早上好，东方君喊你晨读啦！

看到公交车上年轻人不给老人让座，

你是不是也会义愤填膺；

看到有人插队，

你是不是也会愤愤不平。

但如果车上人超多，

连落脚的地方都没有，

你是不是也会坐在老弱病残孕专座上岿然不动？对别人的品格品头论足总是轻而易举，

但每个人心底里的那点小虚伪，

只有自己清楚……

点击此处可听音频哦！

I admit it, I can get kind of righteous. I have confronted smokers who flick their cigarettes to the ground by picking up the butt and returning it to them, declaring, “I think you dropped something.” I have raised a modest ruckus (吵闹) or two when someone cuts in front of another in a checkout line. I will return junk mail with a “Refused—return to sender” scribbled on it, and though I know it does little good, I just don’t want to be the one to throw it in a landfill (垃圾填筑地).

I mean, if I don’t straighten out (整理) the world, who will?

我承认，我还算得上是个正直的人。当有人把抽完的香烟随手扔在地上时，我曾把烟头捡起来还给他们，告诉他们说：“我想你们掉东西了。”当排队结账，碰到有人插队时，我曾出头制止，与人发生过那么一两次小小的争吵。如果收到邮寄的广告宣传品等垃圾邮件，我会草草地写上“拒收——请退回发件人”，将邮件退回。我知道这么做毫无意义，但我只是不想成为那个把邮件扔进垃圾填埋场的人。 

我的意思是说，如果我不为社会维持秩序，那谁会呢？

It happened that I lived with my parents for a few months during a transition in my adult life. At the time, mother had arthritic (关节炎的) knees and knee replacement surgery was imminent. For years I’d watched as the pain in her legs grew worse and downright debilitating. It got to the point that even the most minor outing turned into an expedition that required judicious (明智而审慎的) planning.

成年后，我的生活经历了一个转折期。当时我恰巧与父母在一起住了几个月。那时，母亲的膝盖患有关节炎，做膝关节置换手术已是迫在眉睫的事情。多年来，我眼看着她腿部的疼痛越来越严重，把她的身体折磨得虚弱不堪。到了后来，即使只是出去很短的时间，也变成了像是要出门远行似的，一切都需要提前谨慎地计划好。

She finally broke down and got a handicapped parking card. Even a few yards made a lot of difference when she was trying to get somewhere, and being able to rely on convenient parking gave her a greater sense of independence and control of her life.

最终，她的身体还是垮掉了，政府发给了她一张残疾人士专用停车证。不管母亲想去哪里，几米远的路对她来说都意味着天壤之别。有了这张专用停车证，她能方便地停车，这让她感到自己更为独立，也更能掌控自己的生活。

And when the little blue placard (小牌) arrived in the mail, I immediately deputized myself in the name of truth and justice where parking was concerned. I was constantly on the lookout (警觉地注意着) for ne’er-do-wells (不负责任的人) using the specially designated spots when they oughtn’t. If a permit wasn’t visible, I’d ask to see it. Once I alerted a mall security guard when I spotted a scofflaw (藐视法律者). Yes, wherever honest parking was in peril, Mary Jo Pehl was there.

当这张小小的蓝色标牌寄到我家的时候，我立刻以真理与正义之名，授权自己代母亲处理与停车相关的事宜。我时常观察是否有不自觉的家伙把车停在了那些他们不应该使用的残疾人专用的指定停车位上。如果我没在他们的车上发现残疾人专用停车证，我就会要求他们拿出来给我看。有一次，我发现有人不按规定停车后，甚至还跑去通知了商场的保安人员。没错，哪里有不诚实的人把车停在了不该停的地方，哪里就有玛丽 ·乔·佩尔。

And then, I began hanging out with my mother. A lot. I would go with her just to be able to park close to whatever establishment we deigned to visit. During those few months I spent more time with her than I had in my whole life. I didn’t want to go to Costco (美国最大的连锁会员制仓储量贩店), I didn’t want to go to Over 55 Water Aerobics (有氧操), I didn’t want to go to Old County Buffet, but a secret thrill coursed through me when we’d pull up just a few feet from the door. I became sort of heady (令人兴奋的) with power. Yes, I was riding my mother’s incapacitated coattails (依靠与某成功人士的关系使自己达到成功).

