377: Scenes From a Recession - This American Life
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00:00 00:00 Transcript Share This American Life Life Partners How to Listen Episodes Recommended About Overview Staff Announcements Fellowships Jobs Music Make Radio On The Road FAQ Submissions Merch Contact Us Our Other Shows Merch Follow Us Life Partners Subscribe to our newsletter Full episode Toggle Audio and Transcript Sync Transcript | Episode #377 | March 5, 2010 377: Scenes From a Recession Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard.
00:00 00:00 文字记录 分享此 美国生活 生活伙伴 如何收听 剧集 推荐 关于 概述 员工公告 奖学金 工作 音乐 在路上制作电台 常见问题解答 提交 商品 联系我们 我们的其他节目 商品 关注我们 生活伙伴 订阅我们的时事通讯 整集 切换音频和文字记录同步 文字记录 | 内容第 377 集 | 2010 年 3 月 5 日 377：经济衰退的场景 注：《美国生活》是为耳朵而制作的，旨在让人们听到。
If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page.
如果可以的话，我们强烈建议您收听音频，其中包括页面上没有的情感和重点。
Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
文字记录是使用语音识别软件和人工转录员结合生成的，可能包含错误。
Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
请在印刷版引用前检查相应的音频。
Prologue Man 1 There is a mini-industry inside journalism right now, one of the few parts of the journalism business that's actually thriving, I think.
Prologue Man 1 现在新闻业内部有一个小型产业，我认为这是新闻业中为数不多的真正蓬勃发展的部分之一。
A reporter's finding unusual signs of the recession all over the place.
一名记者在各处发现了经济衰退的不寻常迹象。
But that did not prepare me to hear about this side of the recession from a dentist, [UNINTELLIGIBLE], outside Washington, DC.
但这并没有让我准备好从华盛顿特区郊外的一位牙医那里听到经济衰退的这一面，[无法理解]。
The biggest thing I've been seeing is broken teeth.
我见过的最严重的事情是牙齿断了。
I spoke with a buddy of mine who's a dentist up in New York.
我和我的一个在纽约当牙医的朋友聊过。
He's like, man, everybody's cracking teeth.
他就像，伙计，每个人都在咬牙切齿。
And I said, yeah, I know.
我说，是的，我知道。
Really acutely I've seen it in the last three or four months.
在过去的三四个月里，我确实敏锐地看到了这一点。
Nightly grinding, clenching.
每晚磨牙，咬紧牙关。
And typically what happens with clenching and grinding, it's transient.
通常，咬紧牙关和磨牙时发生的情况是短暂的。
It'll come and go, be on and off.
它会来又走，开又关。
But in times of high stress, whether it's in a personal life or in, right now with the economy, everybody's under a lot more stress.
但在压力很大的时候，无论是在个人生活中，还是在目前的经济形势下，每个人都承受着更大的压力。
You see a lot more people having jaw pain and broken teeth.
你会看到更多的人有下巴疼痛和牙齿折断的情况。
On the day we interviewed Dr. [UNINTELLIGIBLE], of 10 patients, two had cracked teeth and one needed a night guard for grinding teeth in their sleep.
在我们采访[无法辨认]医生的那天，有 10 名患者，其中两人牙齿隐裂，一名需要夜间护卫以在睡觉时磨牙。
As for around the country, urologists in New York and Cleveland have reported a rise in vasectomies.
至于全国各地，纽约和克利夫兰的泌尿科医生报告说，输精管结扎术有所增加。
Traffic delays dropped by 1/3 last year.
去年交通延误减少了 1/3。
Two women in Pennsylvania, in separate incidents, according to newspapers, robbed banks and then immediately went out with the money and bought cashier's checks with the money they had stolen, cashier's checks to pay their rent.
据报纸报道，宾夕法尼亚州的两名妇女在不同的事件中抢劫了银行，然后立即带着钱出去，用她们偷来的钱购买了银行本票，用银行本票支付房租。
Porn video sales are down 10% to 30%, depending on how you measure it.
色情视频销量下降了 10% 到 30%，具体取决于衡量方式。
And shark attacks, yes, shark attacks, are at their lowest point in five years, thanks to the recession.
由于经济衰退，鲨鱼袭击事件，是的，鲨鱼袭击事件正处于五年来的最低点。
That figure according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida.
这个数字来自佛罗里达大学的国际鲨鱼攻击档案。
Fewer people on vacation apparently means fewer people getting bit by sharks.
度假的人越少，显然意味着被鲨鱼咬伤的人就越少。
Well, from WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life, distributed by Public Radio International.
好吧，这是芝加哥 WBEZ 的《This American Life》，由国际公共广播电台发行。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Today on our program, scenes from the recession, including tips on what not to say to somebody who is working at a store that is being liquidated.
今天，我们的节目讲述了经济衰退的场景，包括关于不要对正在清算的商店工作的人说些什么的建议。
And we go on a government raid, a government raid on a bad bank.
我们继续进行政府突袭，对坏账银行进行政府突袭。
Stay with us.
留在我们身边。
Act 1, Is the Condo Half Empty, or is the Condo Half Full?
第一幕，公寓是半空还是半满？
We've all heard about these suburbs in Florida and California and Las Vegas where lots of people took out subprime mortgages just before the housing bubble burst, suburbs where today you have entire neighborhoods where most of the houses are empty.
我们都听说过佛罗里达州、加利福尼亚州和拉斯维加斯的这些郊区，在房地产泡沫破裂之前，很多人在那里申请了次级抵押贷款，而如今，这些郊区的整个社区大部分房屋都是空的。
But you hear less about how this is playing out in big cities.
但你很少听说这在大城市是如何发生的。
And in big cities, the boom and bust took a different form.
在大城市，繁荣和萧条采取了不同的形式。
In Chicago, for instance, you don't see entire neighborhoods vacated, but you also see lots of empty apartment buildings, and half-empty ones, like 1633 W.
例如，在芝加哥，您不会看到整个社区都空置，但您也会看到许多空置的公寓楼和半空的公寓楼，例如 1633 W.
Farwell in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.
法韦尔位于芝加哥罗杰斯公园附近。
Classic old courtyard building.
经典的老四合院建筑。
Then at the end of the housing boom, it's being converted into condos, condos with granite countertops and beautiful stainless steel appliances.
然后在房地产繁荣结束时，它被改造成公寓，带有花岗岩台面和漂亮的不锈钢器具的公寓。
Until the Chicago housing market collapsed in late 2007, leaving 19 of its 39 units empty.
直到 2007 年底芝加哥房地产市场崩溃，39 套公寓中的 19 套空置。
We had had an issue with a squatter in the building.
我们与大楼内的擅自占地者发生了问题。
We had a couple of those guys, and I thought it might have just been somebody trying to get back into the unit and camp out and sleep.
我们有几个这样的人，我想这可能只是有人试图回到单位并在外面扎营睡觉。
This is Jon Miller, who lives in a first-floor unit, where for days he and his wife would hear this noise, this noise coming from this vacant apartment upstairs from theirs.
这是乔恩·米勒，他住在一楼的单元里，连续几天他和他的妻子都会听到这种噪音，这种噪音来自他们楼上的这间空置公寓。
Then, they'd be lying in bed, and they would hear the sound of crumbling rocks and drywall coming from inside the walls and ceiling.
然后，他们躺在床上，就会听到从墙壁和天花板内部传来岩石和干墙破碎的声音。
Until finally, the culprit actually came through a big hole in the utility closet and they spotted it, a cat.
直到最后，罪魁祸首实际上是从杂物间的一个大洞进来的，他们发现了它，一只猫。
It was black and it was feral, and it ran back up the hole.
它是黑色的，而且很野性，它又跑回洞里。
So, I set a trap, which was just a small plate of tuna set 3/4 of the way over the edge of the countertop.
所以，我设置了一个陷阱，就是一小盘金枪鱼，放在台面边缘 3/4 的地方。
And that way I knew, once he jumps up, he starts eating the tuna, he knocks the plate over, it breaks the plate, it wakes me up, I come out, and I've got him.
这样我就知道，一旦他跳起来，他就开始吃金枪鱼，他打翻了盘子，它打破了盘子，它唤醒了我，我出来了，我抓住了他。
Wait, and so then it's you and your wife running around your apartment here, trying to chase a feral cat.
等等，然后是你和你的妻子在你的公寓里跑来跑去，试图追赶一只野猫。
Yes.
是的。
We were just digging out clothing, trying to get up under our dressers, trying to get him out from under the bed.
我们只是翻出衣服，试图从梳妆台下面爬起来，试图把他从床底下救出来。
And finally, I just was able to grab him.
最后，我终于抓住了他。
Were you frightened?
你害怕吗？
Jon Miller By a cat?
乔恩·米勒 是一只猫吗？
No.
不。
Did it bite you?
它咬你了吗？
Jon Miller Yeah, it scratched me pretty good.
乔恩·米勒（Jon Miller）是的，它让我刮伤得很厉害。
A pretty good deep one in the leg and a couple on my arm.
腿上有一个很深的，我手臂上有几个。
So to review, the housing market collapsed in Chicago, and as a result, Jon got scratched by a feral cat.
回顾一下，芝加哥的房地产市场崩溃了，结果乔恩被野猫抓伤了。
He and the other people in this building have done nothing wrong.
他和这栋大楼里的其他人没有做错任何事。
They didn't take out crazy loans that they couldn't afford.
他们没有疯狂地借出自己无力承担的贷款。
They played by the rules.
他们遵守规则。
They've paid their mortgage payments.
他们已经支付了抵押贷款。
And yet, they find themselves in an increasingly difficult situation.
然而，他们发现自己的处境越来越困难。
A month after Jon moved in, winter arrived in Chicago in earnest.
乔恩搬进来一个月后，芝加哥的冬天就正式来临了。
And with two empty apartments above his, apartments that had no heat because the developer stopped renovations, pipes froze.
他楼上有两套空公寓，由于开发商停止装修，公寓没有暖气，管道也结冰了。
And so, water poured out all over my kitchen floor and basically ruined my kitchen floor.
所以，水泼满了我的厨房地板，基本上毁了我的厨房地板。
It's wobbly and kind of warped.
它摇摇晃晃，有点扭曲。
You can walk across it for yourself.
你可以自己走过去。
Two other frozen pipes in the building damaged another guy's kitchen, and pretty much destroyed a ground-level apartment across the courtyard from Jon.
大楼里另外两根结冰的管道损坏了另一个人的厨房，并几乎摧毁了乔恩庭院对面的一套地面公寓。
Now, if Jon sounds unsurprisingly calm about all this, there are two reasons.
现在，如果乔恩对这一切听起来出奇地平静，那么有两个原因。
One, he practices meditation regularly, which, by the way, he'll be glad to tell you about.
第一，他定期练习冥想，顺便说一句，他会很高兴告诉你这一点。
It's changed my life forever for the better.
它永远改变了我的生活，让我的生活变得更好。
It'll do the same for you.
它也会为你做同样的事情。
Swear to God it will.
对天发誓一定会的。
But also, he is in the real estate business.
而且，他还从事房地产业务。
And what it means to be in the real estate business these days is that he is a mortgage broker who has seen his own income drop in half, and that has forced a kind of Zen attitude on him.
如今从事房地产行业意味着他是一名抵押贷款经纪人，他的收入已经下降了一半，这迫使他产生了一种禅宗的态度。
Jon has run some numbers to try to understand exactly what happened with the developer of this building, a small-time operator who moved to Chicago from Bosnia back in 1994, named Haso Meseljevic, who's currently unreachable, at least by us or anybody in 1633 Farwell.
