714: Day at the Beach - This American Life
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00:00 00:00 Transcript Share This American Life Life Partners How to Listen Episodes Recommended About Overview Staff Announcements Fellowships Jobs Music Make Radio On The Road FAQ Submissions Merch Contact Us Our Other Shows Merch Follow Us Life Partners Subscribe to our newsletter Full episode Toggle Audio and Transcript Sync Transcript | Episode #714 | August 11, 2023 714: Day at the Beach Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard.
00:00 00:00 文字记录 分享此 美国生活 生活伙伴 如何收听 剧集 推荐 关于 概述 员工公告 奖学金 工作 音乐 在路上制作电台 常见问题解答 提交 商品 联系我们 我们的其他节目 商品 关注我们 生活伙伴 订阅我们的时事通讯 整集 切换音频和文字记录同步 文字记录 | 内容第 714 集 | 2023 年 8 月 11 日 714：海滩之日 注意：《美国生活》是为耳朵而制作的，旨在让人们听到。
If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page.
如果可以的话，我们强烈建议您收听音频，其中包括页面上没有的情感和重点。
Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
文字记录是使用语音识别软件和人工转录员结合生成的，可能包含错误。
Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
请在印刷版引用前检查相应的音频。
Prologue: Prologue Ira Glass Me, I'm not crazy about the beach.
序言：序言 Ira Glass Me，我对海滩并不着迷。
It's hard to think of a less comfortable place to read a book than flat on a blanket under the scorching sun.
很难想象还有比在烈日下平躺在毯子上读书更舒服的地方了。
Going in the waves-- totally fine for a little bit, but, like, all day?
在海浪中航行——一会儿完全没问题，但是，就像一整天？
And like many people over 40, I have no desire to ever be seen in a bathing suit by anyone ever for the rest of my life.
和许多 40 岁以上的人一样，我不想在余生中被任何人看到穿着泳衣。
But know how many times I've been to the beach this summer?
但你知道今年夏天我去过海滩多少次吗？
OK, there were two quickie day trips and a seven-day beach vacation.
好吧，有两次快速一日游和一次为期 7 天的海滩度假。
I don't like the beach, but, I've been.
我不喜欢海滩，但我曾经喜欢过。
A bunch.
一堆。
And why?
为什么？
Well, because people I love love the beach.
嗯，因为我爱的人都喜欢海滩。
Hating the beach during summer-- and I believe I can say this with authority from personal experience.
讨厌夏天的海滩——我相信我可以根据个人经验权威地说出这一点。
Hating the beach in summer is like being a Jew at Christmas.
讨厌夏天的海滩就像是圣诞节的犹太人一样。
You can try to sit it out, but it's just too big.
你可以试着把它放在外面，但它太大了。
At some point, you're going to drink some eggnog.
在某个时候，你会喝一些蛋酒。
And you know what?
你知道吗？
When I go to the beach, I try-- I really try-- to get into it, to have a nice time, to appreciate the waves, and the sand, and the heat.
当我去海滩时，我尝试——我真的尝试——融入其中，享受美好时光，欣赏海浪、沙滩和炎热。
And I think about the many hundreds and thousands of years that families have brought their kids to the water's edge to play pretty much exactly the same dumb way that we play in the sand and waves today.
我想到千百年来，家庭把孩子带到水边玩耍，就像我们今天在沙滩和海浪中玩耍一样愚蠢。
How many ways are there to do that anyway?
无论如何，有多少种方法可以做到这一点？
And you know, some people really love it so much.
你知道，有些人真的非常喜欢它。
A while back, here on our radio show, we also had this article about somebody like that.
不久前，在我们的广播节目中，我们也有一篇关于这样的人的文章。
At the time, he was a 66-year-old lifeguard who was suing New York state for age discrimination.
当时，他是一名 66 岁的救生员，正在起诉纽约州年龄歧视。
And I just want to pause on that for a second-- a 66-year-old lifeguard.
我只想暂停一下——一位 66 岁的救生员。
All of us here on our staff, we had no idea that could even exist.
我们所有的员工都不知道这种事可能存在。
We all thought lifeguarding is something you do when you're in high school, maybe a couple years after, into your 20s.
我们都认为救生员是你在高中时，也许几年后，到20多岁的时候做的事情。
Like, who's still lifeguarding at 66?
比如说，谁已经 66 岁了还在做救生员？
And then it was even more of a question when we realized that the lifeguard in the story, he has another job.
当我们意识到故事中的救生员还有另一份工作时，这就更成了一个问题。
He's a lawyer.
他是一名律师。
He's a working lawyer.
他是一名职业律师。
His name is Roy Lester.
他的名字叫罗伊·莱斯特。
He's a bankruptcy attorney.
他是一名破产律师。
He's got his own firm on Long Island.
他在长岛有自己的公司。
And then he lifeguards every weekend in the summer.
然后他在夏天的每个周末都担任救生员。
And can I just say, today on our program we have stories about people like him-- people who love the beach, not people like me.
我只能说，今天在我们的节目中，我们有关于像他这样的人的故事——热爱海滩的人，而不是像我这样的人。
From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life.
来自芝加哥 WBEZ 的《This American Life》。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
We prepared today a program to listen to with the sun beating down on you, the humidity through the roof, a show of people embracing the beach, people who are sons of the beach.
今天我们准备了一个节目，让您在阳光照耀下、屋顶上透着湿气、拥抱海滩的人们、海滩之子的表演中聆听。
And let's just get right to it with Act One.
让我们从第一幕开始吧。
Act One, the Grapes of Wrath.
第一幕，愤怒的葡萄。
So one of our producers, Dana Chivvis, she went out to Long Island and met that guy, Roy Lester, the 66-year-old attorney lifeguard who was suing New York state.
我们的制片人之一达纳·奇维斯 (Dana Chivvis) 去了长岛，遇到了罗伊·莱斯特 (Roy Lester)，他是一名 66 岁的律师救生员，正在起诉纽约州。
Basically the deal is that they tried to make him wear a Speedo.
基本上，他们试图让他穿 Speedo 泳衣。
He refused.
他拒绝了。
He lost his job.
他丢了工作。
Here's Dana.
这是达纳。
If you asked Roy, why are you still lifeguarding at 66, he barely understands the question.
如果你问罗伊，为什么 66 岁了还在做救生员，他几乎不明白这个问题。
It's so self-evident to him.
