Reader question:
Please explain this headline, with “out of reach” in particular (BenefitsPro.com, February 25, 2025): Homeownership, family, retirement out of reach for (American) employees, study finds.
My comments:
This is a study on the financial plight of American workers, many of whom are not making enough money to own a home, start a family or save for retirement.
To these workers or employees, those life goals are out of reach, i.e. unrealistic.
Here, buying a home, starting a family and saving for retirement are all likened to reaching for an apple on the dining table.
Say, you’re seated at the dining table and an apple is placed in the middle of the table. To reach for the apple, you extend your arm. That’s all. Easy to do.
But that’s only because the apple is placed within your reach and your reach is the distance within which you can stretch out your arm and touch something.
You can reach for the apple because it’s placed near, within your arm’s length. When it’s placed further on the table, then you won’t be able to reach for it without stretching your arm and shoulders a bit.
If it’s placed really far away from you, you have to stand up and move to the other side of the table in order to get it.
And when it’s placed that far off, the apple is literally out of reach – without standing up, the apple is not obtainable.
Out of, as in out of money. When you’re out of money, you don’t have any left. And when you’re out of money, anything that money can buy is out of your reach, figuratively speaking.
In other words, anything that money can buy becomes impossible.
See?
So, in our example, an employee’s life goals such as buying a home, starting a family and saving for retirement are likened to someone reaching for an apple that’s too far away.
In other words, these goals are unrealistic.
For American workers, owning a home, starting a family, saving for retirement, etc, such goals or dreams or opportunities are beyond their means, beyond their capabilities or circumstances.
Why is this happening?
Well, they’re not paid very well, to put it simply.
Broadly speaking, Americans are not doing well. America is not doing well.
More broadly speaking, this difficult situation is faced by perhaps not only American workers. Many workers in many countries have to deal with the same or similar problems, having trouble making ends meet.
These are hard times.
Well, let’s hope that times will get better somehow – and, hopefully, sometime soon.
Now, read a few media examples of things that are out or not out of reach in the figurative sense:
1. SpaceX founder Elon Musk made bold predictions about human life on Mars in a series of social media posts on Saturday.
Writing on X, Musk made the forecasts in response to a post by Bill Ackman promoting a “Make America Healthy Again” ad posted by Robert F. Kennedy’s former running mate Nicole Shanahan.
“Without our health and that of our children, we have nothing,” Ackman wrote. “And for those who care about our economy, national debt, and deficits, there is no more important initiative.”
Musk used Ackman’s tweet as a jumping-off point to discuss how colonizing Mars could improve humanity.
“The first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens,” Musk explained. “These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars.”
“If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years.”
The entrepreneur added that the idea of establishing a sustainable human settlement on Mars within two decades is not out of reach.
“Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years,” Musk continued. “Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet.”
- Elon Musk predicts crewed SpaceX flights to Mars by 2028, hopes for ‘self-sustaining city’ on planet, NYPost.com, September 8, 2024.
2. When we consider people who have had a positive impact on the world, we often think of those who have made grand gestures to improve the lives of others, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Greta Thunberg, or Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunately, that type of effort is out of reach for the average person.
However, O Organics would like to remind everyone that they can positively impact the world through small, consistent acts of kindness that add up over time. Much like how a small creek can create a valley over the years, we can change lives through small, consistent acts of kindness.
O Organics is dedicated to the well-being of all by nourishing people everywhere with delicious organic foods grown by producers who meet USDA-certified organic farming standards.
Upworthy’s Instagram page recently posted a touching example of everyday kindness. Meg Sullivan shared how her father, Tom, peeled oranges for her lunch just about every day from kindergarten through high school. But on the final day of her senior year of high school, he sent his 17-year-old daughter unpeeled oranges with a touching note about how she’d have to start peeling them for herself.
“It’s Time Baby Girl,” he wrote on a wikiHow printout on how to peel an orange with a drawing of himself crying. For the father, this daily ritual was about more than just making lunch; it was about showing that he cared by going the extra mile. “I could have put money on her lunch account,” Tom told Today.com. “But it’s one of those little things I thought was important, that she knows somebody’s taking the time to take care of her.”
The small, daily gesture taught Megan an essential lesson in kindness.
The post reminded people how their fathers’ small acts of kindness meant so much to them. “My dad peeled my oranges until I graduated high school, too. Now, I peel my daughter’s oranges and will for the next 7 plus years,” Katie wrote in the comments. “Love this. My dad peeled mine, too. When I moved out, he gave me an orange peeler gadget,” Mary added.
- Dad’s heartfelt lunch message shows how simple, everyday acts can change lives, UpWorthy.com, December 18, 2024.
3. A big rebuild is coming at Manchester City – and top of the list in the clear-out appears to be the injury-prone stalwarts who cannot hack modern-day soccer’s demanding schedule.
Pep Guardiola was very open Friday about the new “reality” facing City after his most challenging season at a club that has set new standards in the Premier League but is now staring at the end of a dynasty.
A record-extending fifth straight Premier League title is realistically out of reach. The dream of winning another Champions League is over after a two-legged humbling by Real Madrid before even the last 16.
Big changes, it seems, are now necessary.
“It’s so demanding,” the City manager said. “Teams are quicker, faster and stronger, and we cannot handle it right now.”
- Man City facing a rebuild after punishing season and some Guardiola stalwarts may head the clear-out, APNews.com, February 21, 2025.
本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。
About the author:
Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.
（作者：张欣）