乔恩（Jon）运行了一些数据，试图准确了解这座建筑的开发商到底发生了什么，他是一家小型经营者，于 1994 年从波斯尼亚搬到了芝加哥，名叫哈索·梅塞耶维奇（Haso Meseljevic），目前无法联系到他，至少我们或 1633 年法韦尔的任何人都联系不到他。
Though more about that in a bit.
不过稍后会详细介绍这一点。
Public records show that Meseljevic and his son took out a loan of $5.1 million to buy and rehab this building, and that by 2007, he still owed $2.9 million to the bank for the unsold units.
公开记录显示，Meseljevic 和他的儿子借了 510 万美元的贷款来购买和修复这座建筑，到 2007 年，他仍欠银行 290 万美元的未售出单位。
Which means, Jon calculates, that Meseljevic was paying the bank at least $20,000 a month on that debt.
Jon 计算出，这意味着 Meseljevic 每月至少向银行支付 20,000 美元的债务。
So, back in October 2007, Jon bought the last unit sold in this building, right as the market was turning.
因此，早在 2007 年 10 月，乔恩就在市场转向时买下了这栋大楼中出售的最后一个单元。
But then right after I closed, November, December, January rolled by, and I don't think he closed any units within those three months.
但就在我关闭之后，十一月、十二月、一月就过去了，我认为他在这三个月内没有关闭任何单位。
And I more or less would guess that's what put him under.
我或多或少会猜测这就是让他陷入困境的原因。
You know, when you're trying to carry a $20,000 expense month-to-month and you're not a very well-known, highly capitalized developer like some of these guys are, it's just not having a sale in three or four months is enough to put you under.
你知道，当你试图每月承担 20,000 美元的费用，并且你不像其中一些人那样是一个非常知名、资本雄厚的开发商时，仅仅三四个月内没有销售就足以让你陷入困境。
So that's essentially my guess as to what happened.
这基本上是我对发生的事情的猜测。
Even before the housing crisis and the recession, residents say this is a developer who seemed to cut corners and do the bare minimum.
甚至在住房危机和经济衰退之前，居民就表示这家开发商似乎在走捷径，只做最低限度的事情。
His business seemed perpetually strapped for cash, even though he and his family drove around in a yellow Hummer.
尽管他和家人开着黄色悍马到处走，但他的生意似乎永远缺钱。
And this right here is where the ugliness of the recessions intersects with the normal, everyday seediness of a lot of real estate development in a particularly toxic way.
正是在这一点上，经济衰退的丑陋与许多房地产开发中正常的、日常的肮脏行为以一种特别有毒的方式交织在一起。
Residents had all kinds of problems they couldn't get him to fix, problems that go way, way beyond the normal kinds of final details you need a builder to repair when you move into a place.
居民们有各种各样的问题，他们无法让他解决，这些问题远远超出了当你搬进一个地方时需要建筑商来修复的正常类型的最终细节。
Shortly after staying here, we started seeing things like this column here separated from the ceiling and collapsed into the ground.
住在这里后不久，我们开始看到像这里的柱子这样的东西与天花板分离并倒塌到地面上。
Jen and Peter Benedetto have a ground-floor unit that is jammed with musical gear and DJ equipment and the stuff that he uses to publish a quarterly journal of goth art.
Jen 和 Peter Benedetto 的一楼房间里堆满了音乐设备和 DJ 设备，以及他用来出版哥特艺术季刊的东西。
They show me how the floor is sinking away from the walls and the walls are separating from the ceiling of the unit, because there's nothing underneath the thin floor boards.
他们向我展示了地板如何从墙壁下沉，以及墙壁如何与单元的天花板分离，因为薄地板下面没有任何东西。
There's no concrete slab, just dirt.
没有混凝土板，只有泥土。
Right here is one of the worst spots, where the walls are separating from the ceiling.
这里是最糟糕的地方之一，墙壁与天花板分离。
And it changes daily.
而且它每天都在变化。
You can see it getting worse every single day.
你可以看到情况一天天变得更糟。
Also when they moved in, the whole condo smelled like sewage.
而且，当他们搬进来时，整个公寓都闻起来像污水。
When they would drain the bathtub, little bubbles of sewage gas would come up in the toilet.
当他们排干浴缸的水时，马桶里会冒出小气泡的污水气体。
At first, the developer told them that he had no money to fix this.
起初，开发商告诉他们他没有钱来解决这个问题。
He told him that he was using all of the money that they had paid for their condo to rehab the other units in the building.
他告诉他，他正在用他们购买公寓的所有钱来修复大楼内的其他单元。
But then Jen and Peter but a big handmade sign in the window facing the street, saying that their apartment smelled like sewage and the developer wouldn't fix it, which is the kind of thing that could keep somebody from buying a condo unit in the building, so the developer decided to send out some relatives to fix this.
但随后Jen和Peter却在面向街道的窗户上贴了一个手工制作的大牌子，上面写着他们的公寓闻起来像污水，开发商不会修理它，这种事情可能会阻止人们在大楼里购买公寓，所以开发商决定派一些亲戚来修理这个问题。
First of all, they come in and they say, well, you're going to have to show us how these bubbles come up the toilet.
首先，他们进来并说，好吧，你必须向我们展示这些气泡是如何从马桶里出来的。
So I fill up the bathtub and I pull the plug out, and the minute I let the water out, he's like, nothing's happening, nothing's happening.
所以我把浴缸注满水，拔掉插头，当我把水放出来的那一刻，他就像什么都没有发生，什么都没有发生。
And he's getting all excited that he's disproving us.
他因为反驳我们而变得非常兴奋。
And then I'm like, just give it a second.
然后我想，等一下。
And then, sure enough, the bubbles start coming up.
然后，果然，气泡开始出现。
And then he starts laughing.
然后他开始大笑。
He calls his friend, come look at this.
他打电话给他的朋友，过来看看这个。
And he's all excited and happy.
他非常兴奋和高兴。
And I'm like, what's so funny?
我想，有什么好笑的？
He's like, I've never seen this before.
他说，我以前从没见过这个。
So then they take the toilet off, and then the guy that he called in starts laughing again.
然后他们把马桶拿掉了，然后他叫来的那个人又开始笑了。
And I'm like, you guys, what's so funny?
我想，你们，有什么好笑的？
And he's like, oh, you bought a place without even concrete under the floor.
他就像，哦，你买了一个地板下连混凝土都没有的地方。
They gave you dirt.
他们给了你泥土。
Ha, ha, ha.
哈哈哈。
Ho, ho.
嗬嗬。
Peter Benedetto I never would have bought this place.
Peter Benedetto 我永远不会买这个地方。
Dirt, dirt, you live on dirt.
泥土，泥土，你靠泥土生活。
Ho, ho, ho, ho.
嗬，嗬，嗬，嗬。
So there's not even concrete under our floor, which is why we're sinking in like that.
所以我们的地板下面甚至没有混凝土，这就是为什么我们会像这样陷下去。
We also had, because of the sewage backup we had maggots, fly eggs in the sewage.
由于污水的存在，污水中还出现了蛆虫和苍蝇卵。
And in the spring, we have flies procreating in our plumbing and inhabiting our--
在春天，苍蝇在我们的管道中繁殖并栖息在我们的——
Yeah, I've never seen so many flies.
是的，我从来没有见过这么多苍蝇。
We had fly traps up and they were just covered in flies.
我们设置了捕蝇器，上面布满了苍蝇。
It was really nasty.
真的很恶心。
Hundreds, hundreds of dead flies hanging on fly tape in our bathroom.
我们的浴室里挂着数百只死苍蝇。
Remember, this is a condo building with granite countertops and brand new hardwood floors.
请记住，这是一栋配有花岗岩台面和全新硬木地板的公寓楼。
But Jen and Peter say that, underneath the surface, everything's fake.
但珍和彼得说，在表面之下，一切都是假的。
When they brought out an independent plumber about the sewage smell, this plumber informed them that the entire building's plumbing needed to be redone.
当他们请来一名独立水管工询问污水气味时，该水管工告诉他们整个建筑物的管道需要重做。
Part of the problem is that so much building and condo conversion was going on during the boom that the city of Chicago did not have enough inspectors to keep up.
部分问题在于，在繁荣时期进行了大量的建筑和公寓改造，以至于芝加哥市没有足够的检查人员来跟上。
And two residents in this building told me stories about the developer making cosmetic changes the day the inspector finally did show up and then ripping out the changes once he left.
这栋楼里的两名居民告诉我，在检查员最终出现的那天，开发商对外观进行了改动，然后在他离开后又把改动撕掉了。
And in the months after they moved in, residents went to the developer with a list of pretty urgent repairs, but by the spring of 2008, the developer stopped returning their phone calls.
搬进来后的几个月里，居民们带着一份相当紧急的维修清单去找开发商，但到了 2008 年春天，开发商就不再回复他们的电话了。
Then things deteriorated further.
然后事情进一步恶化。
In June, the electric company posted notices that the power was going to be shut off because of the developer's nonpayment of bills, then the water company did the same, then the garbage collection service.
6月，电力公司贴出通知称，由于开发商未缴纳电费，将停电，随后自来水公司也采取了同样的做法，然后是垃圾收集服务。
The insurance coverage for the building lapsed in July.
该建筑的保险于七月份失效。
And none of this, I learned, is unusual.
据我所知，这一切并不罕见。
So this-- do you want me to start?
那么这个——你想让我开始吗？
OK.
好的。
So this is a foreclosure.
所以这是止赎。
Boarded-up windows, boarded-up basement, boarded-up front door, empty, like, get it, foreclosure.
窗户用木板封住，地下室用木板封住，前门也用木板封住，空荡荡的，就像，明白了，丧失抵押品赎回权。
So here's another one.
这是另一个。
It's a two-flat.
这是一个两层公寓。
And here's another one.
这是另一张。
This is a for-sale-by-owner going into foreclosure.
这是业主出售的房屋，即将丧失抵押品赎回权。
Brian White, the executive director of a community group that deals with housing issues, called Lakeside Community Development Corporation, takes me on a driving tour of the neighborhood.
布莱恩·怀特（Brian White）是一个处理住房问题的社区团体（名为湖滨社区发展公司）的执行董事，他带我开车游览了这个社区。
Before the housing bubble, Rogers Park was 80% renters, a shabby neighborhood where students and seniors and young families could get an affordable place.
在房地产泡沫出现之前，罗杰斯公园 80% 都是租房者，这是一个破旧的社区，学生、老年人和年轻家庭可以在这里找到一个负担得起的地方。
Then developers threw a lot of money in, hoping that it would be the next gentrified neighborhood of Chicago's north side.
然后开发商投入了大量资金，希望它将成为芝加哥北区的下一个高档化社区。
A survey that Brian's group did back in 2006 showed that 15% of the housing stock, about 1,000 units, were being turned into condos, all at the same time.
Brian 的团队在 2006 年进行的一项调查显示，15% 的住房存量（约 1,000 套）同时被改造成公寓。
And it didn't work, partly because the developers were building for higher income people who simply did not want to move to corners like this one, at Touhy and Rogers.
但这并没有奏效，部分原因是开发商是为高收入人群建造的，他们根本不想搬到图伊和罗杰斯这样的角落。
So, this building that we're looking at right here, this is a project that's been sitting empty for three years.
所以，我们现在看到的这座建筑，是一个已经空置了三年的项目。
It was advertised as an 18-unit unit luxury condo property.
它被宣传为拥有 18 个单元的豪华公寓物业。
I noticed the air quotes around the word luxury.