这对他来说是不言而喻的。
It's been his life since he was 16.
从他16岁开始，这就是他的生活。
He and his buddies were kings of the beach.
他和他的伙伴们是海滩之王。
He lived with other lifeguards.
他和其他救生员住在一起。
His best man at his wedding was a lifeguard.
他婚礼上的伴郎是一名救生员。
Their kids grew up playing together on the beach while they were on duty.
他们的孩子在他们值班时一起在海滩上玩耍长大。
He never wanted to leave this job.
他从来不想离开这份工作。
Even when he went to law school in California, he came back to lifeguard every summer.
即使他在加利福尼亚州读法学院，每年夏天他都会回来当救生员。
In law school, aren't you supposed to have an internship in a law firm or something like that?
在法学院，不是应该去律师事务所实习之类的吗？
You're supposed to.
你应该这样做。
Dana Chivvis Did you not do that?
达纳·奇维斯 你没这么做吗？
No, I did not do that.
不，我没有那样做。
I never took it quite that seriously.
我从来没有这么认真地对待过它。
The idea of giving up the summer was something I just couldn't do.
放弃暑假的想法是我做不到的。
He's not alone.
他并不孤单。
At Jones Beach, where he worked for 40 years, there are dozens of guys-- teachers, firemen, police-- who stayed with it into their 60s.
他在琼斯海滩工作了 40 年，这里有数十名员工——教师、消防员、警察——一直坚持到 60 多岁。
Lifeguarding at Jones Beach is such a thing that a former lifeguard made a film about it.
琼斯海滩的救生员是如此重要，以至于一位前救生员制作了一部关于它的电影。
It's called Jones Beach Boys.
它的名字叫琼斯海滩男孩。
Roy insisted I watch it.
罗伊坚持让我看。
I did.
我做到了。
It was awesome.
太棒了。
Here's my favorite song from it.
这是我最喜欢的歌曲。
[MUSIC PLAYING] Singer (SINGING) We're going for the rescue and getting to the victim.
[音乐播放] 歌手（唱歌）我们要去救援并找到受害者。
"We're going for the rescue and getting to the victim." I never really appreciated how thrilling lifeguarding is until Roy talked about rescues.
“我们要去救援并找到受害者。”直到罗伊谈到救援时，我才真正意识到救生员是多么令人兴奋。
We were sitting in his law office.
我们坐在他的律师事务所里。
The exhilaration of a good rescue is unlike anything you've ever had.
一次成功的救援所带来的兴奋感是您从未经历过的。
And you don't get that.
而你不明白这一点。
I sit here, and I shuffle papers.
我坐在这里，翻动文件。
I wouldn't call it exciting.
我不会称其为令人兴奋。
I wouldn't call it rewarding.
我不会称其为有益的。
But this is-- you're actually accomplishing something.
但这是——你实际上正在完成一些事情。
You're up there, and all of a sudden you're going out in the water, and the rest of world is behind you.
你在上面，突然间你就进入了水中，世界的其他部分都在你身后。
There's nothing else except between you getting from your stand to that victim.
除了从你的立场到那个受害者之间，没有其他任何事情。
That's the only thing, and it's great.
这是唯一的事情，而且很棒。
It's a great feeling.
这是一种很棒的感觉。
How many people do you think you've rescued in your career?
您认为您在您的职业生涯中拯救了多少人？
Yeah.
是的。
You have to remember, there were times we would have 40 rescues in an hour.
你必须记住，有时我们会在一小时内救援 40 人。
What?
什么？
Why?
为什么？
What?
什么？
Why?
为什么？
Roy Lester Because you have people that come down to Jones Beach who really don't know about swimming.
罗伊·莱斯特（Roy Lester）：因为有些来到琼斯海滩的人真的不知道游泳。
So-- especially when you have a current.
所以——尤其是当你有电流的时候。
And you can get a very strong current at Jones Beach.
在琼斯海滩您会遇到非常强劲的水流。
1,000 rescues, that's way more rescues than David Hasselhoff did on Baywatch.
1,000 次救援，这比大卫·哈塞尔霍夫 (David Hasselhoff) 在《海滩救护队》中的救援次数还要多。
I figure two rescues per episode, 10 years on the air, Roy would still beat him by 560 rescues.
我估计每集有两次救援，播出 10 年，罗伊仍然会以 560 次救援击败他。
Which is to say, Roy is one of the lifeguardiest lifeguards there is.
也就是说，罗伊是最有救生能力的救生员之一。
He had two wins at the national lifeguard competition.
他在全国救生员比赛中两次获胜。
He served as an expert lifeguard witness in court cases.
他在法庭案件中担任专业救生员证人。
And all was well in his happy lifeguarding world until the Speedo mishegoss began in 2007.
在 2007 年 Speedo mishegoss 开始之前，他快乐的救生世界一切都很顺利。
Here's what happened.
事情是这样的。
If you're a lifeguard at Jones Beach, you have to take a physical fitness test every year to prove that you're still able to do the job.
如果您是琼斯海滩的救生员，您必须每年进行体能测试，以证明您仍然能够胜任这项工作。
It includes a speed test in a pool.
它包括池中的速度测试。
You have to swim 100 yards in a minute 20, which is actually pretty fast.
你必须在20分钟内游100码，这实际上是相当快的。
A lot of these guys train all year for it.
很多人全年都在为此进行训练。
For 15 years, Roy took the swim test in his preferred swimsuit, a pair of jammers.
15 年来，罗伊一直穿着他最喜欢的泳衣（即泳裤）参加游泳测试。
They look like bike shorts without the butt cushion.
它们看起来就像没有屁股垫的自行车短裤。
If you're watching the Olympics right now, all the male swimmers are wearing them.
如果你现在正在观看奥运会，你会发现所有的男游泳运动员都穿着它们。
They're tight, and they go down to just above the knee.
它们很紧，长度刚好到膝盖上方。
But when Roy showed up for the test in 2007, he was told no jammers.
但当罗伊在 2007 年参加测试时，他被告知没有干扰器。
His bosses at the office of parks and recreation said, you can only do the test in one of the official Jones Beach lifeguard swimsuits, which means you have three choices-- board shorts, trunks, or Speedo.
他在公园和娱乐办公室的老板说，你只能穿着琼斯海滩官方救生员泳衣之一进行测试，这意味着你有三种选择——沙滩短裤、泳裤或 Speedo。
Board shorts and trunks are loose, so nobody really takes a swim test in them because they create more drag and slow you down.
