搶了幾個月廁紙以後，美國人總算不用搶廁紙了，然而又有一樣日常所需的東西因為短缺而被迫限量配給，把美國各地的銀行急得團團轉，那就是：硬幣。
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash
Just as supplies of toilet paper are finally getting back to normal, the coronavirus has triggered another shortage of something we typically take for granted: pocket change.
就在衛生紙供應總算恢復正常時，新冠肺炎疫情卻引發了另一種我們想當然的東西短缺：零錢。
Banks around the US are running low on nickels, dimes, quarters and even pennies. And the Federal Reserve, which supplies banks, has been forced to ration scarce supplies.
美國各地銀行的五分硬幣、十分硬幣、兩角五分硬幣甚至還有一分硬幣都出現短缺。給銀行供應貨幣的美聯儲被迫限額配給稀缺硬幣。
"It was just a surprise," said Gay Dempsey, who runs the Bank of Lincoln County in Tennessee, when she learned of the rationing order. "Nobody was expecting it."
美國田納西州林肯縣銀行的行長蓋伊·鄧普賽聽說配額令後表示：「真是讓人驚訝。沒有人料到會這樣。」
Dempsey's bank typically dispenses 400 to 500 rolls of pennies each week. Under the rationing order, her allotment was cut down to just 100 rolls, with similar cutbacks in nickels, dimes and quarters.
鄧普賽的銀行通常每周要發放400到500卷一分硬幣。在配額令下，她分配到的一分硬幣降到只有100卷，分配到的五分硬幣、十分硬幣和兩角五分硬幣也同樣減少了。
That spells trouble for Dempsey's business customers, who need the coins to stock cash registers all around Lincoln County, Tenn.
這對鄧普賽的企業客戶來說意味著麻煩，這些企業客戶需要硬幣來裝滿田納西州林肯縣各地店鋪的現金出納機。
"You think about all your grocery stores and convenience stores and a lot of people that still operate with cash," Dempsey said. "They have to have that just to make change."
鄧普賽說：「想想所有的雜貨店和便利店，還有許多仍然用現金交易的人們。他們需要有硬幣才能找錢。」
Rural banks in particular seem to be getting shortchanged, according to Colin Barrett, CEO of the Tennessee Bankers Association.
田納西州銀行家協會的執行長科林·巴瑞特說，鄉村銀行似乎尤其缺少零錢。
Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., sounded the alarm last week during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee.
上周田納西州共和黨參議員約翰·羅斯在眾議院金融服務委員會的一次聽證會上敲響了警鐘。
"My fear is that customers who use these banks will react very poorly," Rose said. "And I know that we all don't want to wake up to headlines in the near future such as 'Banks Out of Money.' "
「我擔心的是，這些銀行的客戶反應會很糟。我知道，大家都不想在不久的將來一早醒來，看到『銀行沒錢了』這種頭條新聞。」
The congressman warned that if businesses are unable to make exact change, they'll be forced to round up or round down, "in a time when pennies are the difference between profitability and loss."
這位參議員警告稱，如果企業無法精確找零，他們將被迫四捨五入，「這可是一個零頭能決定盈利還是虧損的時刻。」
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell assured Rose that the central bank is monitoring the situation closely.
美聯儲主席傑羅米·鮑威爾向羅斯保證，他表示央行正密切監控這個局面。
"We're working with the mint to increase supply, and we're working with the reserve banks to get that supply where it needs to be," Powell said. "So we think it's a temporary situation."
「我們正在和造幣廠合作增加供應，也在和聯邦儲備銀行合作，向需要的地方供應硬幣。所以我們認為這是個暫時的情況。」
The US Mint produced fewer coins than usual this spring in an effort to protect employees from infection. But the larger problem — as with many other pandemic shortages — is distribution.
為了保護員工不被病毒感染，美國造幣廠今年春天生產的硬幣比往常少。但是和疫情引發的許多其他短缺一樣，發放才是更大的問題。
During the lockdown, many automatic coin-sorting machines that people typically use to cash in loose change were off-limits. And with many businesses closed, unused coins piled up in darkened cash drawers, in pants pockets and on nightstands, even as banks went begging.
在封鎖期間，許多人們通常用來換零錢的硬幣自動分類機被禁止使用。由於許多商店都關門了，大量閒置的硬幣堆在黑暗的現金抽屜、褲子口袋和床頭櫃裡，而銀行卻在四處討要硬幣。
nightstand[natstnd]: n. 床頭幾，床頭櫃
"The flow of coins through the economy ... kind of stopped," Powell said.
鮑威爾說：「貫穿經濟的硬幣流通……幾乎停止了。」
The Fed chairman stressed that this clog in the financial plumbing should clear quickly, now that businesses are reopening, and that supplies of coins should soon be back to normal.
鮑威爾強調，如今企業正在重新開放，堵住的金融管道應該迅速清理，硬幣的供應應該迅速回歸正常。
In the meantime, Dempsey, the banker, has secured an emergency stash of coins from some of her business customers who run vending machines and laundromats.
與此同時，銀行行長鄧普賽已經從一些經營自動售貨機和自助洗衣店的企業客戶那裡獲得了一筆硬幣存貨來應急。
While a growing number of people rely on credit cards or smartphone apps for many transactions today, the coin crunch is a reminder that sometimes you just need change.
儘管越來越多的人依賴信用卡或智慧型手機應用來交易，這次硬幣告急提醒了人們，有時候你還是需要零錢。
"Cash is still king, I guess," Dempsey mused.
「現金仍然為王，我想，」鄧普賽沉思著說。
英文來源：美國國家公共電臺
翻譯&編輯：丹妮
來源：中國日報網