<p>I am trying to come up with a simple analogy to represent a 75% pay cut. You are making a salary that is only one quarter of what it was. i.e. going from a car (4 wheels) to a unicycle (1 wheel). Any ideas of representing a 75% reduction in a salary? The metaphor should represent 1/4 of the original package of 4/4.</p>
<p>$100 bucks for weekly groceries vrs. $25?</p>
<p>What audience are you hoping to address w/your argument?</p>
<p>Oh, how I understand - 1/4 - like 1/4 pizza?</p>
<p>I was going to suggest a 6-person family moving from a 4-bedroom home to a one-bedroom apartment? But that’re not really an “analogy” is it, since it’s a likely possibility with such a cut… :(</p>
<p>how bout having both legs and your right arm cut off? :(</p>
<p>Trying to fly a 747 with one engine…</p>
<p>It’s like Bank CEO trying to survive on $500,000 per year.</p>
<p>If it’s a teenaged girl who is the audience, explain it as shopping at J Crew twice a month to shopping at H&M once every two months. That worked for my daughter when all of a sudden I was home every day!</p>
<p>Sixteen years to get through high school?</p>
<p>Having food every 4th day. Like eating one day, skip eating for 3. That would work for majority of us anyway. And here we go with almost 75% of us being overweight anyway. Such a coincidence!!!</p>
<p>njcent: even in a “good” economy, JCrew twice a month would require me to take out a second mortgage haha…now H&M, I can even swing once a month…forever21 as well…</p>
<p>Who is the audience?</p>
<p>A two-tentacled octopus? :)</p>
<p>Like going from a life expectancy of 80 years to 20 years.</p>
<p>Like going from a $20 a week allowance (or, $100 a week) to $5 a week (or, to $25).</p>
<p>If you’re explaining it to high schoolers, that is.</p>
<p>Like what happens when a four lane super highway unexpectedly merges into a one lane road. Some of the traffic (spending) gets off the road altogether and some of it is stuck waiting for a long time.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your input. It’s for an adult audience. It’s an adult speaking about their wage reduction. The analogy is to cement an unforgettable image in the mind of the listeners.</p>
<p>The adult could also reference the fact that the new salary is the same as he was earning three years out of college, in 1976. Or whatever.</p>
<p>You might say, on the old salary you could buy a Big Mac, fries, and a drink. On the new salaray, just the fries.</p>
<p>The Beatles —> Ringo Starr</p>
<p>how about amount of oxygen in the air?</p>
<p>We can breathe less oxygen with training- some even climb high altitude without it- but it stresses the body and can cause irreperable damage</p>
<p>It’s like asking the barber for a trim and he agrees, only you walk out with a crew cut!</p>
<p>I agree with Hunt in Post #16. On the old salary, you’d work XXX hours and be able to buy a new car. On the new salary, you have to work (XXX times 4) to buy the same car.</p>