之后，我开始陪母亲出门，而且非常频繁。我跟她一起去，只是为了能够把车停在离我们要惠顾的场所更近的地方。那几个月里，我与她在一起的时间比我有生以来陪她的时间加起来都长。其实，我并不想去“好市多超市”，我不想去“55岁以上人士水中健身操俱乐部”，我也不想去“老乡村自助餐馆”，但是每次当我们把车停在离店门只有几英尺的地方时，我总是感到内心一阵窃喜。这种手握特权的感觉让我有点得意忘形。是的，我就是在利用母亲的残疾行自己的方便。

One day she asked me to run to the drugstore

to pick up some medications. I played it cool (抑制住感情) but I couldn’t wait to park. Hopping in her car, I drove up to the strip mall (沿公路商业区) and breezily pulled into the sole handicapped-parking space where I hooked the placard on the rearview mirror (后视镜) and opened the door. At that moment, a car with a handicapped-parking card pulled in next to me.

一天，母亲让我去药店买点药。我表面上装得若无其事，其实心里早就迫不及待地想去享受停车特权了。我跳进她的汽车，开车来到了商业区，得意地把车停进了停车场里的残疾人专用停车位，把特殊停车证挂在了后视镜上，然后打开了车门。就在那时，一辆同样挂有残疾人停车证的汽车停在了我的旁边。

I froze. Humiliation and mortification set in. I, entirely able-bodied (体格健全的), was doing a bad, wrong thing. I tried to sneak out of the car. By this time the driver had come around to my side where I was overly casually trying to lock the door. One of his pant legs was loose from the knee down.

我当场僵住，顿时感到羞愧和狼狈。我四肢健全，但正在做的事却是错误和不道德的。我试图从车里偷偷溜下来。但此时，那位司机已经绕道来到了我这边。当时我正假装漫不经心地要把车门锁上，装得都有点过了。我注意到，他的一条裤腿从膝盖以下都是空荡荡的。

“Hi,” he said.

“So, what happened to you?” His tone was merely curious.

I’ve never been quick on my feet (机智的), and I said the only thing that came to mind.

“Had a baby.”

But it came out in a weird, tough-guy voice that startled 

me when I heard myself utter it. Actually the closest I’ve ever come to having a baby was being an aunt. I can barely tell a newborn from a freshly packaged chicken at the grocery store.

“你好。”他说。

“那么，你是哪儿出了问题？”听语气，他只是好奇而已。

我从来都不是个机敏的人，所以我把当时脑子里想到的唯一一个答案说了出来。

“刚生了孩子。”

但我听到自己的声音怪异、生硬，把自己都吓了一跳。事实上，到目前为止，我最接近“生孩子”的一件事不过是当了姨妈。我甚至都区分不出新生儿和杂货店里成包卖的新鲜鸡肉。

He looked at me quizzically (疑惑地).

“Big one,” I added gruffly (生硬地).

I was digging myself in deeper with a backhoe (反向铲), and I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. Another unnatural voice came out of me, one gratingly (刺耳地) and unnaturally perky (自信的).

他看着我，一脸疑惑。

“是个大个头。”我补充说，声音有些生硬。

我就像在挖坑自埋，越陷越深。我对此时的自己真是无比厌恶。这时我又听到一个很不自然的声音从我嘴里冒了出来，既刺耳难听又做作傲慢。

“And you?”

He’d been in a terrible car accident.

“I was lucky,” he said. “I only lost part of this leg.”

Again a voice I did not recognize took over. With a huge smile, I declared loudly, “Oh, wow!” As if that were the most exciting news I’d had that day.

“你呢？”

他告诉我他遭遇了一场可怕的车祸。

“我很幸运，”他说，“只失去了半条腿。”

又一次，一个我都不认识的声音接上了话茬。我咧嘴一笑，大声叫道：“哦，哇！”就好像这是我那天听到的最激动人心的消息。

We stood there, maybe hours, maybe seconds, looking at each other. I couldn’t walk into the store because I didn’t know how a new mother of a large baby should walk so as to warrant a handicapped parking spot.

我们就站在那儿，互相看着对方，可能站了几个小时，也可能只站了几秒种。我没法向药店走去，因为我不知道一个生了大个头宝宝的新妈妈应该怎么走路，才能有正当理由使用残疾人专用停车位。

At long last (终于) he shook my hand. “Nice talking to you—you take care of yourself,” he said and went on his way. I pretend-hobbled back into my mother’s car and sat and cried. I cried because of a stranger’s gentleness, I cried for his struggle, and I cried because I discovered I was just as rotten as everyone else.

终于，他握了握我的手。“很高兴和你聊天，好好照顾自己。”他说，然后径自离开。我假装一瘸一拐地重新钻进母亲的车子，坐下来，放声大哭。我哭，是因为一位陌生人的友善；我哭，是为他的奋斗；我哭，是因为我发现自己原来和其他人一样，只不过是一个卑劣的伪君子。