2007年NPR美国国家公共电台一月-Be Cool

Welcome to This I Believe, an NPR series presenting the personal philosophies of remarkable¹ men and women from all walks of life.
I believe in figuring out my own way to do things.
I believe in the power of numbers.
I believe in barbecue.
Well I believe in friendliness².
I believe in mankind.

This I believe, our 'This I Believe' essay this week comes from Philadelphia born Jazz bass³ player Christian⁴ McBride. McBride studied at Julia but left after a year to tour with trumpeter Roy Hagrow. He has accompanied hundreds of musicians from A* to Sting to Catholin Battle. Today he leads his own band. Here's our series curator, independent producer Jay Allison.

For many of our essays, belief acts as a kind of stabilizer in the frenzy⁵ of modern life, certainly true for Christian McBride. Modern life gets him heated-up and he finds relief in his personal credo. Here's Christian McBride with his essay for this I believe.

I believe people have become tighter, meaner and less tolerant than ever. I never remember people being so uncool. I don't remember people getting the 3rd degree because they decided⁶ to wear brown shoes instead of black. If you get too close to someone on the road, they wanna get out and shoot you for possibly hitting their car. What's wrong with these people?

I believe it pays to be cool. Most people in this day and age are always terribly stressed and hypersensitive to absolutely everything. They will age quickly. Cool people stay young for ever.

10 years ago cell phones were still a luxury. People still had land lines for their primary phone numbers. Remember when it was ok to have a dial-up. Now people don't even bother asking me for a home number anymore. Just because we are so busy , people don't even bother being at home anymore? Or is business so important that people need to get in touch with you upon demand. Didn't people survive just fine, not being contacted by their boss while having diner with their families? As for the Internet, it amazes me that when you walk into a Starbucks, it looks like compUSA with all the doggone laptops with people stressing out over whatever. When people need to work on stressful work-related issues on their laptops, they go to Starbucks to drink coffee. Me, on the other hand. I'm cool. Why do I know that? Because I sleep well at night and I work with people who apparently⁷ like to work with me.

Now let me make something very very clear. I am not always cool. I've had my meltdowns in life. Once I had a musician in my band, who was a little less than cool, he was flat out(completely) lazy. After 15 months of playing the same music, he never bothered to memorize it. Instead of pulling him aside and addressing the situation like a rational person would have done, I let him have it like I've never let anyone have it before. After it was over, I realized that I cleared the room . Everyone was so scared or annoyed that they just left. Well, lazy guy left the band and has never spoken to me ever again. I am sorry for that. I wish I could have that moment back but I can't. I can only learn from that and I try very hard not to have another meltdown ever.

Pleasing everyone doesn't always mean saying yes or that's great, or no problem. Sometimes you have to say the opposite, but with a clear, sensible and gracious tone. Being cool is not what you say or do, but how you say or do it. So I say, be cool, you'll see more , you'll learn more , you'll make better decisions, you'll be happier.

Christian McBride with his essay for This I Believe. McBride says that along with M. Davis,and Mahmoud Ali, the main influence on his guiding principle of coolness, is his grandfather.

He is ultra cool. My grandfather rules, man.

If you'd like to contribute an essay to our series or search through the thousands that have been submitted, visit our website npr.org.
For This I Believe, I am Jay Allison.

This I Believe is produced for NPR by This I Believe Incorporated and Atlantic Public Media. For more essays in the series, please visit npr.org/this I believe.

Support for NPR podcasts comes from Accura, featuring the completely redesigned 300 horsepower MDX. More information is available at accura.com.
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doggone
Damn
meltdown
An emotional breakdown
flat out
adv. Informal
1. In a direct manner; bluntly: told me the truth flat out.
2. At top speed: running flat out.

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

3 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。