美国国家公共电台 NPR--2 former bartenders are glad they were a part of the Starlite Lounge

2 former bartenders are glad they were a part of the Starlite Lounge

Transcript¹

Albert Johnson and Donna Cuthbert came to StoryCorps to remember working New Year's Eve at the Starlite Lounge, a historic gay bar in Brooklyn, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Time now for StoryCorps. New Year's Eve is one of the busiest nights for bars across the country. Two former bartenders, Albert Johnson and Donna Cuthbert, came to StoryCorps to remember working the holiday at the Starlite Lounge, a historic gay bar in Brooklyn.

ALBERT JOHNSON: New Year's Eve - the best thing to do is go in party mode with the people. You know, setting up the bar and people coming in with noisemakers and the music and the - you know, the laughter. And you - you know, spilling drinks, picking them up. You know, you name it, it's all going on, and nobody really cares. And the only thing is it goes on sometimes till, like, 8 o'clock in the morning. And it's also kind of lonely. If you're by yourself and you're a bartender, it's like, you see all this hugging and kissing at midnight, and most of the time, bartenders know this, and we kind of, like, gather around each other. But working New Year's Day, oh, that is really heart wrenching². I think the most depressing day in the world for bartenders is New Year's Day. I do not like working because people may have gotten dumped. They just don't know what to do with this upcoming year. And you can see it in their eyes.

Now, we have to explain to the world what the Starlite was.

DONNA CUTHBERT: (Laughter).

JOHNSON: It's the Black gay version of Cheers.

CUTHBERT: Right.

JOHNSON: There was a family atmosphere there that was second to none. That jukebox had everything on there from Muddy Waters to Beyonce. It was the most welcoming place in the world. There were people that stayed there, and some of them never went home. There's this one story. Somebody had been cremated³, and they brought him to the Starlite...

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNSON: ...Before they were going to dump his ashes. Well, they all got drunk, and they didn't take the man home.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNSON: They were cleaning up the back storage area, and he was stuck back up on the shelf for about 15 years. But they found the family, and they returned - I don't even think they realized they had left the man there.

CUTHBERT: Oh, my goodness.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNSON: So that was a case of a party where the man did not want to go home. That's to show you that you could party in that place and just forget wherever you were. And I'm glad I got to be part of that.

CUTHBERT: Oh, I'm definitely glad I had that experience.

JOHNSON: As long as I live, will be those nine years standing⁴ behind that bar in the Starlite Lounge and the wonderful people and the infamous⁵ people that was on the other side.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORK IT OUT")

BEYONCE: (Singing) Break it down now. We got to work it out. We got to work it out.

MART?NEZ: That's former bartenders Albert Johnson and Donna Cuthbert remembering their days and nights pouring drinks at the Starlite Lounge in Brooklyn. Their StoryCorps conversation is archived at the Library of Congress.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORK IT OUT")

BEYONCE: (Singing) Yeah, blow your horn now.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 wrenching   

n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
• A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛，把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

3 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。