我注意到“奢华”一词周围有空气引号。
Well, I mean, this is what I was going to say is one of the challenges.
嗯，我的意思是，这就是我要说的挑战之一。
Right across the street from this building is another building.
这栋大楼的街对面是另一栋大楼。
Seven of the nine units are in foreclosure.
九个单位中有七个丧失抵押品赎回权。
Directly next to that is a garage where they park ice cream trucks.
紧挨着的是一个车库，他们停放冰淇淋车。
It's a very beat-up building.
这是一座非常破旧的建筑。
Merely down the block from that are some two-flats that are pretty old.
距该街区不远的地方有一些相当旧的两套公寓。
If you're a consumer who has a luxury dollar to spend, chances are you're not going to be spending it at this particular intersection.
如果您是一位有大量奢侈品可供消费的消费者，那么您很可能不会在这个特定的十字路口消费。
And so, there's just a pattern of developers coming in and buying up buildings and all trying to market them as these luxury developments in a neighborhood that really is not a luxury neighborhood, and the building has failed.
因此，有一种模式是开发商进来购买建筑物，并试图将它们作为这些豪华开发项目在一个实际上不是豪华社区的社区进行营销，但该建筑失败了。
And now it's just--
现在只是——
Boarded up on the ground floor, broken windows, a little bit of graffiti.
一楼用木板封住，窗户破损，还有一些涂鸦。
And it's not--
而且这不是——
The city of Chicago and groups like Brian's tried to convince developers to include some moderately priced units in the mix.
芝加哥市和布莱恩的团体试图说服开发商在其中包括一些价格适中的单元。
And there were government subsidies available to help them do that.
并且有政府补贴可以帮助他们做到这一点。
But Brian says, understandably, people wanted to make a killing.
但布莱恩说，人们想大赚一笔，这是可以理解的。
Some had taken the money out of the stock market and put it into real estate during the boom, figuring that it was going to be more lucrative.
一些人在繁荣时期将资金从股票市场转移到房地产中，认为这会更有利可图。
And as a result, every block or two in Rogers Park today, we drive by uninhabited or barely habited buildings, with signs advertising brand new condos with depressingly similar lists of super deluxe amenities.
结果，如今，在罗杰斯公园的每一两个街区，我们都会开车经过无人居住或几乎无人居住的建筑物，标牌上写着全新公寓的广告牌，上面列出了令人沮丧的相似的超级豪华设施。
Yes, granite counters, stainless steel appliances.
是的，花岗岩柜台，不锈钢器具。
But it's the sexy on the outside, crappy on the inside kind of rehab work that also the associations are now struggling with.
但协会现在也正在努力解决这种外表性感、内部蹩脚的康复工作。
They bought for the granite countertops and the stainless steel.
他们购买了花岗岩台面和不锈钢。
Nobody bothered to check and see if the wiring and the plumbing was done properly, or if the foundation was intact.
没有人费心检查接线和管道是否正确，或者地基是否完好无损。
But that's pretty common.
但这很常见。
At the corner of Seeley and Birchwood, the sign advertises all the usual amenities, plus one more, a 42-inch plasma TV with each unit.
在 Seeley 和 Birchwood 的拐角处，标牌上标有所有常用设施，此外还有每间客房均配有 42 英寸等离子电视。
I don't know.
我不知道。
One of the things I've seen here as I walk around the neighborhood at nighttime, you can sometimes see when buildings-- you see the foreclosed buildings or the struggling buildings, because you'll have, like, a building where half the building is completely dark.
当我晚上在附近散步时，我在这里看到的一件事是，有时你可以看到建筑物 - 你看到丧失抵押品赎回权的建筑物或陷入困境的建筑物，因为你会看到一栋建筑物的一半完全黑暗。
And then there'll be, like, one unit where the light's on and there's a big plasma screen TV.
然后会有一个单位，灯亮着，还有一台大等离子电视。
And that's kind of the symbol of the lonely person.
这就是孤独者的象征。
He's got his plasma screen TV.
他有等离子电视。
He has no neighbors, but he's got his plasma screen, and he's there.
他没有邻居，但他有等离子屏幕，而且他就在那里。
But what difference does it make if I'm living in this building and I've got no neighbors and I'm just going to have to wait three or four years before anybody else moves in?
但是，如果我住在这栋楼里，没有邻居，而我只得等三四年才有其他人搬进来，那又有什么区别呢？
You're going to be dealing with things like frozen water pipes.
您将要处理诸如结冰的水管之类的问题。
You're going to be dealing with things like mold from moisture.
您将要处理诸如潮湿发霉之类的问题。
If there's heat left on and there's moisture in the apartment, it will start to spread mold.
如果公寓里还有暖气并且有湿气，霉菌就会开始传播。
You're going to be dealing with things like vermin.
你将要面对害虫之类的东西。
And then the other one, and the biggest one, is the difficulty raising the kind of cash to pay the water bill, the gas bill, the insurance costs, pay for the garbage to be hauled away.
然后另一个，也是最大的一个，是很难筹集到现金来支付水费、煤气费、保险费、支付要运走的垃圾的费用。
If there's no money coming in, you can't sustain those costs.
如果没有资金进来，你就无法维持这些成本。
And we have buildings now where you've got an individual unit owner who's paid the water bill, for example.
例如，我们现在有一些建筑物，其中有一个支付水费的个人业主。
Well, water bill on one building we were dealing with on the south side, she had a $3,000 water bill that she had to pay out of her own pocket to keep the water on, because there were no other unit owners to pay assessments to pay the water bill.
嗯，我们在南侧处理的一栋大楼的水费单，她有一张 3,000 美元的水费单，她必须自掏腰包才能维持供水，因为没有其他单位业主支付评估费来支付水费。
Wait, it was one person in a building with how much water?
等等，一个人在一栋大楼里，有多少水？
How many units?
有多少单位？
She had a eight-unit building.
她有一栋八单元的大楼。
The other units were all in foreclosure, and the developer had never paid the water bill.
其他单位都被取消抵押品赎回权，开发商也从未支付过水费。
So she was stuck paying the water bill for the entire building.
因此，她不得不支付整栋大楼的水费。
And in fact, most of that is starting to happen at 1633 W.
事实上，大部分情况是在 1633 W 开始发生的。
Farwell.
告别。
There's nobody to fix the building's roof, which they'd been told was brand-new when they moved in, but which leaks, ruining drywall in some units.
没有人来修理大楼的屋顶，他们搬进来时被告知屋顶是全新的，但屋顶漏水，毁坏了一些单元的干墙。
One estimate put the repair job at $56,000.
据估计，维修工作的成本为 56,000 美元。
There's no money to redo the building's plumbing.
没有钱重修大楼的管道系统。
There's no money to put in a buzzer and intercom system, or to pay the liens on the building from contractors who were never paid.
没有钱安装蜂鸣器和对讲系统，也没有钱支付从未收到付款的承包商对建筑物的留置权。
Those liens total at least $175,000.
这些留置权总计至少 175,000 美元。
Because this is a condo building, the way it's supposed to work is that all the condo owners pay each month into a maintenance and repair fund.
因为这是一栋公寓楼，所以它的运作方式应该是所有公寓业主每月支付维护和维修基金。
But there's a catch.
但有一个问题。
In Illinois, until 75% of the units are sold, that fund is controlled by the developer, the guy who disappeared.
在伊利诺伊州，在 75% 的单位售出之前，该基金由开发商（失踪的那个人）控制。
In this case, supposedly back to Bosnia.
在这种情况下，据说是回到波斯尼亚。
And all that money seems to be gone, too.
所有这些钱似乎也消失了。
Brian says this is not unusual.
布莱恩说这并不罕见。
It is so not unusual that a move is underway to change the laws to make it easier for condo owners to control that money.
正在采取行动修改法律以使公寓业主更容易控制这笔钱，这并不罕见。
Brian's take on all this, by the way, is very different from the real estate guy who lives at 1633 Farwell, Jon Miller.
顺便说一句，布莱恩对这一切的看法与住在法韦尔 1633 号的房地产专家乔恩·米勒 (Jon Miller) 截然不同。
Brian says that lots of developers have vanished.
布莱恩说，很多开发人员都消失了。
Well, some of them are still around, but a lot of them have disappeared.
好吧，其中一些仍然存在，但其中很多已经消失了。
And when people have fled, are you thinking that they fled and they're bankrupt and they've got nothing, or they fled and they're walking away with huge piles of money and defaulting on their buildings and just hoping nobody catches them?
当人们逃离时，你是否认为他们逃离了，他们破产了，他们一无所有，或者他们逃离了，他们带着一大笔钱走开，拖欠了他们的建筑物，只是希望没有人抓住他们？
The latter.
后者。
They walked away with big piles of money.
他们带着大笔钱走了。
We have people who bought properties with mortgages, took cash out from the mortgage by refinancing, or in some cases, took cash out at closing, and then went and bought property in other countries, where they are now wealthy people in those countries because they've left these foreclosures here.
我们有些人通过抵押贷款购买房产，通过再融资从抵押贷款中取出现金，或者在某些情况下，在成交时取出现金，然后去其他国家购买房产，他们现在是这些国家的富人，因为他们把这些丧失抵押品赎回权的房子留在了这里。
I tried to get the developer-- again, his name is Haso Meseljevic-- to come on the air and tell his side of the story.
我试图让开发商——他的名字是哈索·梅塞耶维奇——在节目中讲述他的故事。
He never answered at the phone number listed for him.
他从未接听为他列出的电话号码。
His son, Samel Meseljevic, who was his business partner in developing this particular building, is the one who said in a quick phone conversation that his father has moved back to Bosnia.
他的儿子萨梅尔·梅塞耶维奇 (Samel Meseljevic) 是他开发这座特殊建筑的商业伙伴，他在一次简短的电话交谈中表示，他的父亲已搬回波斯尼亚。
I repeatedly tried to get Samel to agree to a real conversation about what happened on tape.
我多次试图让萨梅尔同意就磁带上发生的事情进行真正的对话。
He invited me to his house, gave me his address, and then didn't show up.
他邀请我去他家，给了我他的地址，然后就没有出现。
When I tried to reschedule, he insisted that the next morning he was going to be going out of the country for a week, though he didn't seem to leave Chicago.
当我试图重新安排时间时，他坚持说第二天早上他要出国一周，尽管他似乎并没有离开芝加哥。
And I say that because he picked up his phone the next afternoon when I called.
我这么说是因为第二天下午我打电话时他拿起了电话。
One time that I raised the possibility of an interview, Samel simply hung up on me.
有一次我提出接受采访的可能性，萨梅尔直接挂断了我的电话。
The lawyer working for him and his dad, whose name is Hugh Howard, and who has a downtown office in Chicago on Monroe Street, didn't return calls.
为他和他父亲工作的律师名叫休·霍华德（Hugh Howard），在芝加哥市中心门罗街设有办公室，但没有回电话。
And once, when somebody in his office accidentally picked up the phone when I called and identified myself, that person hung up on me as well.
有一次，当我打电话并表明身份时，他办公室里的某个人不小心拿起了电话，那个人也挂断了我的电话。
All right, we are all here, so there are St. Patty's Day beers in the fridge and cupcakes for later.
好吧，我们都在这里，所以冰箱里有圣帕蒂节啤酒和纸杯蛋糕供稍后使用。
In a top-floor apartment, the five elected officers of the condo association, and a black-and-white cat named Checkers, are at the condo association's regular meeting.
