PBS高端访谈:眼神与一无所有的关系

JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally, another installment¹ of our weekly Brief But Spectacular. The Hospitality House has been offering support to homeless and poor residents of San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood since 1967. Its executive director, Joe Wilson, has been affiliated² with the organization for more than 35 years, and is uniquely qualified³ for the job.

JOE WILSON, Executive Director, Hospitality House: I have literally⁴ slept in gutters⁶ at night. I have gone to sleep at night on the street, in some cases hoping that morning wouldn't come. The coldness, the starkness⁷, the inhumanity of being on the street with nothing, without the security that four walls can bring, is a very debilitating⁸ experience. I was born in Mississippi, raised in Chicago, came out to California in the mid-'70s to attend college. I actually attended Stanford. I stopped out initially⁹ to care for my mother, who was ill, eventually dropped out after an extended illness, wound up exhausting savings¹⁰, no family support, no siblings¹¹, no friends. I found myself homeless on the streets of San Francisco. San Francisco has the incredible dichotomy of having some of the most expensive real estate in the world, and yet people living on the street. I do know that a momentary¹² glance, a touch, a smile, any evidence of human warmth makes a huge difference in people's lives. And it certainly made a huge difference in mine, when someone was willing to make eye contact with me, was willing to actually touch me as another human being. That had more value than a dollar. We don't expect people to do the things that they either don't know how to do or are uncomfortable with, but I think everyone can make eye contact with another person on the street. If you choose to give someone money in the street, that's fine. If you choose not to, that's still fine. I would hope that we could remind ourselves that it is the judgment¹³ and the harshness in our eyes that really make an imprint¹⁴ on those who have nothing. I remember a very powerful image for me personally was being afraid and embarrassed at the judgment the look in my mother's eyes, if she could have seen me sleeping on the streets, sleeping in you know a rain gutter⁵. That ultimately was, you know, served as motivation for me to get up from the street, to take that first tentative, unsure step forward, back toward the light. Eventually, in late 1982, I heard about Hospitality House's shelter. That was the beginning of a 35-year relationship that significantly changed the course of my life. The people who run the programs look like the people who utilize¹⁵ the programs.

We present better options, so that people can be encouraged to make better choices. And that's certainly true in my life. My mother is still alive. She has seen the light return to her son's eyes, and that has been both gratifying to her and immensely gratifying to me. My name is Joe Wilson. This is my Brief But Spectacular take on being homeless in America.

JUDY WOODRUFF: An uplifting story we needed to hear at the end of this week.

朱蒂·伍德拉夫：最后，我们的每周系列节目《简短也精彩》。自1967年以来，Hospitality House一直为旧金山Tenderloin社区的流浪者及贫困居民提供帮助。其执行董事乔·威尔逊35年多来，一直供职于该组织，对这项工作胜任有加。

乔·威尔逊，执行董事，Hospitality House：我晚上睡过排水沟。我曾夜宿街头，在某些情况下，希望清晨不要到来。周围没有墙壁遮挡，安全感无从谈起，身无分文，一无所有，走在街上，寒冷，严峻，残酷无情，这是一种非常无助的体验。我在密西西比州出生，在芝加哥长大，70年代中期，我来到了加利福尼亚州上大学。实际上我考入了斯坦福大学。而为照顾生病的母亲，我只能停课，而随着母亲病情拖长，我从最初的停课，变成了退学，而与此同时，家里的积蓄消耗殆尽，没有家人支持，没有兄弟姐妹，也没有朋友。走在旧金山的街道上，我发现自己无家可归。旧金山的贫富差距令人难以置信，这里卖着全世界最贵的房子，然而却还有人在街上流浪。我知道，瞬间的目光停留，一次触碰，一个微笑，以及任何人类的温暖，都会对我们的生活产生巨大的影响。当有人意愿与我目光相接，愿意真正地作为另一个人来触碰我，我真的感受到了巨大的不同。这比一美元更有价值。我们不期待人们会做出他们不知道如何去做的事情，也不期待他们会做出令他们感到不舒服的事情，但我想每个人都可以在街上与另一个人，完成短暂的目光接触。如果走在街上，你选择给别人钱，那可以。如果你选择不这样做，那也可以。我希望我们能够提醒自己，正是我们眼中的判断和严厉才真正在那些一无所有的人心里，留下印记。对我个人而言，我心中有一个非常强大的形象，那就是我的母亲，如果她能看到我夜宿街头，看到我躺在雨水沟里，我会对她眼中的判断感到害怕和尴尬。这最终成为，你知道，成为我从街上爬起来的动力，进行第一次尝试，不确定的前进，重回光明。最后，在1982年末，我听说了Hospitality House避难所。从此开始了与它长达35年的缘分，而这显著改变了我的生活方式。运行这个项目的人看起来像在利用这个项目。我们提供更好的选择，以鼓励人们做出更好的选择。这在我的生活中真实发生了。我母亲还活着。她已经看到儿子的眼中重新充满了阳光，这对她和我来说，都是令人满意的。我叫乔·威尔逊。这是我的《简短也精彩》，关于漂泊在美国。

朱蒂·伍德拉夫：这就是我们本周末的故事，令人振奋。

1 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

2 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

6 gutters   

（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地

参考例句：

• Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
• They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。

7 starkness   

参考例句：

• The starkness of their living conditions shocked him. 他们的生活条件一无所有，他感到十分震惊。
• I was struck by the starkness of my father's room. 我被父亲房间的简陋震惊了。

8 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

11 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

12 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

14 imprint   

n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记

参考例句：

• That dictionary is published under the Longman imprint.那本词典以朗曼公司的名义出版。
• Her speech left its imprint on me.她的演讲给我留下了深刻印象。

15 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。