美国国家公共电台 NPR Texas Town's Fortunes Rise And Fall With Pump Jacks And Oil Prices

Texas Town's Fortunes Rise And Fall With Pump Jacks² And Oil Prices

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The middle class in America is constantly shifting and changing shape. Since the 1970s, it's shrunk decade by decade. We also know that income inequality is growing. Meanwhile, the middle class recently crossed an important line. For the first time since experts started keeping track, it is no longer a majority in America. This is The New Middle.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I think middle-class is you can pay your bills comfortably. You're steady.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Family of five fifty, 50,000...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Well, I always see it as someone who actually owns their own home.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: Yeah, being able to afford a place to live and pay your bills and enjoy life.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #4: The new middle is a two-plus income family with a side hustle³.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

We recently visited a place where the middle class has shrunk faster than almost anywhere else in the country. That's because so many people there have gotten richer. This is a boom⁴ bust⁵ town that reveals a complex picture of America's economic recovery.

We are on the wide open plains of West Texas, where you can see the horizon for 360 degrees interrupted only by the nodding up and down of pump jacks pulling oil up out of the earth. This is a town conveniently named Midland.

STEPHANIE SHELTON: Oh, so you want the big tour of Midland. You got 10 minutes?

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

Stephanie Shelton is a lifelong Midlander. She works at the community college, and she agreed to give us a quick spin through her home town.

SHELTON: You're going to take a right on Big Spring.

SHAPIRO: To get the hang of this place, you need to start in the middle of downtown where an electric billboard⁶ displays the essentials.

SHELTON: And I think the marquee is going to be right up here somewhere.

SHAPIRO: There's a Chase Bank here, and on the corner, there's a billboard that says the time, the temperature. It says, God bless Midland. And then it says, oil - 45.94 a barrel.

That number - the price of oil by the barrel - affects everything here - whether people in Midland have jobs, how much they pay in rent, whether waitresses make tips or not. And that number is also the reason the middle class here shrank so much since 2000. During the boom, people got rich.

SHELTON: At one point, there was a sign at McDonald's that said that they were starting new hires at, like, between $16 and $18 an hour.

SHAPIRO: What?

SHELTON: So...

SHAPIRO: At McDonald's - starting salary.

SHELTON: Yeah. I mean when McDonald's is hiring $16 an hour, you can imagine what dentists' offices are paying or hospital reception is paying or...

SHAPIRO: But what happens when the bust comes?

SHELTON: Then every - then you have vacancies⁷ everywhere. See; like, all these for sale signs now - you would have never seen that before. There's two on these corners right here.

SHAPIRO: We're going to show you a day in the life of Midland, and it's an unsteady moment to be here. Oil used to be above a hundred dollars a barrel. Now it's below 50. Some of the people who got rich in Midland are now spending down their savings⁸. Others have left. And some are hoping to use this downturn as a springboard when the next boom comes along.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What's this?

SHAPIRO: It's 8:00 a.m. We're at a daycare center where a dozen little kids are getting the jitters⁹ out before they sit down and start their lessons. Ed Mayberry and his wife run this center out of their home. He's also a pastor¹⁰ who used to minister to oil field workers. He told me what these guys would say when prices were at their highest.

ED MAYBERRY: Oh, Man, it was like, Man, we just came back from vacation in Hawaii, and we spent, you know, weeks there. And life is good. We just bought a new house and just got a new car - just a lot of material stuff.

SHAPIRO: Even with the cars and the vacations, Mayberry says people didn't seem happier overall.

MAYBERRY: Children were raised with dad kind of out the house most of the time, so moms were being overwhelmed¹¹ and even during the boom.

SHAPIRO: So you're saying even having more money (laughter) - I want to say more money, more problems (laughter).

MAYBERRY: More problems - yeah, absolutely. That's exactly right, yeah. I mean you see guys, men go to work at - I don't know - 3 in the morning and work weeks. There was more problems for sure.