在顶层公寓里，公寓协会的五名当选官员和一只名叫契克斯的黑白猫正在参加公寓协会的例会。
If this meeting is typical, I think it is safe to say that a year of trying to fix all the problems in this half-empty building is taking some very nice, very responsible people, and driving them all slowly crazy.
如果这次会议是典型的，我认为可以肯定地说，一年来试图解决这座半空建筑中所有问题的努力让一些非常友善、非常负责任的人慢慢变得疯狂。
They are in an impossible legal limbo.
他们处于不可能的法律困境中。
The bank was scheduled to finally foreclose on the developer's 19 units in March, and then the bank pushed it to April.
该银行原定于 3 月份最终取消开发商 19 个单位的赎回权，然后银行将其推迟到 4 月份。
And they'll probably push it back again and again.
他们可能会一次又一次地推迟它。
Banks don't want to take these properties onto their books, and they put it off as long as possible.
银行不想将这些财产记入账簿，所以他们会尽可能地推迟。
And it is only when the bank finally does foreclose that, from a legal perspective, these units will finally have an owner.
只有当银行最终取消赎回权时，从法律角度来看，这些单位才最终拥有所有者。
The owner will be the bank, and the building will be 100% sold, which means that this group will finally be a real condo association and will finally have the power to address their problems in the way that any normal condo association does.
业主将是银行，建筑物将100%出售，这意味着该团体最终将成为一个真正的公寓协会，并最终有权像任何正常公寓协会那样解决他们的问题。
They can make residents pay monthly fees and use those fees to do maintenance and repairs.
他们可以让居民每月支付费用，并用这些费用进行维护和修理。
And then the issue for them will be, will the bank, as owner of 19 units, kick in its share of the maintenance and repair fees like all the other owners?
那么他们面临的问题是，作为 19 个单位的所有者，银行是否会像所有其他所有者一样承担其维护和维修费用的份额？
Often it doesn't.
通常情况并非如此。
As you might imagine, the repairs, the legal complications, the money problems, the meetings, the worry of owning property in a half-empty building that is deteriorating and not insured, has taken its toll on everybody here, stressed them out.
正如你可能想象的那样，维修、法律复杂性、资金问题、会议，以及对拥有半空建筑的担忧，该建筑正在恶化且没有保险，这些都给这里的每个人带来了损失，给他们带来了压力。
Of course, they could walk away.
当然，他们也可以走开。
Jen and Peter, the couple with the sewage smell and the sinking floor, pay exactly the same to live here that they used to pay in rent, $1,100 a month.
Jen 和 Peter 这对散发着污水气味、地板下沉的夫妇住在这里，所支付的费用与他们以前支付的租金一模一样，每月 1,100 美元。
If they defaulted on their mortgage and moved out now, all they would lose is the $3,000 down that they paid back when they bought.
如果他们拖欠抵押贷款并现在搬出，他们所损失的只是买房时支付的 3,000 美元首付。
Jen would have bad credit for seven years, since her name is on the mortgage, but Peter wouldn't.
由于抵押贷款上有她的名字，珍妮将在七年内信用不良，但彼得不会。
But for now, they're staying put.
但目前，他们仍待在原地。
They've all been organizing and fighting for over a year now, and it's sort of become their identity.
他们已经组织起来并战斗了一年多，这已经成为他们的身份。
They see themselves as the responsible ones.
他们认为自己是负责任的人。
In a world of irresponsible developers and bankers, they're the people who won't renege on their obligations.
在一个充满不负责任的开发商和银行家的世界里，他们是不会违背自己义务的人。
It's now a point of pride.
现在这是一个值得骄傲的地方。
To me it's a very black-and-white situation, because I signed a contract, I have an ability to pay, and as long as there are blood in my veins I will do my part to honor my word.
对我来说，这是一个非常黑白分明的情况，因为我签了合同，我有能力支付，只要我的血管里还有血，我就会尽我所能兑现我的诺言。
On the other hand, Maria Hadden, who runs the condo association, says she sometimes wonders if it really matters if she defaults.
另一方面，公寓协会的负责人玛丽亚·哈登(Maria Hadden)表示，她有时想知道如果她违约是否真的很重要。
So she'd lose maybe $10,000 that she's put into her place, have bad credit for seven years.
因此，她可能会损失 10,000 美元，因为她已经有七年的不良信用了。
She could stop paying her mortgage for a few months, save up her cash, and then when she got kicked out, rent a nice place, cheap.
她可以停止支付抵押贷款几个月，存下现金，然后当她被赶出去时，租一个便宜的好地方。
Does it matter to you, your credit score?
您的信用评分对您来说重要吗？
No. Ira Glass So you could basically be out of here, wash your hands of this.
不，艾拉·格拉斯（Ira Glass）所以你基本上可以离开这里了，把手洗干净吧。
Instead of paying $1,800-something a month, you could be paying, like, $1,000 and have an incredibly beautiful apartment somewhere nearby.
您可以每月支付 1,000 美元，而不是每月支付 1,800 美元左右，然后在附近某处拥有一套非常漂亮的公寓。
Uh-huh, yeah.
嗯嗯，是的。
That's true.
这是真的。
Ira Glass So it doesn't really-- I don't understand how it makes so much sense to stay.
艾拉·格拉斯（Ira Glass）：所以，我不明白留下来有什么意义。
If I leave and foreclose, and then Jon leaves, and Jim and Rick leave, then the people that are left are left even more up a creek than they were before.
如果我离开并丧失抵押品赎回权，然后乔恩离开，吉姆和里克离开，那么剩下的人就会比以前更加陷入困境。
Right, then they're carrying the cost of the roof and they're carrying the cost of the buzzer system.
是的，那么他们承担屋顶的成本，他们承担蜂鸣器系统的成本。
Yeah, it becomes impossible.
是的，这变得不可能了。
It's kind of like we're in this together.
有点像我们在一起。
We're all going to do this or we're not going to do this at all, because it's not going to work unless we all do it.
我们都会这样做，或者我们根本不会这样做，因为除非我们都这样做，否则它不会起作用。
So it's kind of like staying here.
所以有点像住在这里。
Lately, the developer's family has tried to move some renters into the vacant units, to raise a little money, possibly to stall the bank from foreclosing.
最近，开发商的家族试图将一些租户搬进空置的单位，以筹集一点资金，可能会阻止银行取消抵押品赎回权。
True to form, one woman moved here from England in the middle of a Chicago winter to find her unit had no heat or hot water.
正如往常一样，一名妇女在芝加哥的隆冬从英国搬到这里，发现她的公寓没有暖气或热水。
Another renter, somebody on a Section 8 public housing voucher, was put into a unit which didn't even have a toilet.
另一名持有第 8 条公共住房券的租户被安置在一个连厕所都没有的单元里。
Coming up, real-life secret agents who work for the government and are out on the front lines to save our economy.
即将出现的是现实生活中为政府工作并在前线拯救我们经济的特工。
That's in a minute, from Chicago Public Radio and Public Radio International, when our program continues.
稍后，芝加哥公共广播电台和国际公共广播电台将继续我们的节目。
It's This American Life, I'm Ira Glass.
这就是美国生活，我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Each week on our show, we choose a theme and bring you different kinds of stories on that theme.
我们的节目每周都会选择一个主题，并为您带来有关该主题的不同类型的故事。
Today's show, scenes from the recession.
今天的节目，经济衰退的场景。
We've arrived at act two of our show.
我们已经到了演出的第二幕了。
Act two, Unbreaking the Bank.
第二幕，不破坏银行。
In an office park in Irvine, California, in a conference room with fluorescent lights, wheelie chairs, a whiteboard, something totally unrecession-like is taking place, new employee orientation.
在加利福尼亚州欧文市的一个办公园区里，在一间配有荧光灯、轮椅和白板的会议室里，正在发生一些完全不像经济衰退的事情——新员工入职培训。
OK, can I get everybody's attention again, please?
好的，我可以再次引起大家的注意吗？
32 new employees arranged in three long rows.
32名新员工排成三长排。
These are the FDIC's newest recruits.
这些是 FDIC 的最新员工。
The FDIC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, not only insures the money that you and I keep in the bank, it's also the agency that closes down banks when they fail.
FDIC（联邦存款保险公司）不仅为你我存放在银行的资金提供保险，而且还是在银行倒闭时关闭银行的机构。
Since banks fail almost every weekend now-- yes, a bank fails every weekend; and in fact, most weekends, lately it's two banks-- the FDIC needs help.
由于现在银行几乎每个周末都倒闭——是的，银行每个周末都倒闭；事实上，大多数周末，最近都是两家银行——联邦存款保险公司 (FDIC) 需要帮助。
These people here are only 32 of 600 people the agency is hiring for this regional office, 600 new agents to train about bank failures, 600 new computer accounts.
这些人只是该机构为该地区办事处雇用的 600 名员工中的 32 名，还包括 600 名新代理人，用于培训有关银行倒闭的问题，以及 600 个新计算机帐户。
Log in, and then on the left-hand side, type in no fear and hit ENTER.
登录，然后在左侧输入“不用担心”并按 ENTER 键。
Got that?
明白了吗？
No fear, then ENTER.
不用担心，然后输入。
The FDIC's mission is to ensure stability in the banking system.
FDIC 的使命是确保银行体系的稳定。
What that means, actually, when a bank fails, is something pretty dramatic.
事实上，当一家银行倒闭时，这意味着非常戏剧性的事情。
The government rolls in unannounced, shuts the bank down, and takes it over as a way to protect our deposits.
政府突然介入，关闭银行并接管它，以保护我们的存款。
The whole thing is planned like a SWAT team, if SWAT teams had accountants in them.
整个事情就像特警队一样计划，如果特警队里面有会计师的话。
And then reason that they do it this way is that if the public found out that the bank was failing before the government actually stepped in, people might pull their deposits out and cause a run on the bank.
他们这样做的原因是，如果公众在政府真正介入之前发现银行倒闭，人们可能会提取存款并引发银行挤兑。
Also, if the people working at the bank knew that the government was going to be seizing the bank, they might steal, they might destroy paperwork.
此外，如果银行工作人员知道政府将没收银行，他们可能会偷窃，他们可能会销毁文件。
The government believes that this is the best way to protect depositors, you and me.
政府认为这是保护储户、你和我的最佳方式。
This is Tom Murray, one of the FDIC bosses here.
我是汤姆·默里 (Tom Murray)，这里是 FDIC 的老板之一。
So, some of you may go to a bank closing this weekend.
所以，你们中的一些人可能会在本周末去一家关门的银行。
Don't tell your significant other where you're going or what you're doing.
不要告诉您的另一半您要去哪里或正在做什么。
Don't talk in a conversation that can be overheard.
不要在可能被偷听的谈话中说话。
Don't check in at the hotel and say, oh, well, I'm here for this event.
不要在酒店登记入住后说，哦，好吧，我是来参加这个活动的。
You are on a secret mission.
你正在执行一项秘密任务。
Today we take you on that secret mission, when the FDIC takes over.
今天，当 FDIC 接管时，我们将带您执行这项秘密任务。
Chana Jaffe-Walt talked to all kinds of people involved in one bank failure, a place called the Bank of Clark County in southwest Washington State.
查纳·贾菲-沃尔特与参与银行倒闭的各类人士进行了交谈，该银行倒闭的地方是华盛顿州西南部的克拉克县银行。
Long before most of the Bank of Clark County employees knew their bank was dead, the FDIC was planning its demise.
早在克拉克县银行的大多数员工知道他们的银行已经倒闭之前，FDIC 就已经在计划其倒闭了。
They'd been having meetings, contacting other banks in the region, trying to find one that would take over the Bank of Clark County's assets after it failed.
