英語(yǔ)沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯Rude Awakening
Rude Awakening
I was driving late one night，alone．This was not easy，as two feet of snow lay on the road．The heck with what lane I was in；I was just trying to keep my car pointed forward．A guy behind me in a four－wheel－drive vehicle began flashing his headlights．I figured there must be some danger ahead or that something was wrong with my car．So I slowed down．He pulled up beside me and gestured as though he had something important to say．I stopped and rolled down the window on the passenger side．
“What are you，stupid？”he said，spitting his words into the crisp winter air．“Don’t you know how to use a turn signal1)？”Then he used a lot of curse2) words to characterize my driving，my heritage and my sexual history．He was still yelling when I rolled up my window and drove off．Rude people are taking over．You run into them more and more often，in more and more places．
Recently my friend Michele went on her first shopping expedition after breaking her ankle．There she was，balanced on crutches，looking through a rack of dresses．She felt so me pressure，then a push．A woman at the same rack3) was trying to nudge her out of the way．“Um，”Michele said，“I think there’s room for both of us here．”The woman glared at her and said，“Get out of my way unless you want your other leg broken．”Michele reported the incident to the store manager，pointing out that the store was about to lose a good customer on account of this bully．The manager said there was nothing she could do――not unless there was actual physical contact and a store employee witnessed4) it．“Rude people like that are just the type to sue，”she told Michele．
Rude people seize all the power．Normal，courteous5) people get none．This is what Michele and I concluded as we tried to think of a way to combat the bullies．We imagined laws against rudeness．We considered mandatory6) tranquilizer7) prescriptions for rude people．We envisioned support groups for the victims of rudeness．
Later I went to another friend’s house where a lot of neighborhood kids were playing．One was different――a rude person in training．For no apparent reason this nine－year－old kid kicked my friend’ s dog and made an obscene gesture at it．Then Katie，my three－year－old niece，gleefully8) plopped down in a seat．She didn’t know it was the rude kid’s seat．“Get up，”the boy said，“before I kick you too．”I wanted to scoop up Katie and carry her away．I wanted t o shield her forever from the generations of bullies her future held．But Katie straightened her back，folded her arms and looked the boy squarely in the eye．“You are rude，”she said．
The room went quiet．The boy retreated．
It’s a start．All together now：“You are rude．”
□by Jeanne Marie Laskas
喚醒粗魯?shù)娜?/span>
一天深夜，我獨(dú)自驅(qū)車(chē)行駛。路上積雪足有２英尺厚，十分難行。我只得努力使車(chē)向前行駛，也顧不得是哪個(gè)車(chē)道了。忽然，后面一輛車(chē)?yán)锏娜碎_(kāi)始向我閃前車(chē)燈。我猜想前面可能有危險(xiǎn)，或是我的車(chē)出了什么毛病，所以就放慢車(chē)速。那人將車(chē)開(kāi)到我旁邊，并向我打手勢(shì)，似乎有什么重要的事情要說(shuō)。我停下車(chē)，搖下客座旁的車(chē)窗。
“你怎么啦，蠢貨？”那人的叫罵聲回蕩在冬天冰冷的空氣里。“你難道不會(huì)用尾燈嗎？”緊接而來(lái)的又是一連串的污言穢語(yǔ)，罵我的駕車(chē)技術(shù)，罵我的祖宗八代，還把罵女人的臟話全都噴了出來(lái)。直到我搖上車(chē)窗，開(kāi)車(chē)離開(kāi)時(shí)他仍罵個(gè)不停。粗魯之風(fēng)在盛行。在越來(lái)越多的地方你會(huì)越來(lái)越經(jīng)常地碰到粗魯?shù)娜恕?/span>
前些天我的朋友米歇爾在她腳踝骨折后第一次去商店購(gòu)物。她拄著拐杖，在衣架前挑選衣服，她感覺(jué)被人擠了一下，緊接著又被推了一下。一個(gè)與她站在同一衣架邊的女人正想把她推開(kāi)。“嗯，”米歇爾說(shuō)道，“我想這兒足夠我們兩個(gè)人走的。”那女人瞪著她，說(shuō)道，“別擋著道，要不小心你另一條腿。”米歇爾把這事告訴了商店經(jīng)理，并說(shuō)明為了這個(gè)粗魯女人，商店可能會(huì)失去一位好顧客。而商店經(jīng)理說(shuō)，她也無(wú)能為力---除非有某個(gè)商店雇員親眼看到她們之間真有身體接觸。“對(duì)付像她這樣粗魯?shù)娜酥挥腥ネ对V，”她對(duì)米歇爾說(shuō)道。粗魯?shù)娜丝偸前缘榔廴耍t遜有禮的人卻無(wú)能為力。這就是我和米歇爾在思索如何對(duì)付這些粗魯?shù)娜酥蟮贸龅慕Y(jié)論。我們?cè)O(shè)想懲治魯莽之徒的法律條款。我們琢磨應(yīng)給他們開(kāi)些強(qiáng)制性的鎮(zhèn)靜藥方。我們甚至還設(shè)想有團(tuán)體聲援那些受到粗魯傷害的人們。
后來(lái)有一次我去另一位朋友家，這個(gè)社區(qū)的許多孩子正在那兒玩耍。其中一個(gè)卻與眾不同，正是個(gè)粗魯?shù)娜?。這個(gè)９歲的小孩無(wú)緣無(wú)故地朝我朋友的狗踢了一腳，而且還對(duì)著它做了個(gè)下流動(dòng)作。我３歲的侄女凱蒂正玩得高興，噗通一聲跌坐在一個(gè)座位上。她不知道這正是那粗魯孩子的座位。“快滾開(kāi)，要不我也要踢你了。”男孩說(shuō)。我當(dāng)時(shí)想立刻抱起凱蒂，帶她離開(kāi)。我真想保護(hù)她永遠(yuǎn)避開(kāi)將來(lái)代代會(huì)有的粗魯?shù)娜?。但凱蒂卻挺直胸，雙手交叉，眼睛直瞪瞪逼視著那個(gè)男孩。“你真粗魯。”她這樣說(shuō)道。
整個(gè)房間都靜了下來(lái)，男孩退縮了。
這是個(gè)開(kāi)端?，F(xiàn)在就是這句話：“你真粗魯。”
NOTE 注釋:
1. signal [5si^nl] n. 信號(hào)燈
2. curse [kE:s] n. 詛咒，惡罵
3. rack [rAk] n. 架
4. witness [5witnis] vt. 目擊, 為...作證
5. courteous [5kE:tjEs] adj. 有禮貌的, 謙恭的
6. mandatory [5mAndEtEri] adj. 命令的, 強(qiáng)制的
7. tranquilizer [5trANkwilaizE] n. 鎮(zhèn)定劑, 使鎮(zhèn)定的人或物
8. gleeful [5^li:fuli] adv. 愉快地
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