SHAPIRO: He's seen what life is like when the middle class disappears, and it worries him.

MAYBERRY: I think we'll kind of destroy ourselves without the middle class, Man.

SHAPIRO: And at the same time, do you dream of getting out of the middle class even though you say the middle class is really important?

MAYBERRY: Absolutely, yeah, and the reason (laughter) - yeah, that's kind of ironic¹². But the reason is I think getting out of the middle class, you can tend to help the middle class a little bit more.

SHAPIRO: Mayberry and his wife have raised prices at their daycare center from 300 a month to $400 per kid. There's a waiting list, so they're hoping to move into a bigger space. And he's looking to buy a church where he can minister.

MAYBERRY: It's not to say that I'll be a millionaire next week or next year, but I feel the momentum¹³ is coming. And I feel like I'm kind of at the tipping point where all the momentum up until this point is kind of getting ready to tip me over.

SHAPIRO: In some ways, Midland's wild economic swings are nothing like the rest of the country. This boom-bust cycle is pretty extreme, but in other ways, the story of Midland is the story of the U.S. In the last decade, two-thirds of Americans who left middle class went up. They got rich. Only one-third who left the middle class sank down into poverty.

(CROSSTALK)

SHAPIRO: It's lunchtime at the Mulberry Cafe - burgers, soup, sandwiches, wine and beer on tap. The owner is also Midland's mayor, Jerry Morales.

JERRY MORALES: This one opens for breakfast, so I'll come have a cup of coffee, check on them and then go to the other restaurant, work the lunch crowd, shake hands - hello; how are you doing - and then bounce out of there, go do some city work.

SHAPIRO: This is his family's third restaurant in town, the newest. He says running any restaurant or any city can be challenging. But imagine trying to do it when the tax income and the population ricochet all over the place from one year to the next.

MORALES: It's scary. It's - you know, you really get nerve wracked trying to figure out, how are you going to set aside money for road infrastructure¹⁴, for example, when you get a report from your staff saying 30 percent of your roads are unrepairable? We need 112 million just to catch up that 30 percent and that - including - if we get another boom here in another - a year or maybe less and you have a 13 percent increase in your traffic, you're going to be challenged. You're - that's scary. So you're only going to get further behind.

SHAPIRO: He says as a restaurant owner, sales go up and down about 20 percent depending on the price of oil. Everyone finds creative ways to attract talent. The mayor closed his restaurants on Sundays, offered employees free meals, flexible hours and insurance. Other places offered free shuttles to and from work. But when oil prices fell, everything changed. Thomas Carney got laid off from his job in the oil fields.

THOMAS CARNEY: Well, I got six kids, lived in Midland for going on about 32 years.

SHAPIRO: If three years ago I'd asked you to describe your economic life, what would you say?

CARNEY: It was fun. It was fun - had all my bills paid, had things to do.

SHAPIRO: Last year his oldest daughter went to the Rose Bowl with her school marching band and played the flute¹⁵ in the parade. He wrote the $3,000 check and said, have fun - not this year.

CARNEY: I mean we cut all that out, and everybody's like, Man, that's your kid's stuff. I said, I understand that, and she understands that.

SHAPIRO: He figures he's got about eight more months of savings. He keeps applying for jobs, but nobody's hiring. If oil prices don't go back up soon, he'll leave town.

By mid-afternoon, the Texas sun is blazing¹⁶. Construction at the new amphitheater on the edge of town has stopped for the hottest hours of the day. The only movement is a pump jack¹ nearby, slowly drawing oil up from the earth. The company building this project is called Barbed Cross Construction. John Dunn is the CEO. He's 35, and about 10 years ago, he started the company doing handyman work by himself.

JOHN DUNN: And we probably did, oh, 150,000 that year me by myself and then to over - we're pushing around 5 million annually¹⁷ now in sales.

