My colleague Tom came here three years before me. He works 12 hours a day washing pots and chopping vegetables, and his rent takes up half his salary—a single room nearby costs $1,100 now. Last week, his daughter had a fever, and he couldn’t even afford the $200 emergency room fee, so he had to bear it.
A gallon of milk at the supermarket went up to $4.50, and bread was nearly a dollar more expensive. We often shared orders for near-expiry frozen meals to fill our stomachs. But the TV kept saying the stock market was hitting new highs, and those wealthy people could live on a single meal for two months.
The most ironic thing is that my boss just bought a new car and told us, “We can’t raise wages during inflation.” On one hand, we worry about rent and food, while on the other hand, the top 10% of people account for nearly half of all consumption. Is this the so-called American dream? It’s just that some people are in heaven, while others are in the mud.