沙滩裤和泳裤都很宽松，所以没有人真正穿着它们进行游泳测试，因为它们会产生更大的阻力并减慢你的速度。
So in effect, state officials were saying to Roy, you have to take the test in a Speedo.
因此，州官员实际上是在对罗伊说，你必须穿着 Speedo 参加测试。
Roy said, no way.
罗伊说，没办法。
I won't do it.
我不会这么做。
And he hasn't been a lifeguard at Jones Beach since.
从那以后他就不再担任琼斯海滩的救生员了。
It was one of those feelings like, am I making the right decision?
其中一种感觉就是，我做出了正确的决定吗？
I'm throwing away a 40-year career over a principle.
我为了一个原则而放弃了40年的职业生涯。
It was a difficult decision, a very difficult decision.
这是一个艰难的决定，一个非常艰难的决定。
A second.
一秒钟。
Dana Chivvis I really need to point out he would only have to wear the Speedo for the test, which lasts a minute and 20 seconds.
Dana Chivvis 我真的需要指出，他只需要穿着 Speedo 进行测试，测试持续 1 分 20 秒。
On the job, he'd wear board shorts.
在工作中，他会穿短裤。
Most of the lifeguards do, young and old.
大多数救生员都这样做，无论年轻还是年长。
Why not just put it on for the test, though?
为什么不直接戴上它进行测试呢？
Why didn't Rosa Parks just go to the back of the bus?
罗莎·帕克斯为什么不直接走到公交车后面呢？
There were plenty of seats.
有很多座位。
Of course, what Roy was fighting for is quite different from what Rosa Parks was fighting for.
当然，罗伊为之奋斗的目标与罗莎·帕克斯为之奋斗的目标截然不同。
But to Roy it's the principle of the thing, standing up to age discrimination.
但对罗伊来说，抵制年龄歧视才是事情的原则。
When I read about all this in The New York Times, I really didn't understand.
当我在《纽约时报》上读到这一切时，我真的不明白。
What's the connection between a Speedo and age discrimination?
Speedo 和年龄歧视之间有什么关系？
I've certainly seen older dudes in Speedos.
我当然见过穿着 Speedos 泳裤的老家伙。
So I went out and met Roy on a beach not far from his house in Long Island.
于是我出去，在距离罗伊长岛家不远的海滩上见到了他。
It was 6:45 in the morning.
当时是早上 6 点 45 分。
He was about to go for a mile swim before work.
他准备在上班前去游一英里泳。
So Roy, can you describe what you're wearing right now?
罗伊，你能描述一下你现在穿的是什么吗？
Well, it's a wetsuit.
嗯，这是一件潜水服。
It's a short-sleeve wetsuit.
这是一件短袖潜水服。
And I have my jammers on underneath.
我下面还穿着干扰裤。
Roy brought one of his official Jones Beach Speedos to the beach to show me.
罗伊（Roy）把他的一件官方琼斯海滩泳裤带到海滩上给我看。
Just describe it for me.
给我描述一下吧。
Roy Lester It's an exaggerated thong, for lack of a better word.
Roy Lester 这是一条夸张的丁字裤，找不到更好的词来形容。
But it's full coverage in the back.
但后面却是全覆盖。
So it's not quite a thong, right?
所以它不完全是丁字裤，对吧？
But to Roy and lots of guys, it might as well be a thong, which is why the Speedo has earned a stable of nicknames-- the weenie bikini, the dingaling sling, the Speed-don't, the banana hammock, the grape smuggler, the Miami meat tent, the Saint-Tropez truffle duffle, the scrote tote.
但对于 Roy 和很多人来说，它还不如一条丁字裤，这就是 Speedo 赢得了一系列绰号的原因——威尼比基尼、dingaling 吊带、Speed-don、香蕉吊床、葡萄走私者、迈阿密肉帐篷、圣特罗佩松露行李袋、scrote 手提包。
The reason the jammer is preferred by older lifeguards is that you're saying it's more discreet?
老年救生员更喜欢干扰器的原因是你说它更谨慎？
Yes.
是的。
Dana Chivvis Because it covers your thighs.
Dana Chivvis 因为它遮住了你的大腿。
I don't want to get graphic, but you're-- the word begins with B.
我不想说得更具体，但你——这个词以 B 开头。
Basically you're hanging out with the Speedo.
基本上你就是穿着 Speedo 出去玩的。
I get it now, I think.
我想我现在明白了。
Roy Lester And you don't really-- with the jammers, it's not like that.
罗伊·莱斯特（Roy Lester）：对于干扰器，情况并非如此。
There's like a little bit more of a roof over your house.
你的房子好像多了一点屋顶。
This is the nut of his argument.
这是他论点的核心。
Roy says once he passed 50, he felt self-conscious in a Speedo.
Roy 说，一旦他过了 50 岁，他就会在穿 Speedo 泳衣时感到不自在。
And nobody should have to feel self-conscious to get a job.
任何人都不应该为了找到工作而感到难为情。
So Roy refuses to put on the grape smuggler to take the swim test.
所以罗伊拒绝让葡萄走私犯参加游泳测试。
A few weeks later, there's another chance to take the test.
几周后，还有一次参加考试的机会。
He shows up, and this time he is wearing the official Speedo.
他出现了，这次他穿着官方的 Speedo。
He's just got it on over his jammers.
他刚刚把它套在干扰裤上。
He showed me a video of a conversation he recorded on the pool deck that day.
他给我看了一段他那天在泳池甲板上录制的谈话视频。
It was a little windy, so the sound isn't great.
风有点大，所以声音不太好。
But he's standing in front of Sue Giuliani, who was the director of Jones Beach State Park at the time.
但他站在当时的琼斯海滩州立公园馆长苏朱利安尼面前。
And there he is in his jammers plus Speedo outfit, challenging her to turn him away.
他穿着及膝泳裤和 Speedo 泳衣，挑战她把他拒之门外。
I've made a compromise.
我已经做出了妥协。
Sue Giuliani That's not going to be acceptable.
苏·朱利安尼：这是不可接受的。
You're not going to let me swim like this?
你不让我这样游泳吗？
Because you still have jammers on.
因为你还戴着干扰器。
So that you cannot wear.
以至于不能穿。
All right.
