000英鎊。但他們已經(jīng)50多歲了，他們從未工作過也沒有專業(yè)技能。他們必須支付房租（因?yàn)樗麄儧]有房子），支付所有賬單，最重要的是，還要用這筆錢支付健康保險。



I would not dare to say that this experience was humbling to them because they were always nice people, the difference is that they were nice people with lots of money. The only positive thing I believe this experience brought to them is that they are no longer superficial. They used to see everything like poverty, sorrow, and problems from a different perspective, and I used to see them through a mask that looked like they were using all the time

我不好說這種經(jīng)歷對他們來說是不是丟臉，因?yàn)樗麄円恢倍际呛萌?，不同的是他們是有很多錢的好人。我認(rèn)為這次經(jīng)歷帶給他們唯一積極的東西就是他們不再膚淺。他們曾經(jīng)從不同的角度看待一切，比如貧窮、悲傷等方面，而我過去常常透過他們一直戴著的面具來看待他們。

Now, for the first time, I was able to see who they really are. What are their emotions, their fears, their desires, and their regrets… For the first time in their lives they desire things, they no longer pull their credit card and immediately satisfy their desires and in that sense, they look like real people for me.

現(xiàn)在，我第一次才看清他們的真實(shí)樣子。他們的情感，他們的恐懼，他們的欲望，還有他們的遺憾。在他們的生活中，他們第一次渴望一些東西，他們不再用信用卡滿足他們的欲望，從這個意義上說，他們同我一樣是一個普通人。

Every time I visited them over the years I always invited them for lunch, breakfast or coffee and even though I''m not wealthy I always offered to pay, and 6 months ago, when I saw them for the last time, I invited them to have a coffee at Starbucks and that was the first time in more than 15 years that they said thank you after I offered to pay for our breakfast.

這么多年來每次去拜訪他們，我總是邀請他們共進(jìn)午餐，早餐或喝咖啡。盡管我不富有但我總是提出自己買單。6個月前，我最后一次看望他們，我邀請他們在星巴克喝杯咖啡。這是15年多來，我主動提出付早餐費(fèi)后，他們第一次說謝謝。

It felt different. They don''t need to thank me for anything because during their life, just by inviting me to stay with them, they offered me much more than anything I''ve ever offered to them, but for the first time in their lives, they are learning to value every small good thing that life gives to them.

這是不同的感覺。他們不需要感謝我什么，因?yàn)橐郧皟H僅通過邀請我陪他們的時候他們給我的比我曾經(jīng)給他們的多多了，但是他們第一次在生活中學(xué)會了去珍惜生活給予他們的美好事物。

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第二次更新
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Thank you all for the upvotes and feedbacks to this story. In fact, I had two stories about the theme but Quora doesn''t allow to publish two answers for the same question, so, for those who are interested I''ll post the second story here.

謝謝大家對這個故事的支持和反饋。事實(shí)上，我有兩個關(guān)于這個主題的故事，但是Quora不允許發(fā)布同一個問題的兩個答案，所以，對于那些感興趣的人，我將在這里發(fā)布第二個故事。

In 2007 I was hired by a medium size tech company. The company had around 150 employees and they were growing fast. When I was hired they told me they would be moving to better offices in two months and they really did it. The new office was really impressive. Huge, very modern to the point it made the cover of a magazine.

在2007年時，我被一家中等規(guī)模的科技公司聘用。這家公司大約有150名員工，而且他們的增長速度很快。當(dāng)我被雇用的時候，他們告訴我他們將在兩個月后搬到更好的辦公室，他們真的做到了。新辦公室真令人印象深刻，寬敞，非?，F(xiàn)代，甚至成為了雜志的封面。



They were amazing people, very humble, very calm and you would never say they had so much money just by talking to them.

