Tim: Is it true that a single child can cost millions of dollars over a lifetime of spending on food, clothes, schools and hospital bills?
Sandy: Yeah. It’s pretty crazy. But do you know what’s even scarier? How about the fear of being unemployed? And that goes for anyone; parents, married couples, single college grads. Things are looking bleak with the financial crisis and all. Tim: Well, when you got pregnant, weren’t you afraid that you’d lose your job because the company has been struggling so much recently?
Sandy: Actually, quite the opposite. I was afraid, really afraid that our whole department was on the outs. So a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!
Tim: What do you mean?
Sandy: ①I mean I got pregnant on purpose, knowing the company was in the red.
Tim: Why on earth would you do that? What about that baby’s future? Sandy: What about my future? It’s a 3)calculated risk.
Tim: But how are the two different?
Sandy: ②Because the company can’t fire me unless it actually goes under.
Tim: Of course they can fire you. They can fire any of us.
Sandy: Not if I’m pregnant, they can’t.
Tim: Really?! So now that you’re pregnant, the company can’t fire you, even if they wanted to?
Sandy: Not unless they can prove 4)insolvency.
Tim: That certainly is an interesting 5)loophole in China’s labor law.
Sandy: I wouldn’t exactly call it a loophole. I’d call it leveling the scales, since women are pretty much second-class around the workplace, in terms of hours and salaries.
Tim: But does this financial strategy of getting knocked up actually work?
Sandy: Worked for me and millions of others. After all, we know how much it’s gonna cost to raise a baby, so a little job 6)assurance goes a long way.
Tim: Man, I wish I could get pregnant.
Sandy: Trust me, you don’t.
Tim: Why not?
Sandy: Well, the obvious pain and discomfort aside, the company still has the right to fire me as soon as I pop this little guy out.
Tim: That sucks. But, oh, wait, it’s a boy? Congratulations!
Sandy: Thanks. We were trying to keep it a secret, but I guess I let it slip.

Tim: Don’t worry. ③My lips are sealed. And thanks for 7)confiding in me about your—I guess I should call it a business plan. What did your 8)hubby think when you told him about your pregnancy strategy?
Sandy: He probably would’ve been against it, which is why I took a page out of the soap-opera handbook and stopped taking my birth control pills without telling him.
Tim: Oh! Wow. Well, I guess that’s just another secret I’ll have to keep.
Sandy: You better. Or, mark my words, I will take you down.
Tim: Good God, pregnant women are terrifying!
Sandy: You have no idea…
蒂姆:人的一輩子養一個孩子在衣、食、上學和醫療費用上要花費數百萬美元,這是真的嗎?
桑迪:嗯。這是很可怕的事。但是你知道什么更恐怖嗎?那害怕被解雇這件事呢?任何人都會有這樣的擔憂——為人父母的、(還未要小孩的)夫婦、單身的大學畢業生。在經濟危機下大家的境遇都很凄涼。
蒂姆:好吧,當你懷孕了,你不怕會丟了你的飯碗嗎?因為公司最近很不景氣。
桑迪:事實上,正好相反。我很害怕,真的害怕我們整個部門都被裁員。所以一個女人要做一個女人應該做的事!
蒂姆:你什么意思?
桑迪:我的意思是,我知道公司在虧損,所以我是故意懷孕的。
蒂姆:你究竟為什么這樣做?那個孩子的未來怎么辦?
桑迪:那么我的未來呢?這是一個可預料的風險。
蒂姆:但是(懷孕與不懷孕)有什么區別呢?
桑迪:因為這樣公司就不能解雇我,除非它真的破產了。
蒂姆:他們當然能解雇你。他們可以解雇我們任何一個人。
桑迪:如果我懷孕了,他們就不能這樣做。
蒂姆:真的嗎?!那么既然你現在懷孕了,公司即使想解雇你也不行?
桑迪:不行,除非他們能夠證明公司破產了。
蒂姆:這肯定是中國勞動法的一個有趣的漏洞。
桑迪:我不會管它叫漏洞。我會把它叫作等級的提升。因為在職場中,女性在工作時間和薪酬方面的待遇都是在次位的。
蒂姆:但是懷孕這樣的經濟策略真的有用嗎?
桑迪:對我和其他數百萬人都有用。畢竟,我們知道養一個孩子得用多少錢,所以保住工作才是長遠之計。……