好的。
And is there any reason why they're not allowed?
有什么理由不允许他们这样做吗？
We're not going to-- how many times do you want me to repeat it?
我们不会——你想让我重复多少次？
What?
什么？
Sue Giuliani You know why they're not allowed.
苏·朱利安尼 你知道为什么他们不被允许。
I've pretty much-- Dana Chivvis Joe Scalise, the director of water safety for the state beaches, cuts in.
州海滩水上安全总监 Dana Chivvis Joe Scalise 插话了。
I am complying.
我遵守。
I'm wearing my official suit.
我穿着我的正式套装。
Are you complying with what we want or not?
你是否符合我们的要求？
So you're not swimming now?
那你现在不游泳了？
Roy Lester All right, let's go.
罗伊·莱斯特：好吧，我们走吧。
Did you just go home then?
那你刚回家吗？
Roy Lester Basically.
罗伊·莱斯特 基本上。
Well, I stayed around, and I watched everybody take the test.
好吧，我留下来，看着每个人都参加考试。
Were there other people taking the test in jammers?
还有其他人穿着干扰器参加测试吗？
No. No, nobody was allowed to take the test in jammers.
不，不，没有人被允许参加干扰器测试。
So everybody else either put on a Speedo or put on the board shorts, something like that.
所以其他人要么穿上 Speedo 泳裤，要么穿上滑板短裤，诸如此类。
Now, Roy says he could have worn board shorts or trunks and still passed the test.
现在，罗伊说他本可以穿短裤或泳裤，但仍然通过了测试。
He says he could have worn dungarees and passed.
他说他本可以穿工装裤就过去了。
The guy is in ridiculous shape.
这家伙的形状很可笑。
He does triathlons now, coaches a swim team.
他现在参加铁人三项比赛，担任游泳队的教练。
In 2012, he had a hip replaced, and seven weeks later he came in first in his age group in Bermuda's Round the Sound swim race, a 1.2-mile open water swim.
2012年，他接受了髋关节置换手术，七周后，他在百慕大环峡湾游泳比赛（1.2英里的开放水域游泳比赛）中获得同龄组第一名。
He was still using a cane to walk.
他仍然拄着拐杖走路。
So the easy thing for Roy to do would be just take the test in board shorts or Speedo and keep the job he loved.
因此，对罗伊来说，最简单的事情就是穿着短裤或 Speedo 参加测试，并保住他喜欢的工作。
Let bureaucrats be bureaucrats.
让官僚就官僚吧。
Just get on with it.
继续吧。
That's not Roy.
那不是罗伊。
Roy does not back down from a fight.
罗伊在战斗中不会退缩。
So he sued.
于是他提起诉讼。
He sued the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation for $5 million.
他起诉纽约州公园、娱乐和历史保护办公室，索赔 500 万美元。
Now, the easy thing for the state would have been to just let Jones Beach lifeguards wear jammers.
现在，对于该州来说，最简单的事情就是让琼斯海滩救生员佩戴干扰器。
Presumably, if they're good enough for the Olympic swim team, they're good enough for New York's lifeguards.
想必，如果它们足够适合奥运会游泳队，那么它们也足够适合纽约的救生员。
But that's not New York state.
但这不是纽约州。
It decided to fight.
它决定战斗。
The lawsuit has worked its way through the lower court, which dismissed it to the appellate court, which ruled in May that it should go to trial.
该诉讼已在下级法院审理完毕，下级法院将其驳回上诉法院，并于 5 月裁定该案应进入审判阶段。
This has been going on for seven years-- seven years.
这样的情况已经持续了七年——七年了。
Roy sent me a PDF of his exhibits in the case.
罗伊向我发送了一份 PDF 文件，其中包含他在案件中的证物。
It was 1,300 pages long.
它有 1,300 页长。
And the thing I really want to know-- because I live in New York and pay taxes in New York-- is, why is the state using taxpayer dollars to fight the Speedo suit?
我真正想知道的是，因为我住在纽约并在纽约纳税，为什么州政府要用纳税人的钱来对抗 Speedo 诉讼？
This could all have been resolved very easily years ago if they just changed the rule, allowed the jammers.
如果他们改变规则，允许干扰器的话，这一切在几年前就可以很容易地解决。
Why are Roy and the state fighting each other when they should unite against the real enemy, jellyfish?
当罗伊和国家应该联合起来对抗真正的敌人——水母时，为什么他们还要互相争斗呢？
Officials from the state of New York wouldn't talk to me for this story.
纽约州的官员不会就这个故事与我交谈。
The attorney general's office wouldn't talk.
总检察长办公室不肯说话。
Neither would parks and rec.
公园和休闲中心也不会。
But they did send me the affidavit of a guy named George Gorman.
但他们确实给我发了一份名叫乔治·戈尔曼的人的宣誓书。
He oversees all the parks in Long Island.
他负责监管长岛的所有公园。
And it lays out their side of the story.
它阐述了他们的故事。
Around 2006, some of the Jones Beach lifeguards started taking the swim test in full-body swimsuits.
2006年左右，琼斯海滩的一些救生员开始穿着全身泳衣参加游泳测试。
Management became concerned that those guys were only passing because they were wearing the full-body swimsuits.
管理层开始担心这些人只是通过了，因为他们穿着全身泳衣。
So they decided to change the rules.
所以他们决定改变规则。
Starting in 2007, lifeguards could only take the test in one of the three official Jones Beach uniform swimsuits-- no more full body suits and also no jammers, because jammers aren't part of the uniform.
从 2007 年开始，救生员只能穿着三款官方琼斯海滩制服泳衣中的一种参加考试，不再穿全身泳衣，也不能穿泳衣，因为泳衣不是制服的一部分。
In his deposition, George Gorman said, quote, "We determined it was best that the lifeguards wear the uniforms that they're assigned to wear while they're on duty." Seems reasonable, right?
乔治·戈尔曼在证词中说道，“我们认为救生员最好在执勤时穿着指定的制服。”看起来很合理，对吧？
Not if you're Roy.
如果你是罗伊就不会。
He points out, if jammers really are significantly faster, wouldn't you want your lifeguards to wear a faster suit, get them out to drowning victim sooner?
他指出，如果干扰器的速度确实快得多，你难道不希望救生员穿上更快的救生衣，更快地将他们救出溺水者吗？
And as it happens, New York Parks and Rec allows lifeguards to take their qualifying test in jammers in the rest of the state.
