VOA常速英语2018--干一行爱一行 清洁工以自己为豪

 Everybody would just come out just to talk to you.People would say, ‘Oh, good morning Angelo. Good morning, Eddie. You want a cup of coffee? You want lunch?’And the nuns¹ kissing us, too. We had nuns on our route². You know, I never had that before.

每个人都会过来跟你聊天。他们会说，早啊安吉洛。早啊埃迪。来杯咖啡啊？走啊，吃午饭去啊？就连修女也会亲吻我们。我们负责清理的道路上会有修女出现。之前我也没遇到过这种情况。

The younger guys would ask me, ‘How did you get that?’ It’s just a little good morning, have a nice weekend.Hey, you look great today. I could do 14 tons of garbage.I can’t lift a baby carriage off a step and carry it down? Or hold someone’s baby when they went to get their car? The garbage ain’t going nowhere. You know? The garbage will be there a half hour from now, an hour.So when you get it, you get it.

新来的年轻人会问我，你是怎么做到的？其实只是早上简单的一句问好，只是一句‘周末愉快哦’，只是一句‘哟，今天起色不错哦。’既然我能摆弄得了14吨垃圾，我就不能帮别人把台阶上的婴儿车抬下去吗？我就不能在别人取车经过我的路上抱抱他家孩子吗？垃圾还是那些垃圾。你懂我的意思吧？半小时后或者一小时后，会有新的垃圾需要清理。开窍只在一瞬间。

He made a statement³ one day that he does all the work and I do all the talking. It came out wrong. Look how he’s getting out of this, ‘It just came out wrong. I deserve⁴ it.

有一天，这个新来的年轻人跟我说，活儿都是他干的，而我只会耍嘴皮子。其实不是这样的，因为他的心态是这样的：‘事情怎么会这样。我是活该吧。’

When I first came on the job, there was one old timer I remember, Gordy Flow his name was.One day, he stopped the truck. He tells me, ‘Angelo, you look down this block first. See all the sidewalks are all crowded up with garbage?’ So I think nothing of it.My father always told me to respect my elders. I get to the end of the block, and he stops me again. ‘Get out the truck, look back. Nice and clean right? People could walk on the side walk. Guys can make deliveries⁵. Be proud of yourself.’

The day that people learned⁶ that you were going to retire, we went maybe a block or two blocks and six people came up to him saying,‘You’re crazy. What am I going to do when you leave?’I’m a little bit of a marshmallow anyway, but I never thought my last day would be so emotional⁷ for me.He’s crying. They’re crying. I am crying watching them cry.

我初来乍到的时候，有一位名叫高迪 弗洛(Gordy Flow)的老前辈。有一天，他停下手头开卡车的工作，对我说，‘安吉洛，你先俯视一下这片街区。看到人行道上堆满了垃圾吧？’我当时没在意他的话，因为我父亲总是告诉我要尊老。所以我就一直清理到那片街区的尽头，可他又叫住我。‘你从卡车上下来，往回看。是不是很干净漂亮？大家就可以在人行道上行走，快递员也可以送快递了。所以，你应该为自己的工作感到自豪。’

And I’ve been very lucky because he’s been the best partner I ever had.We used to try and take the same vacation and try to have the same day off.And I miss my partner. I feel the same way Eddie.I’ll be honest with you-- I miss it terribly, I’m like the little kid looking out the window now when I hear the truck.I think I could have done another 31 years.

等邻里街坊知道你要退休的那天，我们刚扫了大概一两个街区，就有六个人过来对他说，‘你这么好的人要是退休了，我该怎么办啊？’或许我有点煽情了，但我从来没想过我在任的最后一天会这么伤感。他哭了，邻里街坊们哭了，而我就在一旁一边看，一边跟着哭。

Everybody would just come out just to talk to you. People would say, Oh, good morning Angelo. Good morning, Eddie. You want a cup of coffee? You want lunch? And the nuns kissing us, too. We had nuns on our route. You know, I never had that before.

我很幸运能遇到这样难得的搭档。我们以前经常尽量同时期放假甚至同一天放假。我很想念他。我现在对你的感受也是如此，埃迪。说实话——我太想念跟你一起的日子，我现在每次听到卡车的声音，就像看向窗外的小孩儿。再干31年，我也没问题。

1 nuns   

n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns. 小尼姑之流是阿Q本来视如草芥的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Nuns are under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 修女须立誓保持清贫、贞洁、顺从。 来自辞典例句

2 route   

n.路径，途径，路线；vt.确定路线，按规定路线发送

参考例句：

• On the way home, we took an indirect route.回家的路上，我们绕了一个大圈。
• The plane did not fly the usual commercial route.飞机没有沿通常的商业航线飞。

3 statement   

n.陈述；声明；综述

参考例句：

• The government will put out a new statement tomorrow.政府将于明天发布一项新声明。
• Put down your statement in black and white.把你的话用白纸黑字写下来。

4 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。

5 deliveries   

投递( delivery的名词复数 )； [法律]（正式）交付； 分娩； 表演

参考例句：

• Deliveries of mail could be delayed because of cost-cutting. 由于削减成本，邮件的递送可能会延迟。
• We have developed rapid order processing to expedite deliveries to customers. 我们已创造了快速处理订单的方法以便迅速将货物送达顾客。

6 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

7 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。