他们一直在开会，联系该地区的其他银行，试图找到一家能够在克拉克县银行破产后接管其资产的银行。
All of these negotiations were top secret.
所有这些谈判都是绝密的。
And then the time came.
然后时间到了。
Thursday, January 15, 2009, the operation begins.
2009 年 1 月 15 日星期四，手术开始。
80 FDIC agents pull into Vancouver, Washington.
80 名 FDIC 特工抵达华盛顿州温哥华。
Their rental cars are generic.
他们租的车很普通。
Their arrival times staggered.
他们的到达时间错开。
One by one, the agents check into the hotel, each quietly offering a fake name to the guy at the desk.
特工们一一入住酒店，每个人都悄悄地向前台的工作人员提供了一个假名字。
9:00 PM, the FDIC calls the CEO of another bank nearby, Umpqua Bank.
晚上 9:00，FDIC 给附近另一家银行 Umpqua 银行的首席执行官打电话。
Your bank, they tell him, has been selected to take over the Bank of Clark County.
他们告诉他，你的银行已被选中接管克拉克县银行。
You can't tell anyone.
你不能告诉任何人。
Come to a meeting tomorrow at noon.
明天中午来参加一个会议。
The FDIC will tell you everything you need to know.
FDIC 将告诉您需要了解的一切。
And so, Friday morning, the Bank of Clark County employees get up, go to work, turn on the lights and go about their day.
因此，周五早上，克拉克县银行的员工起床，去上班，打开灯，开始他们的一天。
And Ric Carey, a vice president from Umpqua Bank, sits down with the FDIC and begins to plan.
安普夸银行 (Umpqua Bank) 副行长里克·凯里 (Ric Carey) 与 FDIC 坐下来开始制定计划。
We actually met with the FDIC beginning at about 12:30 on Friday, and they were in a hotel, under a different name.
实际上，我们从周五中午 12:30 左右开始与 FDIC 会面，他们在一家酒店，但名字不同。
We made sure that there was no one from outside of our two organizations there.
我们确保那里没有我们两个组织之外的人。
It almost does.
几乎是这样。
They know what they're doing.
他们知道自己在做什么。
They've done this before.
他们以前就这么做过。
Quite a production.
相当有制作力。
My name is Todd Zalk, Bank of Clark County, the best community business bank, because we've changed the game in business banking.
我叫托德·扎尔克 (Todd Zalk)，克拉克县银行是最好的社区商业银行，因为我们改变了商业银行业务的游戏规则。
And we were winning.
我们赢了。
Often, when I would go to a networking meeting or event, I would introduce myself that way.
通常，当我参加社交会议或活动时，我会这样介绍自己。
Todd Zalk is what you call a team player, total bank loyalist to the end, beyond the end.
托德·扎尔克（Todd Zalk）就是所谓的团队合作者，是银行至死不渝的忠诚者。
Four weeks after the failure, Todd's still wearing his Bank of Clark County name tag.
失败四个星期后，托德仍然戴着他的克拉克县银行名牌。
still passing out his bank business cards, always with a warm handshake, constant eye contact, inserting your name whenever possible.
仍然分发他的银行名片，总是热情地握手，不断地目光接触，尽可能插入你的名字。
Friday, as Ric Carey snuck into the nondescript FDIC secret location, Todd was playing for the team.
周五，当里克·凯里潜入联邦存款保险公司（FDIC）这个不起眼的秘密地点时，托德正在为球队效力。
Most of the day I had spent out meeting with businesses.
一天的大部分时间我都在与企业会面。
I had a couple networking events, and then I came back to the bank, and--
我参加了几次社交活动，然后我回到银行，然后——
Wait, so you were still bringing business in that Friday.
等等，所以那个星期五你仍然带来了生意。
I actually was.
我确实是。
I had people that wanted to open accounts.
我有人想开立账户。
In fact, Chana, in the fourth quarter, I opened over 55 accounts for Bank of Clark County.
事实上，查纳，在第四季度，我为克拉克县银行开设了超过 55 个账户。
Todd and his coworkers had no idea the bank was about to be taken over.
托德和他的同事并不知道银行即将被接管。
He knew they were going through a rough time.
他知道他们正在经历一段艰难的时期。
Just last week the CEO had called a staff meeting about it.
就在上周，首席执行官召开了一次员工会议讨论此事。
But the CEO was clear.
但首席执行官很清楚。
Things were under control.
事情都在控制之中。
He used this analogy that we were the ship, and we've gone through a storm and that we were a little bit tattered, but we were still weathering it well, and that we maybe were taking on a little bit of water.
他用这样的比喻说，我们是一艘船，我们经历了一场风暴，我们有点破烂，但我们仍然很好地经受住了考验，而且我们可能吸收了一点水。
And we were looking for someone to maybe buy the bank, and had a few buyers that were very interested.
我们正在寻找可能收购这家银行的人，并且有一些买家非常感兴趣。
And within the next 60 days, we should know who the new face of the bank would be.
在接下来的 60 天内，我们应该知道银行的新面孔是谁。
So that's what I had thought.
这就是我的想法。
Many, many Bank of Clark County employees told me about the ship meeting.
很多很多克拉克县银行的员工告诉我关于船舶会议的事情。
Mostly it made sense to them.
大多数情况下，这对他们来说是有意义的。
The CEO said they were doing OK, they were doing OK.
首席执行官说他们做得很好，他们做得很好。
But in fact, things had been changing at the bank since 2005.
但事实上，自 2005 年以来，银行的情况就一直在发生变化。
That's when they went big into commercial and real estate loans.
就在那时，他们大举涉足商业和房地产贷款。
They were a young bank.
他们是一家年轻的银行。
They felt they had to be aggressive.
他们觉得自己必须积极进取。
And sometimes that meant making loans other banks wouldn't have made, loans that ended up killing them.
有时这意味着发放其他银行不会发放的贷款，而这些贷款最终会害死他们。
Washington State regulators audit every bank several times a year, and they noted the Bank of Clark County's declining health.
华盛顿州监管机构每年对每家银行进行多次审计，他们注意到克拉克县银行的健康状况每况愈下。
Its capital reserves were getting low, so low the bank was in danger of not being able to cover its debts and obligations.
其资本储备越来越低，以至于银行面临无法偿还债务和义务的危险。
And then, you know the story, housing prices dropped, developers couldn't make payments.
然后，你知道这个故事，房价下跌，开发商无法付款。
The story finally ends Friday, January 16, 5:01 PM.
故事终于在 1 月 16 日星期五下午 5:01 结束。
Two FDIC agents and a Washington State regulator enter the Bank of Clark County.
两名 FDIC 特工和一名华盛顿州监管机构进入克拉克县银行。
Casual, head straight for the CEO's office.
休闲一下，直奔首席执行官办公室。
There, behind closed doors, they deliver the news.
在那里，他们关起门来传递消息。
They tell him his bank is under-capitalized.
他们告诉他，他的银行资本不足。
It has failed.
它失败了。
5:03 PM, an agent positioned by the CEO's office door types this news into a BlackBerry.
下午 5:03，首席执行官办公室门口的一名特工将这条消息输入黑莓手机。
It's received by everyone on the FDIC takeover team.
FDIC 接管团队的每个人都收到了它。
5:05 PM, FDIC agents begin closing in on the bank.
下午 5:05，FDIC 特工开始逼近银行。
A few are already inside, quietly and discreetly securing the cash in the vaults.
一些人已经在里面，悄悄地、谨慎地保管着金库里的现金。
Todd Zalk, oblivious to all this, heads back into the office after a long day of work.
托德·扎克（Todd Zalk）对这一切浑然不觉，在结束一整天的工作后回到办公室。
I could tell that the mood at the bank seemed odd.
我看得出来银行里的气氛很奇怪。
And I thought, well, hmmm, I wonder if they found a buyer, and kind of people have heard, because I was gone most of the day.
我想，嗯，我想知道他们是否找到了买家，有些人已经听说了，因为我一天大部分时间都在外面。
And so, I went in and asked, and they said that there was going to be a meeting at 6 o'clock and that there might be an announcement as to who the buyer might be or what that would look like.
于是我进去询问，他们说六点会有一个会议，可能会宣布买家是谁或者会是什么样子。
Todd hung around, said hello to some customers, did some banking.
托德在附近闲逛，向一些顾客打招呼，也办理了一些银行业务。
By this time, it was quarter to 6:00, and I went up to someone that was an executive or senior vice president of the bank.
这时，时间已经到了 6:00 一刻，我去找银行的一位执行官或高级副总裁。
And I said, how are you doing?
我说，你好吗？
And they said, oh, I'm doing all right.
他们说，哦，我做得很好。
And I could tell something was going on and they didn't want to say.
我可以看出正在发生一些事情，但他们不想说。
And we looked across to the other side of the bank, and there was two employees adjusting pictures on the wall.
我们看向银行的另一边，有两名员工在调整墙上的照片。
And he looked over at that, and I saw his gaze go over to the wall, and so I looked over at the wall.
他看了看那儿，我看到他的目光转向了墙壁，所以我也看了看墙壁。
He kind of laughed and he said, wow, he says, that reminds me of adjusting the chairs on the Titanic before it sank.
他有点笑了，他说，哇，他说，这让我想起了泰坦尼克号沉没前调整椅子的经历。
And that really told me something was going down.
这确实告诉我有些事情正在恶化。
People started to gather, and there was just this real sense of this isn't good and we're not sure what it is, but it's not good.
人们开始聚集，真正感觉到这不好，我们不确定这是什么，但这不好。
Well, then it was probably very close, just a minute or two after 6 o'clock, and Mike Worthy, our CEO, came out, and he stood up and said, well, I've used the analogy that we were a ship that was taking on some water and we needed to pull up next to a bigger ship and see if they wouldn't take us on and our crew, and we thought we had a few buyers for that.
好吧，然后可能就很接近了，六点过一两分钟，我们的首席执行官迈克·沃西（Mike Worthy）出来了，他站起来说，好吧，我用了一个类比，我们是一艘正在进水的船，我们需要停在一艘更大的船旁边，看看他们是否不会接受我们和我们的船员，我们认为我们有一些买家。
But now the biggest ship that sails the seas has come alongside us and they are going to be taking us over, and that is essentially the federal government.
但现在海上航行的最大的船只已经与我们并肩而行，他们将接管我们，而这艘船本质上就是联邦政府。
I would like to introduce the State of Washington regulators.
我想介绍一下华盛顿州的监管机构。
And he sat down, and the State of Washington stood up and said, we are now taking possession of the bank, of all of its assets, and we are turning them over to the receivership of the FDIC.
他坐下来，华盛顿州站起来说，我们现在接管了这家银行及其所有资产，并将它们移交给 FDIC 接管。
6:03 PM, down the street from the bank, where he's been told by the FDIC to wait in his car, Ric Carey with Umpqua Bank hears his phone vibrate.
下午 6:03，安普夸银行的里克·凯里 (Ric Carey) 沿着银行的街道，联邦存款保险公司 (FDIC) 让他在车里等候，他听到手机震动了。
At that point in time, a signal was given to myself, and basically--
在那一刻，我向自己发出了一个信号，基本上——
What kind of a signal?
What kind of a signal?
Ric Carey It was an email.
里克·凯里 这是一封电子邮件。
What did the message say when you got it on your BlackBerry?
当您在黑莓手机上收到该消息时，消息内容是什么？
Oh, just, it's time.
哦，只是，时间到了。
Chana Joffe-Walt It's time.