碰巧的是，纽约公园和娱乐中心允许救生员在该州其他地方使用干扰器参加资格测试。
Upstate!
北部！
I went upstate to take the test, and I wore my jammers.
我去州北部参加考试，并穿着干扰裤。
You took the test upstate?
你参加了北部地区的考试吗？
Roy Lester Yes, and I wore my jammers.
罗伊·莱斯特（Roy Lester） 是的，我穿着紧身裤。
And people wore their jammers, and I have pictures of that.
人们穿着干扰器，我有那张照片。
And that's part of the exhibit, of guys taking the test in their jammers.
这是展览的一部分，人们穿着干扰器接受测试。
Upstate?
北部？
Roy Lester Yes, the same employer.
罗伊·莱斯特 是的，同一个雇主。
New York State Department of Recreation, the same employer, allows the jammers.
纽约州娱乐部（同一雇主）允许使用干扰器。
So your theory about this is that they're targeting Long Island because why?
所以你的理论是他们的目标是长岛，因为为什么？
Because 90% of the older, the over-50 lifeguards work on Long Island.
因为 50 岁以上的救生员中 90% 都是老年人，在长岛工作。
It's the biggest group of older lifeguards anywhere.
这是世界上最大的老年救生员群体。
For what it's worth, the state told me that the rules are different on Long Island because it's a more strenuous job lifeguarding on the ocean.
不管怎样，州政府告诉我，长岛的规定有所不同，因为海上救生员的工作更加繁重。
Upstate, it's all lakes and pools.
北部全是湖泊和泳池。
Why do you think it is that they don't want older lifeguards?
你认为为什么他们不想要年长的救生员？
Well, I think they don't like the fact that older lifeguards have influence over the younger guys.
嗯，我认为他们不喜欢年长的救生员对年轻人的影响。
And when you're a member of management, you don't want anybody having influence over your employees except you.
当您是管理层成员时，您不希望除您之外的任何人对您的员工产生影响。
And when you have to deal with a union and you have to deal with the officers of the unions who are all older guys and they know the beach, you don't want that.
当你必须与工会打交道时，你必须与工会的官员打交道时，他们都是年长的人，他们了解海滩，你不希望这样。
Yep, there's a lifeguard union.
是的，有一个救生员工会。
Roy was the president of the union for years.
罗伊担任工会主席多年。
And at that point in 2007, when he refused to wear the Speedo, he was the union's chief negotiator.
2007 年，当他拒绝穿 Speedo 时，他是工会的首席谈判代表。
When Sue Giuliani tells him to follow the rules--
当苏·朱利安尼告诉他要遵守规则时——
So that you cannot wear.
以至于不能穿。
Dana Chivvis --she knows him.
达纳·奇维斯——她认识他。
He's the guy the union sends to argue its side.
他是工会派来为工会辩护的人。
And these guys telling him he can't wear his jammers, they're management.
这些人告诉他不能穿干扰裤，他们是管理层。
This is a scantily clad labor dispute.
这是一起衣着暴露的劳资纠纷。
I asked some other older lifeguards about this, and three out of the four of them agreed.
我向其他一些年长的救生员询问了此事，四人中的三人表示同意。
This is about the union, which actually has a history of fighting age discrimination.
这是关于工会的，该工会实际上有反对年龄歧视的历史。
In 1966, they went on strike because the state tried to impose an age limit of 35 for Jones Beach lifeguards.
1966年，他们举行罢工，因为州政府试图将琼斯海滩救生员的年龄限制为35岁。
So they walked off the beach.
于是他们离开了海滩。
A week later, the state caved.
一周后，该州屈服了。
Knowing this, that the suits and the swimsuits have a history with each other, that helped me understand what Roy's fight was really about.
知道了这一点，套装和泳衣都有彼此的历史，这帮助我理解了罗伊的战斗的真正含义。
Roy told me one reason he took a stand was that management was supposed to tell the union if they wanted to change a rule like this.
罗伊告诉我，他采取立场的一个原因是，管理层应该告诉工会他们是否想改变这样的规则。
And this time, they didn't.
而这一次，他们没有。
Roy's got a weekend job now at a private beach club, but it's not the same.
罗伊现在在一家私人海滩俱乐部找到了一份周末工作，但情况不一样了。
I like where I'm working now.
我喜欢我现在工作的地方。
I really do.
我真的这么做。
But you get one rescue a year if you're lucky.
但如果你幸运的话，你每年都会得到一次救援。
And then it's what's called a puddle jumper.
然后就是所谓的水坑跳线。
What is a puddle jumper?
什么是水坑毛衣？
Roy Lester A puddle jumper is where you really don't even need to get your head wet.
Roy Lester 水坑毛衣让你根本不需要把头弄湿。
And at Jones Beach, in the old days, we would have these tremendous rescues, just these great rescues.
过去，在琼斯海滩，我们会进行这些巨大的救援，只是这些伟大的救援。
His friends from Jones Beach tease him that he's in exile now.
他来自琼斯海滩的朋友取笑他说他现在正在流亡。
Not that often.
不那么频繁。
I keep in touch with them constantly.
我经常与他们保持联系。
But I don't go down there that often.
但我不常去那里。
To be honest, it does hurt.
说实话，确实很痛。
It hurts to go down there.
下去很痛。
That was my beach.
那是我的海滩。
It was my home for so many years.
多年来，这里一直是我的家。
If Roy's theory is true, then the state is trying to get rid of the older lifeguards on Long Island by forcing them into Speedos.
如果罗伊的理论是正确的，那么该州正试图通过强迫长岛的老年救生员穿泳衣来摆脱他们。
But if that's true, as far as I can tell, the only lifeguard they've managed to get rid of is Roy.
但如果这是真的，据我所知，他们唯一设法摆脱的救生员就是罗伊。
Dani Chivvis is one of the producers of our program.
丹尼·奇夫维斯 (Dani Chivvis) 是我们节目的制作人之一。
Since we first broadcast this story, Roy is back at Jones Beach.
自从我们第一次播出这个故事以来，罗伊又回到了琼斯海滩。
After 12 years of fighting them over his right not to wear Speedos, New York state has granted him an exception.
在为他不穿泳裤的权利与他们斗争了 12 年之后，纽约州终于给了他一个例外。
He passed his test, and he's back working as a lifeguard.
