Maine’s First Lady Takes Summertime Waitress Job to Pick Up Cash
By REUTERS

The wife of Maine’s governor has taken a summertime job as a waitress at a dockside restaurant catering to tourists to supplement the couple’s income.

The Maine governor’s salary is the lowest in the United States at $70,000 a year and Maine first lady Ann LePage said she is working at a seafood restaurant in Boothbay Harbor to put aside a little cash to buy a car.

“Oh honey, it’s all about the money,” she told local TV broadcaster WGME this week. On her Facebook page, she wrote on Monday: “Having a great time. Great food, great view, and great service!”

LePage, 58, who sports a T-shirt, jeans and an apron at work, said customers are often taken aback when they see her at the restaurant.

“People expect something different of you because of whom I am married to, the governor,” she told a customer in comments played by the broadcaster.

At a town hall event this month, Governor Paul LePage mentioned his wife’s job, saying she was following in the footsteps of their daughter who made about $28 an hour last year as a food server.

“She (my daughter) did so well that, my wife, the first lady, is waitressing this summer,” he said in a video played by the TV station. The governor’s office was not immediately available for comment.

The Republican governor has faced criticism for comments such as saying out-of-state drug dealers were coming to Maine and impregnating “white girls.” Critics called the comments racist, while LePage told reporters he had misspoken.

According to political website Ballotpedia, as of 2014, the top paid governor was in Pennsylvania with a yearly salary of $187,818.

7萬美元不夠用！最低年薪州長 夫人餐廳打工

美國緬因州長夫人暑假在一家招徠觀光客的碼頭餐廳當服務生，以貼補老公的收入。

緬因州長拿7萬美元（約新台幣228.9萬）年薪，在全美最低，而該州第一夫人安．勒佩奇 (Ann LePage)說，她在布茲灣港的海鮮餐廳打工，以存錢買車。

勒佩奇接受媒體訪問時說，她打工都是為了錢，並在臉書表示：「享受這個工作，美食、美景、服務周到！」

58歲的勒佩奇上班時穿運動衫、牛仔褲和圍裙，她說餐廳顧客認出她時，往往很驚訝，「因為我嫁給州長，大家對州長夫人有不同期待」。

本月召開市民大會時，州長勒佩奇提到太太在打工，他們的女兒去年也從事女侍工作，時薪28美元，「我女兒賺了不少錢，所以我太太今年夏天也當女侍」。全美拿最高薪的州長是賓州，2014年薪水接近19萬美元（約新台幣621.3萬）。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/06/25/us/25reuters-maine-governor.html

2016-06-27 世界日報 記者宋凌蘭