他們是了不起的人，非常謙虛非常冷靜。僅僅只通過與他們交談你是永遠(yuǎn)不會知道他們有這么多錢。

I left the company by the end of 2007 because I received an offer to work in another place. I talked to them before accepting the offer, I explained my reasons and they were really supportive and told me that if I changed my mind the doors would be open.

我在2007年底離開了公司，因?yàn)槲沂盏搅肆硪患夜镜匿浻猛ㄖ?。我在接受這份工作之前和他們談過，我解釋了我的理由，他們非常支持我并告訴我，如果我改變主意，隨時可以回來。

By the end of 2008, a former colleague contacted me asking for a reference as he was leaving the company. I asked why he was leaving the company and the told me that the company had gone into receivership. Basically, they were impacted by the GFC.

到2008年底，一位前同事在離開公司時聯(lián)系我請我?guī)退榻B工作。我問他為什么要離開公司，他告訴我公司已經(jīng)破產(chǎn)了。事實(shí)上，他們受到了全球金融危機(jī)的影響。

They were so rich that I imagined that although the company had bankrupted they probably had a lot of savings.

因?yàn)樗麄兲绣X了所以我想雖然公司破產(chǎn)了，但他們應(yīng)該可能有很多存款。

I never heard from them again until 2017.

直到2017年我再也沒有收到他們的消息。

I had a health issue and I needed to see a specialist. When I got to the doctor, I was talking to the receptionist when I saw a sign with her name over her desk. (Let''s say Jennifer Parker - I''ll omit her real name). So I said to her. Hey Jennifer, what a coincidence, I had a boss with exactly the same name.

我有健康問題需要看專家。當(dāng)我去看醫(yī)生的時候，我正在和接待員談話，這時我看到她的桌子上有一個寫著她的名字的牌子。（比如說詹妮弗·帕克——我會省略她的真名）。所以我對她說，嘿，詹妮弗，真巧，我有個同名的老板。

Then she told me that she was not Jennifer, that Jennifer was the other receptionist, that she worked Monday and Tuesday and Jenniffer Wednesday to Friday. I saw the doctor and two weeks later I came back for my return and when I arrived who I see working as a receptionist there? My former boss.

然而她告訴我她不是詹妮弗，詹妮弗是另一個星期三到星期五工作的接待員，她是星期一和星期二工作。我看了醫(yī)生，兩周后我回去做康復(fù)治療，當(dāng)我到達(dá)時，我看到誰在那里做接待員？我以前的老板。

When she saw me she recognized me and told me that the other receptionist told what happened and when she saw my name she connected the dots.

當(dāng)她看到我時，她認(rèn)出了我，并告訴我當(dāng)她看到我的名字時，另一個接待員告訴了她我之前來過的事。

She told me what happened to the company, basically was a problem with the contracts they made and as they weren''t able to get a new loan from the bank they could no longer keep the company and pay their debts. With that, they lost everything, not only the company but literally everything.

她告訴我公司發(fā)生了什么事，基本上由于是他們簽訂的合同有問題，他們無法從銀行獲得新的貸款，他們無法再維持公司并償還債務(wù)。因此，他們失去了一切，不僅失去了公司，而且失去了一切。

Their kids moved from private to public schools, they had all their cars, properties and assets confiscated and ended moving to a small apartment near the city. Her husband was able to get a new job (at nearly 60 years of age) and she had to go back to work to complement their income.

他們的孩子從私立學(xué)校搬到公立學(xué)校，他們所有的汽車、財(cái)產(chǎn)和資產(chǎn)都被沒收，最后搬到了城市附近的一個小公寓。她將近60歲的丈夫找到了一份新工作，她不得不回去工作以增加他們的收入。



Lee Boueri, Self employed（個體經(jīng)營者）
In 2006 I was married with two boys in private schools. I lived in a three-story house in one of the best suburbs in the city. I had a corporate yacht, drove a porsche 911, had been offered $20 million for my business two years earlier which I had declined. I owned around $4 million in real estate, flew first class on family holidays every year and took my eighty-odd staff on four-day conferences to five-star resorts every year. At thirty-nine, I was featured as sixty-fifth in our country’s richest under forty. I was the only child of a single parent migrant mum so I had experienced poverty and felt I had accomplished plenty—a classic, rags to riches story, life was good, but as they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