他通过了考试，重新回到救生员岗位。
He is 73 years old.
他今年 73 岁了。
Act Two: Beach Doctor Ira Glass Act Two, Beach Doctor.
第二幕：海滩医生艾拉·格拉斯 第二幕，海滩医生。
Hey, Alex.
嘿，亚历克斯。
Alex Blumberg Hello, little buddy.
亚历克斯·布隆伯格 你好，小伙子。
How are you?
你好吗？
Hi, other little buddy.
嗨，另一个小伙伴。
Ira Glass This next story takes place on a beach in Mexico.
艾拉·格拉斯（Ira Glass）下一个故事发生在墨西哥的海滩上。
Shane DuBow told it to producer Alex Blumberg a couple years ago.
几年前，肖恩·杜鲍 (Shane DuBow) 将此事告诉了制片人亚历克斯·布隆伯格 (Alex Blumberg)。
They're old friends.
他们是老朋友了。
And basically as we were putting our show together, Alex remembered this thing that happened to Shane decades before when Shane was out kayaking on a trip in Mexico down in Baja, California.
基本上，当我们准备节目时，亚历克斯想起了几十年前发生在谢恩身上的事情，当时谢恩在加利福尼亚州巴哈的墨西哥旅行中划皮划艇。
Shane and his friends took a month-long vacation.
肖恩和他的朋友们度过了一个月的假期。
And every day, they would head out into the Gulf of California and go sea kayaking.
每天，他们都会前往加利福尼亚湾，去海上划皮划艇。
They were really kind of in the middle of nowhere.
他们真的是在一个偏僻的地方。
There's little beach communities and some little tourist centers.
有一些小的海滩社区和一些小的旅游中心。
But mostly what we were doing was finding deserted open beaches and camping.
但我们所做的主要是寻找荒芜的开放海滩和露营。
So there was nobody around for most of the time.
所以大部分时间都没有人在身边。
Wow.
哇。
So it was just like-- it was you, and there was like-- how many of them was it you said?
所以这就像——是你，而且就像——你说有多少人？
Seven?
七？
Six, seven?
六、七？
There was six or seven.
有六七个。
And some people might go fishing.
有些人可能会去钓鱼。
Some people might play cards.
有些人可能会打牌。
Some people might snorkel.
有些人可能会浮潜。
I think we slept outside a lot.
我想我们在外面睡了很多次。
It felt like we were 12 years old, pretending to be Robinson Crusoe living off the land.
感觉就像我们12岁一样，假装是住在陆地上的鲁宾逊漂流记。
So we carried all our own water, all our own food, camping supplies, tents, sleeping bags, cooking supplies,
所以我们带着我们自己的水，我们自己的食物，露营用品，帐篷，睡袋，烹饪用品，
Sunscreen, I hope.
防晒霜，希望可以。
Shane Dubow Sunscreen?
肖恩·杜博防晒霜？
No, we were young then.
不，那时我们还年轻。
We just figured it would be fine.
我们只是觉得这样就好了。
[LAUGHS] Are you serious?
[笑]你是认真的吗？
You didn't bring any sunscreen?
你没带防晒霜吗？
I'm sure I didn't.
我确信我没有。
So we're in Baja.
所以我们在巴哈。
We are on a layover, which means we are just camped somewhere, and we're not trying to kayak right now.
我们正在中途停留，这意味着我们只是在某个地方露营，而且我们现在不打算划皮划艇。
And we've been clamming all day.
我们一整天都在蛤蜊。
And my neck locks up, and I can't turn my head to one side.
我的脖子被锁住了，我无法将头转向一侧。
And this is bad for lots of reasons.
出于多种原因，这很糟糕。
But when you're kayaking, you have to be able to paddle.
但当你划皮划艇时，你必须能够划桨。
You got to be able to use both arms.
你必须能够使用双臂。
And this neck locking up, this is something that's happened to you periodically throughout your life.
脖子锁住了，这是你一生中周期性发生的事情。
Yeah, this happens six to eight times a year.
是的，这种情况每年都会发生六到八次。
It usually lasts three or four days.
通常持续三到四天。
But so no one wants to be stuck on the beach while I'm working out my neck for three or four days.
但没有人愿意在我锻炼脖子的时候被困在海滩上三四天。
So we had run into a little expat community on a beach pretty close to where we were camping, these folks who were living in campers and had set up little cantinas, which are really just sort of stakes with a tarp over them.
所以我们在离我们露营地很近的海滩上遇到了一个小外籍人士社区，这些人住在露营车里，搭建了小酒馆，实际上只是上面盖着防水布的木桩。
And they would serve beers, or, in our case, they showed us how to clam.
他们会提供啤酒，或者，就我们而言，他们向我们展示如何蛤蜊。
And then they made us a clam feast.
然后他们给我们做了一顿蛤蜊盛宴。
So we went back to the guy that had shown us how to do that, to his camper on the beach.
所以我们回到了向我们展示如何做到这一点的那个人，回到了他在海滩上的露营车。
And I said, there's not any chiropractors anywhere nearby, which was just a ridiculous question because there was nothing nearby.
我说，附近没有脊椎按摩师，这是一个荒谬的问题，因为附近什么也没有。
I mean, this is where it kind of gets apocryphal, but is actually true, because he gets this sort of wistful look in his eye, and he says, no, there's no chiropractor.
我的意思是，这就是它有点杜撰的地方，但实际上是真的，因为他的眼睛里有一种渴望的表情，他说，不，没有脊椎按摩师。
But there is an amateur chiropractor who helps some of the local people.
但有一位业余脊椎按摩师帮助了一些当地人。
And his name is Johnny Tequila.
他的名字叫约翰尼龙舌兰酒。
And he lives on a boat two coves over from where you're staying.
他住在距离你住的地方两个海湾的船上。
And if you go to this man, he may help you.
如果你去找这个人，他可能会帮助你。
It was very mystical.
这非常神秘。
And you were like, well, you had me at amateur chiropractor, but once I find out that his name is Dr. Johnny Tequila--
你就像，好吧，你让我成为业余脊椎按摩师，但一旦我发现他的名字是约翰尼龙舌兰博士——
How do I get there?
我怎样才能到达那里？
I don't want to miss it.
我不想错过它。
And he's like, you won't miss it.
他说，你不会错过的。
I was like, well, tell me where he is.