查纳·乔夫-沃尔特 是时候了。
Yeah, it's time.
是的，是时候了。
Come in.
进来吧。
Chana Joffe-Walt 6:05, Ric gets out of the car and starts walking toward the bank.
Chana Joffe-Walt 6:05，Ric 下了车，开始朝银行走去。
Inside, a woman from the FDIC takes the stage.
里面，一位 FDIC 的女士上台。
She said, within the next 10 minutes there will be 80 FDIC employees coming into the bank.
她说，接下来的10分钟内将会有80名FDIC员工进入银行。
And I looked out there, and it was dark, so I couldn't really see, and then all these people, mostly in suits and professional clothing with attorney-type briefcases, started entering the bank, just flooding into the bank.
我向外望去，天很黑，所以我看不清，然后所有这些人，大多穿着西装和职业服装，带着律师型公文包，开始进入银行，就像潮水一样涌入银行。
And I was so awestruck at them coming in and so many of them coming into the bank that I turned around and looked over there and just kept watching them, and they just continued to come.
看到他们进来，这么多人进入银行，我感到非常敬畏，我转身看着那边，一直看着他们，他们就继续来。
I mean, 80?
我是说，80？
I mean, our bank had, like, 100 employees.
我的意思是，我们银行大约有 100 名员工。
And at this time, it was dark outside, and a flash flashed out in the parking lot.
而此时，外面天已经黑了，停车场里闪出了一道闪光。
The flash was The Columbian newspaper taking a picture for Saturday morning's front page news that the bank had failed.
闪光的是《哥伦比亚报》为周六上午的头版新闻拍摄的照片，报道该银行倒闭了。
All of this happened, Chana, in just a matter of minutes.
查娜，这一切都发生在短短几分钟内。
So, things are going through my mind like I just lost almost $25,000 worth of stock I bought four months ago in Bank of Clark County, in my bank.
所以，我的脑海中浮现出一些事情，就像我刚刚损失了四个月前在我的银行克拉克县银行购买的价值近 25,000 美元的股票。
I mean, I'm investing in my bank.
我的意思是，我正在投资我的银行。
And most of the employees were shareholders.
大多数员工都是股东。
And so, for me, there was a sense of, gosh, I think I just lost all my stock.
所以，对我来说，有一种感觉，天哪，我想我刚刚失去了所有的股票。
And I looked around the bank.
我环顾银行四周。
I saw some people crying.
我看到有些人在哭。
I saw some people with just a white face, blank stare on their face, just in shock.
只见一些人脸色惨白，一脸茫然，满脸震惊。
Some people had their hand on their face, just were like, I can't believe this, like, oh my gosh.
有些人把手放在脸上，就像，我不敢相信这一点，就像，天哪。
6:10 PM, Ric Carey from Umpqua Bank is introduced to the confused employees of the bank he now owns.
下午 6:10，安普夸银行的里克·凯里 (Ric Carey) 被介绍给他现在拥有的银行中困惑的员工。
They have a whole bunch of questions running through their heads.
他们脑子里闪过一大堆问题。
First among them, do we get to keep our jobs?
首先，我们能保住工作吗？
Ric can't answer that.
里克无法回答这个问题。
Umpqua will only need about 1/3 of the Clark County staff, people who actually deal with customers in the branches.
安普夸只需要克拉克县大约 1/3 的员工，这些人实际上是在分行与客户打交道。
Most of the support staff and administration will be let go.
大多数支持人员和行政人员将被解雇。
But it's too soon to let each person know whether he or she has a job.
但现在让每个人知道他或她是否有工作还为时过早。
Ric is put in charge of supervising a full-on manual hand count of all the bank's cash.
里克负责监督对银行所有现金进行全面手工清点。
A couple of his staff grab the cash and begin to count.
他的几个员工抓起现金并开始清点。
The Bank of Clark County people watch Umpqua.
克拉克县银行的人们关注着安普夸。
The FDIC watches them both.
FDIC 监视着他们俩。
This takes three hours.
This takes three hours.
Meanwhile, Bank of Clark County staff come up to Ric to introduce themselves, tell him how important they are at the bank.
与此同时，克拉克县银行的工作人员向里克进行自我介绍，告诉他他们在银行的重要性。
They're worried for their jobs.
他们担心自己的工作。
And Ric has other things on his mind.
里克心里还有其他事情。
He bought the bank from the FDIC for a pretty good price, and he only has to take the good parts, the insured deposits and the actual branch buildings.
他以相当优惠的价格从联邦存款保险公司手中买下了这家银行，而他只需要拿走好的部分、受保险的存款和实际的分行大楼。
The FDIC will keep all the bad stuff, the problem loans.
FDIC 将保留所有不良贷款、问题贷款。
But there's still a lot to think about.
但仍有很多事情需要思考。
You know, I have to be open in three days.
你知道，我必须在三天内开门。
What do I want that store to look like?
我希望那家商店是什么样子？
I remember that one of the first things we did that evening was contact their plants provider and make sure that they were arranged to have 25 large plants taken out of the facility.
我记得那天晚上我们做的第一件事就是联系他们的植物供应商，并确保他们安排好将 25 棵大型植物移出工厂。
We have a very clean operating environment at Umpqua, and plants aren't part of our MO, and so those were to be removed immediately.
我们在乌姆普夸有一个非常干净的操作环境，而且工厂不属于我们的 MO 的一部分，所以这些工厂要立即拆除。
And we were looking at signage.
我们正在看标牌。
So I basically was making a note of what signs that we needed to change, replace, how quickly we wanted to do that.
所以我基本上是在记下我们需要改变、替换哪些标志，以及我们想要多快做到这一点。
We wanted to make it look like Umpqua as quickly as possible.
我们希望尽快让它看起来像 Umpqua。
Meanwhile, FDIC agents have already secured the vaults and the cash.
与此同时，联邦存款保险公司的代理人已经保护了金库和现金。
They've grabbed a couple hard drives.
他们抢走了几个硬盘。
Now they need to inventory the entire bank.
现在他们需要盘点整个银行。
Every account needs to be transferred to Umpqua.
每个帐户都需要转移到 Umpqua。
The bank has to open its doors Tuesday morning.
该银行必须在周二早上开门营业。
Monday was Martin Luther King Day, bank holiday.
周一是马丁·路德·金日，银行假日。
To get all this done, the FDIC needs the Bank of Clark County staff to help them, to show them where the files are, who the customers are, how to get to the bathroom.
为了完成这一切，FDIC 需要克拉克县银行的工作人员帮助他们，向他们展示文件在哪里、客户是谁、如何去洗手间。
And so, at 6:15 PM, the FDIC makes an announcement: we need you all to sign in on this sheet of paper, everyone.
因此，下午 6:15，FDIC 宣布：我们需要大家在这张纸上签名。
As of right now, for the weekend, you're all temporary employees of the FDIC.
截至目前，周末你们都是 FDIC 的临时雇员。
We're going to need you to stay late tonight, work through the weekend.
我们需要你今晚加班到很晚，周末还要工作。
You will be paid for your time.
您将根据您的时间获得报酬。
We'll feed you.
我们会喂你。
We need your help.
我们需要你的帮助。
Ken Moody was vice president of information systems at the Bank of Clark County.
肯·穆迪 (Ken Moody) 是克拉克县银行信息系统副总裁。
Again, most of us were planning on leaving at the end of the day.
同样，我们大多数人都计划在一天结束时离开。
And so, after that announcement was made, we had phone calls to make, call our families.
因此，在宣布这一消息后，我们需要打电话给家人。
My daughter had a seventh birthday that we were going to go to.
我们要去参加我女儿的七岁生日。
Take your time.
慢慢来。
Ken Moody Sorry.
Ken Moody Sorry.
I didn't anticipate being this emotional about it.
我没想到我会如此情绪化。
Kind of silly.
Kind of silly.
6:20 PM, agents take over offices, storage rooms, hallways, any space available.
下午 6:20，特工接管办公室、储藏室、走廊以及任何可用空间。
They tape handmade signs to the doors, written on 8.5 x 11 sheets of printer paper, saying things like, audit, security, investigations.
他们将手工制作的标牌贴在门上，标牌写在 8.5 x 11 张打印纸上，上面写着审计、安全、调查等内容。
It's a little chaotic.
It's a little chaotic.
The FDIC moves room to room.
FDIC 将一个房间搬到另一个房间。
They go through files, transfer accounts, they change the website, they check the safe deposit boxes, make sure everything that's supposed to be in there is in there.
他们检查文件、转移账户、更改网站、检查保险箱，确保里面应该有的东西都在里面。
They go through desk drawers.
他们翻阅书桌抽屉。
They toss out bank letterhead.
他们扔掉银行抬头信纸。
Once agents have scanned a room for all critical information, they place a green dot on its door frame.
一旦特工扫描了房间的所有关键信息，他们就会在门框上放置一个绿点。
Then they take all that paperwork, all the hard drives, all the files, and the FDIC has to reconstruct the bank's entire balance sheet.
然后他们拿走所有的文书工作、所有的硬盘、所有的文件，FDIC 必须重建银行的整个资产负债表。
It has to know what it's selling to Umpqua, what's actually there.
它必须知道它向 Umpqua 出售了什么，那里实际有什么。
Any account with a balance up to $250,000 is fully insured by the FDIC.
任何余额不超过 250,000 美元的账户均由 FDIC 全额投保。
If the bank doesn't have the money to cover the balance, the government will pay it out.
如果银行没有足够的钱来支付余额，政府将支付。
But some people have more than $250,000, and there are business accounts and loans, and it gets complicated.
但有些人的资产超过25万美元，还有商业账户和贷款，这就变得复杂了。
Some is covered, some is not.
有些被覆盖，有些则没有。
The FDIC now sorts all that out.
FDIC 现在已经解决了这一切。
Things started happening very quickly and with what seemed to be a lot of precision.
事情开始发生得非常快，而且似乎非常精确。
6:25 PM, in the IT department, three agents approach Ken Moody, the IT guy.
下午 6:25，在 IT 部门，三名特工接近 IT 人员 Ken Moody。
They hand him a thumb drive.
他们递给他一个拇指驱动器。
Please plug this in, they say.
他们说，请插入这个。
It has all the software to change your computer systems over to Umpqua Bank.
它拥有将您的计算机系统更改为 Umpqua Bank 的所有软件。
That was kind of a fascinating part about it.
这是一个令人着迷的部分。
So it was almost like, on one hand, it's very sad, you have the death of a loved one.
所以，一方面，你所爱的人去世了，这是非常悲伤的。
But at the same time, it was like watching an autopsy being performed by a really skillful surgeon.
但与此同时，这就像观看一位非常熟练的外科医生进行尸检。
They just came in and just sliced and diced and broke the bank up into different pieces and threw them into different buckets and did it with great efficiency.
他们只是进来，把银行切成不同的块，然后把它们扔进不同的桶里，效率很高。
An autopsy of the work that you'd been doing.
对你所做的工作进行尸检。
Yeah.
是的。
Well, yeah, an autopsy of everything that we'd been creating over the last 10 years.
嗯，是的，对我们过去 10 年创造的一切进行剖析。
At the Bank of Clark County, everyone I talked to said this one thing about the FDIC that stuck with me, something you don't often hear about a government agency, that it did a really good job, that the agents were kind, courteous, and efficient.
在克拉克县银行，与我交谈过的每个人都说 FDIC 的一件事让我印象深刻，这是你在政府机构中不常听到的，它做得非常好，代理人友善、礼貌且高效。
In fact, everything is ordered, structured.