我2006年結(jié)婚，目前有兩個兒子在私立學(xué)校讀書。我住在一棟三層樓房里，那是城里最好的郊區(qū)之一。我有一個游艇公司，開著保時捷911，兩年前有人出價2000萬美元買我的公司，我拒絕了。我擁有大約400萬美元的房地產(chǎn)，每年全家度假時都乘坐頭等艙，每年帶著80多名員工去五星級度假勝地參加為期四天的會議。39歲時，我在我們國家40歲以下最富有的人群中排名第65位。我是單親移民媽媽的獨(dú)生子，所以我經(jīng)歷了貧到富這一個經(jīng)典的過程，生活是美好的。但正如他們所說的，站得越高，摔得越重。

2009 following the GFC I had three staff left and had moved to a much smaller office. We were just keeping our heads above water trying to wait out the fallout when we became embroiled in a legal battle with a large multi-national who we funded our mortgages through and who was itself experiencing problems due to the GFC and decided it would no longer pay us the monthly fees due.

2009年在全球金融危機(jī)之后，我?guī)еＯ氯麊T工搬到了一個小得多的辦公室。我們陷入一場與一家大型跨國公司的法律糾紛中，我們只是保持清醒，試圖等待轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)的出現(xiàn)。這家跨國公司為我們的抵押貸款提供資金，而跨國公司本身也正因全球金融危機(jī)而遇到問題，并決定不再向我們支付每月到期支付的費(fèi)用。

We had to wait for the outcome of the court proceedings to start getting paid again and the company dragged it out for four years which saw the yacht, the car, the three remaining staff, and eventually the business go. Soon after, my marriage broke down and I relinquished the house to my wife without a fight, hoping she would be a good caretaker for the kids’ inheritance and keep it safe from creditors. The kids took the separation badly and my eldest son, who was in his mid teens, spiraled out of control with alcohol and drugs.

我們不得不等待法庭程序的結(jié)果，希望再次開始支付。公司拖了四年，看到游艇，汽車沒了，剩下的三名員工離開了，最終公司也沒了。不久之后，我的婚姻破裂了，我毫無異議的把房子讓給了妻子，希望她能很好地保護(hù)孩子們的財(cái)產(chǎn)，不讓債權(quán)人知道。孩子們很不喜歡這種分離，我十幾歲的大兒子開始酗酒吸毒失控。

Thinking creditors would soon take whatever money was left, I rented a luxury apartment overlooking the harbour and locked myself away until the money ran out, waiting to hit rock bottom. I know now what I didn’t know then, that I was suffering from extreme depression. I stopped contacting people and would leave phone calls, mail, and emails unanswered. I hit the booze hard, as I sold off the remaining business assets to pay for rent and food. I kept thinking of ideas to start a new business but would keep putting it off, until four years later I had only $60,000 left.

我以為債主們很快就會把剩下的錢都拿走，于是我租了一套俯瞰海港的豪華公寓，把自己鎖在里面，直到錢花光。我現(xiàn)在才知道當(dāng)時的我竟然不知道自己正遭受著極度的抑郁。我不再與人聯(lián)系，不接電話和電子郵件。我酗酒成性，我賣掉了剩下的資產(chǎn)來支付房租和食物。我一直在想創(chuàng)業(yè)的點(diǎn)子，直到四年后我只剩下6萬美元。



The first sign that this was not a fresh start came ten months into the partnership when we tried to get an overdraft and it was declined due to the fact that I now had a bad credit rating. This put a strain on the partnership even though we had managed substantial growth. Then my partner received a call from child services: apparently they had assessed my income at $400,000 a year and I was suppose to be paying my wife child support for the last six odd years based on that level of income, even though my income was nil and I was living off of selling off assets. The debt was now over $90,000 and they wanted to garnishee my drawings from the business. In the same week the tax office called to say they wanted to garnishee my drawings for an outstanding tax debt of $50,000 from the sale of some of the real estate assets. A week after that phone call I received a message from my partner while at home:
“The locks on the premises at work have been changed, you can no longer operate the company bank accounts and I have removed you as a director and shareholder on the company register, don’t bother coming in. I would encourage you to fight me but I know you don''t have the money.”