我当时想，好吧，告诉我他在哪里。
And so he grabs a bar napkin and in black ballpoint pen, I think, sketches me a rough outline of the coast, and puts an X.
于是他抓起一张餐巾纸，用黑色圆珠笔，我想，给我勾勒出了海岸的粗略轮廓，并画了一个“X”。
There's an X marks the spot.
有一个 X 标记该位置。
That's where Johnny Tequila is two coves over.
那是约翰尼龙舌兰酒 (Johnny Tequila) 的所在地，距离两个海湾不远。
No one wants to go with me.
没有人愿意和我一起去。
They're all going to chill out, play cards.
他们都会放松一下，打牌。
I see.
我懂了。
Shane Dubow My friends had taken to teasing me about my paddle stroke, which was at this point one-armed and half-crippled, and they were calling it the chicken wing.
肖恩·杜博 (Shane Dubow) 我的朋友们开始取笑我的划桨动作，当时我的划桨动作是单臂半残，他们称之为鸡翅。
Because of your neck.
因为你的脖子。
Shane Dubow Because of my neck.
Shane Dubow 因为我的脖子。
So I chicken wing for two coves worth, maybe a mile paddle.
所以我的鸡翅价值两个海湾，也许一英里桨。
And you're really close to the shore.
而且你离海岸真的很近。
And the beach is right on your right, and the open ocean is on your left.
海滩就在您的右侧，开阔的海洋在您的左侧。
And you're chicken winging-- one cove, OK.
你是鸡翅——一湾，好吧。
And I'm looking at my-- and my napkin gets wet, so my map gets all destroyed, comes apart.
我看着我的——我的餐巾被弄湿了，所以我的地图全部被毁了，散架了。
Because the water is running down your paddle handle?
因为水顺着你的桨柄流下来？
So I chicken wing on over.
所以我鸡翅就结束了。
And there, in the second cove, is a catamaran in the middle of an empty cove.
在第二个海湾的一个空海湾中央，有一艘双体船。
And I don't want you to get the idea that this is a harbor, or a dock, or anything man-made-- nothing around.
我不想让你误以为这是一个港口、码头或任何人造的东西——周围什么也没有。
And it's docked in the water maybe 20 or 30 yards from shore.
它停靠在距离海岸大约 20 或 30 码的水中。
And as I paddled closer, I don't see anyone.
当我划桨靠近时，我没有看到任何人。
It's got a cabin.
它有一个小屋。
But the mast is up.
但桅杆已升起。
No sail is up.
没有帆升起。
And as I get closer and closer, I can see around the mast, lined up are empty Cuervo Gold tequila bottles, but kind of orderly.
当我越来越近时，我可以看到桅杆周围排列着空的 Cuervo Gold 龙舌兰酒瓶，但秩序井然。
That was the weird thing.
这就是奇怪的事情。
Usually, you don't associate empty tequila bottles with order, but these had been meticulously kind of lined up.
通常，你不会将空龙舌兰酒瓶与订单联系起来，但这些都是被精心排列的。
Ringing the mast.
敲响桅杆。
Shane Dubow Ringing the mast.
肖恩·杜博 (Shane Dubow) 敲响桅杆。
And again, I'm paddling up on a boat in the middle of nowhere with no one else around.
再一次，我在荒无人烟的地方划着一艘船，周围没有其他人。
And I don't really know how to even start.
我真的不知道如何开始。
And from some deep place, the word that comes to me is ahoy, which I've certainly never used in normal conversation.
从内心深处，我想到的词是“啊嘿”，我在正常谈话中肯定从未使用过这个词。
So I say, ahoy.
所以我说，嘿。
And from out of the cabin comes a completely naked woman.
从小屋里走出来一个全身赤裸的女人。
She looks American, and blond hair, tanned so deeply.
她看起来像美国人，金发，晒得很黑。
It's like the tan that goes to your liver.
就像晒黑会影响你的肝脏一样。
It's just tan all the way through.
整个过程都是晒黑的。
Really muscly-- her shoulders looked like she was probably a rafting guide in Colorado.
肌肉真的很发达——她的肩膀看起来就像是科罗拉多州的漂流向导。
So she's completely naked and completely unfazed about being completely naked, just greets me and talks to me as if she were wearing clothes.
所以她完全赤身裸体，完全不担心完全赤身裸体，只是跟我打招呼，跟我说话，就像她穿着衣服一样。
And she's above me, so I'm just looking up at her being naked from my kayak, holding onto the side of their boat.
她在我上方，所以我只是抬头看着她在我的皮划艇上赤身裸体，抓住了他们的船边。
And I'm in my kayak.
我在我的皮艇里。
And I said, is Johnny Tequila here?
我说，约翰尼龙舌兰酒在吗？
And she's very nice.
她人很好。
And she goes, no, he went to town for supplies, but he'll be back shortly.
她说，不，他进城去采购物资，但他很快就会回来。
Why don't you wait until he comes back?
为什么不等他回来呢？
And then eventually Johnny Tequila, we see him on the beach near us.
最后，约翰尼龙舌兰酒，我们在我们附近的海滩上看到了他。
And he's got a little rowboat.
他还有一条小划艇。
And he rows back to us.
他划回我们身边。
And he looks exactly like her.
而且他长得和她一模一样。
I mean, he's got on shorts, but he's got that tan.
我是说，他穿着短裤，但皮肤晒黑了。
He looks kind of muscly in his shoulders and chest.
他的肩膀和胸部看起来很有肌肉。
And they both have kind of wild, bleached out blond hair and real scruffy-- maybe 30s, although the sun makes everyone look older, so who knows?
他们都有着狂野的、褪色的金发和真正的邋遢——也许30多岁，尽管阳光让每个人看起来更老，所以谁知道呢？
And I tell him my story.
我告诉他我的故事。
And he's like, yeah, of course I'll perform some amateur chiropractory on your neck.
他说，是的，我当然会在你的脖子上进行一些业余的脊椎按摩治疗。
He didn't say that.
他没有这么说。
He said just, yeah, of course, I'll help you.
他只是说，是的，当然，我会帮助你。
Follow me to shore.
跟我到岸边。
So he rose, and I chicken wing to the shore.
于是他起身，我和鸡翅到了岸边。
And we pull our boats up.
我们把船拉上来。
And then he said, follow me.
然后他说，跟我来。
And now we are going-- I want to say jungle, but it was not jungle.