事实上，一切都是有序的、结构化的。
Everything, even how and when to grieve.
一切，甚至如何以及何时悲伤。
Here's Lisa Stapleton.
请听丽莎·斯泰普尔顿的报道。
She was an assistant loan officer with the bank.
她是该银行的助理信贷员。
So many of the people who came in from the FDIC got to where they were because they were part of a bank that failed.
许多从 FDIC 进来的人之所以能走到现在的位置，是因为他们是一家倒闭银行的一部分。
And they were all like, you know what?
他们都说，你知道吗？
We've been where you are, and we understand, and it's going to be fine.
我们经历过你现在的处境，我们理解，一切都会好起来的。
So they were really nice.
所以他们真的很好。
The Bank of Clark County had 100 employees and assets of $446 million, which, if you're not used to bank numbers, is a really small bank.
克拉克县银行拥有 100 名员工和 4.46 亿美元的资产，如果您不习惯银行数字，这只是一家非常小的银行。
But it took 80 FDIC agents, about 50 Bank of Clark County employees, and 100 Umpqua employees working around the clock for three days to take it over and have it reopened for business.
但 80 名 FDIC 特工、大约 50 名克拉克县银行员工和 100 名 Umpqua 员工昼夜不停地工作了三天，才接管了该店并重新开业。
Most of the largest banks in trouble right now, Citibank, Bank of America, are about 6,000 times the size of Bank of Clark County, not to mention much, much more complicated.
目前陷入困境的大多数最大银行，如花旗银行、美国银行，其规模大约是克拉克县银行的 6,000 倍，更不用说复杂得多了。
So the Secretary of Treasury's latest plan to save the banks does everything it can to avoid using this process on those big banks.
因此，财政部长拯救银行的最新计划竭尽全力避免对那些大银行使用这一程序。
When you do this to a little bank, it's called receivership.
当你对一家小银行这样做时，这就是所谓的破产管理。
When you do it to a big bank, people start to throw around the word nationalization.
当你对一家大银行这样做时，人们开始谈论国有化这个词。
Every week, FDIC agents get more experience taking over banks.
FDIC 代理人每周都会获得更多接管银行的经验。
In the 10 weeks since they took over the Bank of Clark County, 18 more banks have failed, bringing us to a grand total of 20 failures since the start of this year, before this weekend, that is, when most likely they'll add a few more to that list.
自他们接管克拉克县银行以来的 10 周内，又有 18 家银行倒闭，这使得今年年初以来，在本周末之前，总共有 20 家银行倒闭，也就是说，届时他们很可能会在名单上再增加几家银行。
Chana Joffe-Walt in Seattle.
查纳·乔夫-沃尔特 (Chana Joffe-Walt)，西雅图。
She's a regular contributor to the Planet Money podcast, which you can hear at npr.org/money.
她是 Planet Money 播客的定期撰稿人，您可以在 npr.org/money 上收听该播客。
Among the big chain stores that have gone out of business in this recession, Circuit City, the second biggest electronics store in the country, shutting down after 60 years.
在这次经济衰退中倒闭的大型连锁店中，美国第二大电子产品商店Circuit City在开业60年后倒闭。
Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune described the atmosphere in a Chicago Circuit City outlet the week before it shut down as funereal.
本月早些时候，《芝加哥论坛报》将芝加哥电路城一家商店关门前一周的气氛形容为葬礼。
Quote, "employees, wearing sullen faces, who, when asked if a display model Sony VAIO laptop missing nine keys is still $623.99, answer with a mechanical, leave me the hell alone, 'yep.'"
引用，“当被问及一台缺少 9 个按键的索尼 VAIO 笔记本电脑是否仍然售价 623.99 美元时，员工们都板着脸，用机械式的方式回答，别打扰我，‘是的。’”
It's not as if they object to helping, but they're also texting while ringing up customers at the checkout line.
他们并不是拒绝提供帮助，而是在结账处给顾客打电话时也发短信。
Because, really, what are they going to do?
因为，实际上，他们要做什么？
Fire them?
解雇他们？
The day after that was published in the paper, the reporter who wrote that story-- his name is Kevin Pang-- got an email from one of that store's employees.
报纸发表后的第二天，撰写这篇报道的记者——他的名字叫凯文·庞——收到了一封来自该商店一名员工的电子邮件。
First, let me say that I enjoyed your article.
首先，我想说我喜欢你的文章。
That's Jonathan Mullens.
那是乔纳森·马伦斯。
We invited him here to read his email.
我们邀请他来这里阅读他的电子邮件。
Second, there's a better-than-average chance that I am the leave-me-the-hell-alone-yep guy from your article.
其次，我很有可能是你文章中那个“别管我”的人。
Let me tell you why the morale in the store is the way that it is.
让我告诉你为什么店里的士气是这样的。
At this point, we all want it to be over with.
此时此刻，我们都希望一切能够结束。
I cannot name a single person here who wishes this hell to continue.
我在这里无法说出一个人希望这种地狱继续下去的人的名字。
Our attitude is a direct result of the customers who have come into the store during this liquidation.
我们的态度是这次清仓期间进店顾客的直接结果。
Many of them are rude and complain to us about everything.
他们中的许多人都很粗鲁，向我们抱怨一切。
Why does this cost so much?
为什么要花这么多钱？
Why isn't this discounted more?
为什么这个折扣不多呢？
That's all I get off?
这就是我下车的全部吗？
How much are you hiding in the back?
你在背后藏了多少？
I can get it cheaper at Best Buy.
我可以在百思买买到更便宜的东西。
If I hear that last one again, I might choke the person that says it.
如果我再听到最后一句话，我可能会把说这句话的人噎住。
I now view Circuit City as a sickly old relative who you just want to die so the suffering can stop and you don't have to deal with it anymore.
我现在将电路城视为一位体弱多病的老亲戚，你只想死掉他，这样痛苦就可以停止，你就不必再面对它了。
Again, I enjoyed your article and found the humor in it.
再次，我喜欢你的文章并发现其中的幽默。
We are not bad people here.
我们这里不是坏人。
We are just tired and beaten.
我们只是累了，被打败了。
34,000 people lost their jobs in the liquidation.
34,000人在清算中失业。
Some of them had worked at Circuit City for years.
他们中的一些人已在电路城工作多年。
In January, when the stores began selling off their last merchandise, the website Gizmodo invited Circuit City employees to write in and describe what it was like in the trenches of liquidation.
一月份，当商店开始出售最后一批商品时，Gizmodo 网站邀请 Circuit City 员工写信描述清算战壕中的情况。
Gizmodo published their emails in a story called, "Their Final Words as Grunts of Circuit City."
Gizmodo 在一篇名为“他们作为电路城咕噜声的最后话语”的报道中发布了他们的电子邮件。
And what you're going to hear now are excerpts from those dispatches, along with other emails that we solicited from Circuit City employees in stores around the country, Peoria, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania.
您现在将听到的是这些邮件的摘录，以及我们向全国各地（皮奥里亚、北卡罗来纳州、佛罗里达州、宾夕法尼亚州）Circuit City 商店员工征求的其他电子邮件。
The way that it worked is that special liquidation companies came in to run the stores during the last few weeks, to sell off the final merchandise, as much of it as possible, because the more money they brought in the door, the more they could pay off creditors and, not incidentally, the more profit the liquidation companies got to keep themselves.
它的运作方式是，在过去几周里，专门的清算公司进来经营商店，尽可能多地出售最终商品，因为他们带进来的钱越多，他们就能偿还债权人的钱就越多，而且清算公司为自己保留的利润也就越多，这并非偶然。
Which explains why one of the very first things they did in most stores was raise prices.
这就解释了为什么他们在大多数商店做的第一件事就是提高价格。
The day after we learned we were closing, a liquidator showed up at our store in Peoria.
在我们得知要关门的第二天，一位清算人出现在我们位于皮奥里亚的商店里。
His name was Chip.
他的名字叫奇普。
He worked for one of the liquidation companies, which meant he was in charge of our store now.
他在一家清算公司工作，这意味着他现在负责我们商店。
One of my coworkers would only refer to Chip as The A-hole, but to me he seemed like a decent enough guy.
我的一位同事只会称奇普为混蛋，但对我来说，他似乎是一个足够正派的人。
Then he gave us the new rules.
然后他给了我们新的规则。
First, on Sunday, most of our prices were being raised-- yes, I said raised-- to MSRP, manufacturer's suggested retail price.
首先，周日，我们的大部分价格都上调了——是的，我说上调了——至建议零售价，即制造商的建议零售价。
Most items would start off at 10% off MSRP.
大多数商品的起售价为建议零售价 10% 的折扣。
Also, we no longer accepted checks, the price guarantee was gone, all sales were final, and we would no longer take the Circuit City credit card.
此外，我们不再接受支票，价格保证消失，所有销售都是最终的，我们将不再接受电路城信用卡。
We had a huge influx of customers who'd been waiting for us to go under so that they could get the store closing prices, only to discover that the prices were now higher than they were before.
我们有大量顾客涌入，他们一直在等待我们倒闭，以便获得商店的收盘价，却发现现在的价格比以前更高。
The amazing thing is that it worked.
令人惊奇的是它起作用了。
People were buying things at a higher price than they would have before liquidation.
人们以比清算前更高的价格购买东西。
In the first three days of liquidation, we'd made more money than we had in a week.
在清算的前三天，我们赚的钱比一周赚的钱还多。
When the doors opened on the first day of liquidation, it was obvious that we were severely understaffed.
当清理的第一天开门时，很明显我们人手严重不足。
When customers complained that they couldn't find help, I explained that we weren't staffed for the rush because we'd only found out we were going out of business the day before.
当顾客抱怨找不到帮助时，我解释说我们没有配备足够的人员来应对高峰，因为我们前一天才发现我们要关门了。
That's why you're going out of business, one woman sneered.
这就是你要倒闭的原因，一位女士冷笑道。
You don't plan ahead.
你不提前计划。
"That's why you're going out of business" became the customers' mantra.
“这就是你要倒闭的原因”成为顾客的口头禅。
It never came after something intelligent like, "the one-price promise was one of the stupidest campaigns in the history of retail, and that's why you're going out of business." Or, "two years ago, your company laid off 3,400 seasoned employees for making too much money and replaced them with young and inexperienced people, and that's why you're going out of business."
它从来没有出现过诸如“一价承诺是零售业历史上最愚蠢的活动之一，这就是你倒闭的原因”之类的明智之举。或者，“两年前，你的公司因为赚太多钱而解雇了 3,400 名经验丰富的员工，并用缺乏经验的年轻人取代了他们，这就是你倒闭的原因。”
I was working loss prevention at the door one evening, and a guy came in and said, hey, has anyone found a wallet?
一天晚上，我在门口做防损工作，一个人进来说，嘿，有人找到钱包了吗？
I think I left it at the cart.
我想我把它落在购物车上了。
I haven't heard anything.
我什么也没听到。
Let me ask over the walkie.
让我用步话机问一下。
No, I'm sorry, we haven't found a wallet.
不，对不起，我们还没找到钱包。
He made a disgusted face and walked away, then turned and yelled, no wonder you guys are going out of business.
他一脸嫌弃地走开，然后转身大喊，难怪你们要倒闭了。
I yelled back, yes, sir, 34,000 people are losing their jobs because you lost your wallet.
我喊回去，是的，先生，有 34,000 人因为你丢了钱包而失业。
Thanks for clarifying.
感谢您的澄清。
I really don't know where all the anger comes from.
我真的不知道所有的愤怒从何而来。
I'm sorry I can't sell you a GPS for 70% off.