第一個跡象表明這不是一個新的開始，是在我們合伙10個月的時候，我們試圖獲得透支，但由于我現(xiàn)在的信用評級不好而被拒絕。這給我們的合作關(guān)系帶來了壓力，盡管我們已經(jīng)取得了客觀的增長。后來我的合伙人接到了一個兒童服務(wù)部的電話：很顯然，他們估計(jì)我的年收入為40萬美元，我應(yīng)該根據(jù)這一收入水平支付過去六年的妻兒撫養(yǎng)費(fèi)，盡管現(xiàn)在我的收入為零靠變賣資產(chǎn)為生?，F(xiàn)在債務(wù)超過了9萬美元，他們想拿走我生意上的投資。就在同一周，稅務(wù)局打電話來說，他們想用出售部分房地產(chǎn)資產(chǎn)所得用于投資生意的5萬美元來償還未償稅款。在那通電話一周后，我在家里收到了我合作伙伴的一條信息：
“工作場所的鎖已經(jīng)換了，你不能再經(jīng)營公司的銀行賬戶了，我已經(jīng)把你從公司登記冊上的董事和股東的身份刪除了，不用麻煩進(jìn)來了。我鼓勵你跟我打官司，但我知道你沒有錢?！?br />
I was devastated, but keen to not fall back into a depression. After applying for over a hundred jobs and getting knocked back, I was feeling like a failure and finding it hard not to fall back into depression. It was looming just on the horizon, beckoning for me to escape again into a drunken state of self pity. I felt like I was in a scene from the movie Trading Places.

我悲痛萬分但我不想再陷入抑郁中。在申請了100多份工作并被淘汰后，我感覺自己像一個失敗者，很難不陷入抑郁。它就在地平線上隱隱約約地向我招手，讓我再次逃脫到一種自我憐憫的醉酒狀態(tài)。我覺得自己好像置身于電影《交換位置》的場景中。



When I look back, even as I write this, I find it easy to blame others, my circumstances, the economy anything but myself for my fall from grace. It takes years to face up to the fact that while many things may have contributed to my present situation but it was mainly my poor decisions that are to blame.
Hopefully when I am back there again, it will be as someone who is older, wiser, more experienced and certainly more humble than in the past.
Thank you all again for your support. Whenever I feel I’m in over my head, I go back to this post and take the time to read all your uplifting comments and 20 minutes of doing so recharges my resolve to see this through.
Hopefully the next edit will be the day I open the doors of the new business.

當(dāng)我回首往事時，即使在寫這篇文章的時候，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我很容易把自己的失寵歸責(zé)于別人，責(zé)怪我的環(huán)境，責(zé)怪我的經(jīng)濟(jì)，而不是我自己。我花了好幾年的時間才意識到，雖然很多事情可能導(dǎo)致了我現(xiàn)在的處境，但主要由于我糟糕的決定才是罪魁禍?zhǔn)住?br /> 希望當(dāng)我再次回到那里的時候，我會成為一個比過去成熟、更聰明、更有經(jīng)驗(yàn)、更謙虛的人。
再次感謝大家的支持。每當(dāng)我覺得自己頭腦發(fā)暈的時候，我就會回到這篇文章，花20分鐘閱讀你所有令人振奮的評論，重新點(diǎn)燃我堅(jiān)持到底的決心。
希望下次編輯是我打開新業(yè)務(wù)大門的那一天。