SHAPIRO: When he realized he had finally left the middle class for good, he gave his wife and kids a Caribbean cruise¹⁸. He says compared to other people in Midland, that is downright humble¹⁹.

DUNN: People spend stupid money around here.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter) What do you mean?

DUNN: I mean stupid money - I mean just the type of stuff. I mean we've done residential²⁰ remodels²¹ where they'll put a half a million dollars in a $400,000 house.

SHAPIRO: It's a cliche²² to call America the land of opportunity, and to many Americans, it feels like the phrase no longer rings true. But over the course of this day in Midland, opportunity and risk turned up everywhere.

With the sun low in the sky, we drove outside of town to meet Jesse Murillo and his wife, Megan Newman. They met in college at Cornell and moved here to the Texas plains.

JESSE MURILLO: And we first bought this property as nothing. It looked like that.

SHAPIRO: Just field and scrub²³ and...

MEGAN NEWMAN: Which is mesquite bushes and lots of tarantulas like you've seen on your drive in already.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

NEWMAN: Yeah, lots of brush and thorny²⁴ things.

SHAPIRO: They decided²⁵ to open Out West RV Park and wait for the next boom to hit. Right now about a third of the spaces are full, and they both work second jobs.

NEWMAN: We lived out here for almost three months without water and without electricity...

CORNISH: Seriously.

NEWMAN: ...Living in our RV while we waited for the electric company to finally plug us in. And it was a challenge. You know, it kind of tests your grit²⁶.

SHAPIRO: Both of them grew up poor. Megan's mother emigrated²⁷ from Poland.

NEWMAN: She came over on a boat all by herself. She was 19 years old. How much courage does that take?

SHAPIRO: And Jesse's family has roots in Mexico.

MURILLO: At a certain point, we bounced around from family member to family member. They would feed us dinner because we just didn't have any food. I remember - I'm getting so choked up here. I remember one year our bunk²⁸ bed broke, and we didn't have enough money to replace it. So we slept on the floor.

SHAPIRO: Now with their Ivy²⁹ League degrees, they could have gone into banking³⁰ or consulting, but they wanted to build something of their own. They've already climbed out of poverty to enter the middle class. They hope that with the next boom, they catch a wave that will carry them even higher.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 jacks   

n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃

参考例句：

• Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句

3 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。

4 boom   

n.隆隆声；vt.发隆隆声

参考例句：

• The country is having a great boom in industry.这个国家的工业正蓬勃发展。
• Boom!Boom!Boom!A series of explosions shook the valley.轰！轰！轰！一连串爆破声震撼山谷。

5 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

6 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

7 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 jitters   

n.pl.紧张(通常前面要有the)

参考例句：

• I always get the jitters before exams. 我考试前总是很紧张。
• The whole city had the jitters from the bombing. 全城居民都为轰炸而心神不宁。

10 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

11 overwhelmed   

[ overwhelm ]的过去式

参考例句：

• She was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt. 她感到愧疚难当。
• If (one was) overwhelmed by passion, it could lead to serious blunders. 当感情完全淹没理智时，就可能铸成大错。

12 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

13 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

15 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

16 blazing   

a.强烈的，燃烧的，炫目的

参考例句：

• A huge fire was blazing in the fireplace. 壁炉中火烧得正旺。
• a blazing hot day 大热天

17 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

18 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

19 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

20 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

21 remodels   

v.改变…的结构[形状]( remodel的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

22 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

23 scrub   

n.用力擦洗，矮树，渺小之物；v.用力擦洗

参考例句：

• I got paint on my hands and it won't scrub off.我手上沾上了油漆，擦不掉。
• The great plain was covered in scrub and small lifeless trees.浩瀚的平原覆盖着灌木和毫无生气的矮小树林。

24 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

25 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

26 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

27 emigrated   

移居国外( emigrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He's emigrated to the USA and gone completely native. 他已移居美国且完全成了美国人。
• He emigrated to Belgium. 他移民到比利时。

28 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

29 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

30 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。