很抱歉我不能以 70% 的折扣向您出售 GPS。
I'm sorry we don't have any Wiis.
抱歉，我们没有 Wiis。
I'm sorry I can't sell you that flat screen TV for $300.
很抱歉我不能以 300 美元的价格卖给你那台平板电视。
I'm sorry I can't take your check or Circuit City credit card as a payment.
很抱歉，我无法接受您的支票或 Circuit City 信用卡付款。
I'm sorry.
对不起。
I was simply a car stereo installer.
我只是一名汽车音响安装工。
I'm doing the best I can to help you.
我正在尽我所能来帮助你。
If my best isn't enough, I'm sorry.
如果我的努力还不够，我很抱歉。
The best way to describe a liquidation sale is what I call anti-retail.
描述清算销售的最好方式就是我所说的反零售。
In regular retail, the more you sell and the better you do, the more likely you are to keep your job.
在常规零售业中，你销售的产品越多、做得越好，你保住工作的可能性就越大。
In anti-retail, the more you sell and the better you do, the faster you lose your job.
在反零售业中，你卖得越多、做得越好，你失去工作的速度就越快。
Store morale really started falling when we began emptying whole sections and roping them off with yellow caution tape, like at a CSI crime scene.
当我们开始清空整个区域并用黄色警示带将它们围起来时，商店的士气确实开始下降，就像在 CSI 犯罪现场一样。
But the mood hit an all-time low when we had to put up the big 10-days-to-close sign.
但当我们不得不举起距离收盘还有 10 天的大牌时，情绪跌至历史最低点。
At least then we could finally answer the customer's number-one question, when is your last day?
至少这样我们终于可以回答客户的第一个问题，你的最后一天是什么时候？
with, I'll be fired on Sunday, March 8.
我将于 3 月 8 日星期日被解雇。
Only a few weeks into liquidation, XM Radio cut the signal to our store.
清算仅几周后，XM Radio 就切断了我们商店的信号。
Without music the place was eerily quiet.
没有音乐，这个地方出奇的安静。
Then Canteen Vending pulled the soda and candy machines out of the break room.
然后，食堂自动售货机将汽水机和糖果机从休息室拉了出来。
One of the drivers told me that the company was afraid they wouldn't get their money.
一位司机告诉我，公司担心他们拿不到钱。
I'm not sure what that means since you have to put money in the machine before it gives you something.
我不确定这意味着什么，因为你必须先把钱存入机器，然后它才能给你一些东西。
I asked the driver what we were supposed to do now for soda, and he just shrugged his shoulders as he strapped the machine down for transport.
我问司机我们现在应该买苏打水做什么，他只是耸了耸肩，把机器绑起来准备运输。
Recruiters stopped by the store to advertise jobs.
招聘人员在商店停下来发布招聘广告。
There had been at least two Amway-like sales companies and three auto parts stores.
那里至少有两家类似安利的销售公司和三家汽车配件商店。
A coworker told me that he had an interview with one of these stores, and that they pay just slightly more than minimum wage.
一位同事告诉我，他曾面试过其中一家商店，他们支付的工资仅略高于最低工资。
Of course, the armed services had made their presence felt, too.
当然，武装部队也让人们感受到了他们的存在。
Anytime one of the younger kids sees someone in the store in full military dress, it's suddenly time for their break.
每当一个年幼的孩子看到商店里有人穿着全套军装时，他们就会突然休息一下。
Our liquidation manager puts on a good front of being nice, asking how our job applications are coming, and greeting us energetically when he sees us.
我们的清算经理装出一副和善的样子，询问我们的工作申请进展如何，一见到我们就热情地打招呼。
But he, just like everyone else, is looking out for himself.
但他和其他人一样，也在照顾自己。
Early in the liquidation process, he hinted that we would be allowed to stash things, hide stuff that we wanted to buy in the warehouse, until the last day, when we'd receive the best possible discount.
在清算过程的早期，他暗示我们将被允许在仓库里藏匿我们想买的东西，直到最后一天，那时我们会得到最好的折扣。
Customers also tried stashing things under our shelving to come back and dig up later.
顾客还尝试将东西藏在我们的架子下，以便稍后回来挖掘。
We searched weekly, often turning up new merchandise to put right back out for sale.
我们每周都会进行搜索，经常会发现新商品并立即重新出售。
The liquidation manager promised to look the other way for our stashed items, but a month later he reneged on the deal.
清算经理答应会另找我们藏匿的物品，但一个月后他食言了。
Incidentally, about a week before we closed, the newspaper reported that the liquidator, while working at our sister store, was arrested and charged with stealing merchandise.
顺便说一句，大约在我们关门前一周，报纸报道说，清算人在我们姐妹店工作时被捕，并被指控盗窃商品。
With two days left, we were down to 17 laptop computers, 33 CDs, eight cameras, and a few printers.
还剩两天，我们只剩下 17 台笔记本电脑、33 张 CD、八台相机和几台打印机。
Basically, everything in the store that wasn't nailed down, and some things that were, had or would be sold, including a case of tampons for the vending machine in the women's restroom and a 12-foot circular rug covered in Circuit City logos.
基本上，商店里所有没有确定的东西，以及一些已经出售、已经出售或将要出售的东西，包括女厕所自动售货机的一箱卫生棉条和一张覆盖有 Circuit City 标志的 12 英尺圆形地毯。
One of our associates was vacuuming when a customer walked up and offered to buy the vacuum right out of his hands.
我们的一位同事正在用吸尘器吸尘，这时一位顾客走上前来，主动提出从他手中购买吸尘器。
He was told to come back on the last day.
他被告知要在最后一天回来。
The employees were actually in a great mood.
员工们的心情其实很好。
We realized we made it to the end, and it was kind of a badge of honor to stick it out.
我们意识到我们坚持到了最后，坚持下去是一种荣誉徽章。
The liquidator bought us lunch and the customers were well-behaved and courteous.
清算人给我们买了午餐，顾客们表现得很好，很有礼貌。
The cashiers set up a tip jar at the register, and it was pretty full by the end of the day.
收银员在收银台设置了一个小费罐，到一天结束时它已经满了。
Too bad they didn't think of it sooner.
可惜他们没有早点想到这一点。
At 4:46 on March 8, the next-to-to-last cash register was closed.
3月8日凌晨4点46分，倒数第二个收银台关闭。
The only cashier still working was Brenda, the same person who had rung up Peoria's very first transaction when the store opened in 1994.
唯一仍在工作的收银员是布伦达 (Brenda)，他是皮奥里亚 1994 年商店开业时负责办理第一笔交易的人。
Brenda was one of the six people from our store, and one of 3,400 nationwide, who got terminated two years ago when the CEO, Phil Schoonover, got the bright idea that some of our experienced staff made too much money.
布伦达是我们商店的六名员工之一，也是全国 3,400 名员工之一，两年前，当首席执行官 Phil Schoonover 发现我们的一些经验丰富的员工赚了太多钱时，他们就被解雇了。
But she'd gotten permission from our manager to be there at the end.
但她最终得到了我们经理的许可去那里。
At 5:10, Brenda rang up our last sale, a single USB printer cable, originally priced at $33.99, sold for $2.16 including tax.
5点10分，布伦达挂起了我们最后一次促销的电话，一根USB打印机电缆，原价33.99美元，含税售价2.16美元。
Someone who watches way too much ER called out, call it, time of death, 5:11 PM.
有人看太多《急诊室》，喊道，死亡时间，下午 5 点 11 分。
Another associate and I read the closing instructions.
我和另一位同事阅读了结案说明。
We went through the store and cut off most of the breakers for power.
我们走遍了商店并切断了大部分电源断路器。
We cleaned up, clocked out for the last time, and went home.
我们收拾干净，最后一次打卡下班，然后回家了。
The next day, the store managers would make the final cash deposit and ship off any remaining merchandise.
第二天，商店经理将支付最后一笔现金押金，并运走所有剩余的商品。
They'd turn off all the lights, lock the door, and mail the last key off to corporate.
他们会关掉所有的灯，锁上门，然后将最后一把钥匙邮寄给公司。
Companies often motivate associates by telling them how one person can make a difference.
公司经常通过告诉员工如何做出改变来激励他们。
The closing of Circuit City shows how far from reality that truly is.
电路城的关闭表明这离现实有多远。
We busted our butts to make Circuit City store number 3167 a success, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter.
我们竭尽全力让 Circuit City 3167 号商店取得成功，但从长远来看，这并不重要。
It was like the corporate executives took us for a ride, then dropped us off in the middle of nowhere.
这就像公司高管带我们去兜风，然后把我们送到一个偏僻的地方。
Every bit of hard work that I did, every extended warranty that I sold, if I hadn't done any of that, I'd still be in the same position I am today.
我所做的每一点努力，我出售的每一份延长保修，如果我没有做这些，我仍然会处于今天的位置。
I'm out of a job, and there wasn't anything we could do about it.
我失业了，我们对此无能为力。
Those were all former Circuit City employees.
这些人都是电路城的前员工。
Only one of the five, James Armitage in Florida, has found another job.
五人中只有一个，佛罗里达州的詹姆斯·阿米蒂奇，找到了另一份工作。
Allen in North Carolina, the car stereo installer, is planning to go to school this summer to become either a nurse or an electrician.
北卡罗来纳州的艾伦是一名汽车音响安装工，他计划今年夏天上学，成为一名护士或电工。
People always need nurses and electricity, he wrote us.
“人们总是需要护士和电力，”他写信给我们。
John Gallagher, Chris Evans, and Jonathan Mullens are still looking.
约翰·加拉格尔、克里斯·埃文斯和乔纳森·马伦斯仍在寻找。
[RAP SONG] Starting lineup.
[RAP SONG]首发阵容。
D.
D .
Baxter, B.
巴克斯特，B.
Smith, J.
史密斯，J.
Milligan, baby.
米利根，宝贝。
4506, yeah.
4506 是的。
Where you go to get your gifts in time?
你去哪里及时领取礼物？
Circuit City up, Best Buy down.
电路城上涨，百思买下跌。
You want gifts?
你想要礼物吗？
Then you better come around.
那你最好过来一下。
Circuit City up, Best Buy down.
电路城上涨，百思买下跌。
Well, this song was actually written and performed by employees of Circuit City store number 4506 in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
嗯，这首歌实际上是由阿肯色州北小石城电路城 4506 号商店的员工创作和演唱的。
Our program was produced today by Robyn Semien and me, with Alex Blumberg, Jane Feltes, Sarah Koenig, Lisa Pollak, Alissa Shipp and Nancy Updike.
今天我们的节目由我和 Robyn Semien 以及 Alex Blumberg、Jane Feltes、Sarah Koenig、Lisa Pollak、Alissa Shipp 和 Nancy Updike 制作。
Our senior producer is Julie Snyder.
我们的高级制片人是朱莉·斯奈德。
Production help from Andy Dixon.
安迪·迪克森 (Andy Dixon) 提供制作帮助。
Seth Lind is our production manager.
塞思·林德 (Seth Lind) 是我们的生产经理。
Music help from Jessica Hopper.
杰西卡·霍珀的音乐帮助。
Dirt, dirt, you live on dirt.
泥土，泥土，你靠泥土生活。
Ho, ho, ho, ho.
嗬，嗬，嗬，嗬。
I'm Ira Glass, back next week with more stories of This American Life.
我是艾拉·格拉斯，下周回来，带来更多《美国生活》的故事。
This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
《This American Life》与 WBEZ Chicago 合作制作，并由 PRX 公共广播电台传送到各电台。