现在我们要去——我想说丛林，但那不是丛林。
But it's dense scrub.
但它是浓密的磨砂膏。
I mean, there's bushes all around us.
我的意思是，我们周围都是灌木丛。
There's cacti winding around in the middle of Mexico with no one else for miles.
墨西哥中部有仙人掌，周围数英里内都没有其他植物。
And I'm following him on this path, a really faint path.
我正跟随他走这条路，一条非常微弱的路。
And we come to a clearing.
我们来到一片空地。
And in the clearing there is a table exactly like a massage table or a chiropractic table you'd see in a real chiropractor's office with the center part that's open.
在空地上有一张桌子，就像你在真正的脊椎按摩师办公室看到的按摩床或脊椎按摩床一样，中间部分是开放的。
And you can put your face down there, and the neck part articulates and comes up.
你可以把脸放在那里，脖子部分就会铰接起来。
It's the real deal.
这是真正的交易。
And a life-sized human skeleton hanging from a tree, which I assume is a replica, but it looks like it-- a skeleton and the table in a clearing in the middle of the desert in Mexico.
还有一具真人大小的人体骨架挂在树上，我认为这是一个复制品，但它看起来很像——墨西哥沙漠中部空地上的一具骨架和桌子。
And then he has me lie on my back, looking up at his face and his crazy hair.
然后他让我仰面躺着，抬头看着他的脸和他疯狂的头发。
And he's shirtless.
而且他赤裸着上身。
Did I tell you my chiropractor was shirtless?
我有没有告诉过你我的脊椎按摩师赤裸上身？
He's shirtless.
他赤裸上身。
And he puts his hands around my neck in the middle of Mexico in a clearing with a skeleton.
在墨西哥中部的一片空地上，他用双手搂住了我的脖子，那里有一具骷髅。
My amateur chiropractor now has my neck in his hands.
我的业余脊椎按摩师现在用手托着我的脖子。
And he gives me a chiropractic exam that resembles every other chiropractic exam I've received.
他给我做了一次脊椎按摩治疗检查，与我接受过的所有其他脊椎按摩治疗检查类似。
And then he does an adjustment that also passes as any other chiropractic adjustment I've received.
然后他做了一个调整，这也和我接受过的任何其他脊椎按摩疗法调整一样通过。
And I say, Johnny Tequila, thank you for adjusting my neck.
我说，约翰尼龙舌兰酒，谢谢你调整了我的脖子。
Can I pay you?
我可以付钱给你吗？
And he said, no. I just do this to help people.
他说，不。我这样做只是为了帮助人们。
There will be no payment.
不会有任何付款。
But if you ever see me in a bar, you can buy me a shot of tequila.
但如果你在酒吧看到我，你可以给我买一杯龙舌兰酒。
Then the next day, was, in fact, your neck better?
那么第二天，你的脖子真的好点了吗？
Well, it's possible I'm collapsing time, but the way I remember it, I chicken wing back, and over the next few hours I start to feel much, much better.
好吧，可能我的时间已经崩溃了，但据我记忆，我鸡翅回来了，在接下来的几个小时里，我开始感觉好多了。
And my neck is OK.
而且我的脖子还好。
Do you think that Johnny Tequila-- when you think of Johnny Tequila, is he an argument for chucking it all and moving to some quiet beach in some distant land, or is he an argument against it?
你认为约翰尼龙舌兰酒——当你想到约翰尼龙舌兰酒时，他是一个放弃一切并搬到某个遥远国家的安静海滩的理由，还是他反对的理由？
He's 100% an argument for.
他100%有理由支持。
I can't believe you asked me that question.
我不敢相信你问了我这个问题。
A simpler life-- just crack people's necks, drink tequila, sing in the cantina, and go home to my naked lady.
一种更简单的生活——扭断人们的脖子，喝龙舌兰酒，在小酒馆里唱歌，然后回家见我的裸体女士。
Did I not tell the story to make it seem good?
我讲这个故事不是为了让它看起来好看吗？
It seemed great.
看起来很棒。
Shane DuBow talking to Alex Blumberg.
肖恩·杜鲍 (Shane DuBow) 与亚历克斯·布隆伯格 (Alex Blumberg) 交谈。
Alex, by the way, has a brand new show that he is co-hosting.
顺便说一句，亚历克斯正在共同主持一个全新的节目。
It's a podcast that launches next week.
这是一个下周推出的播客。
It's called How to Save a Planet, about climate solutions, on August 20.
8 月 20 日，该节目名为“如何拯救地球”，内容涉及气候解决方案。
Look for it wherever you get your podcasts.
无论您在何处获取播客，都可以寻找它。
Act Three, The Beachcomber.
第三幕，海滩浪子。
OK, so the absolute beachiest radio show, I think, maybe that has ever been made-- I believe, anyway-- was done by my first boss at NPR, this documentary producer named Keith Talbot.
好吧，所以我想，也许有史以来最海滩的广播节目——我相信，无论如何——是由我在 NPR 的第一任老板制作的，这位纪录片制片人名叫基思·塔尔博特 (Keith Talbot)。
He made this back in 1979.
他在 1979 年就做到了这一点。
It was called Ocean Hour.
它被称为“海洋时刻”。
And I love that show.
我喜欢那个节目。
Like I say, I think it's the beachiest radio show mankind will ever produce.
就像我说的，我认为这是人类制作的最海滩的广播节目。
And here is one of my favorite parts.
这是我最喜欢的部分之一。
Before I play this, I should say, this is such a piece of 1970s-era public radio that there's no narration on the show giving the name of the interviewee who you're about to hear or where he is.
在我播放这个之前，我应该说，这是一部 20 世纪 70 年代的公共广播节目，节目中没有旁白给出您将要听到的受访者的名字或他在哪里。
That's how we rolled back then.
那时我们就是这样回滚的。
Anyway, I hope you like this.
不管怎样，我希望你喜欢这个。
Here is a scrounger's life, just like a beachcomber.
这是一个乞丐的生活，就像一个海滩流浪者一样。
I have lived as poor as a man can live and still survive in the United States of America in the 1970s because everything comes here somehow sooner or later-- wood, oysters, the various other fish that you can get for the asking-- mullet, which is the big, good eating fish around here, along with trout and catfish, which come from the rivers.
20 世纪 70 年代，我在美国过着穷极了的生活，而且仍然生存下来，因为一切迟早都会来到这里——木头、牡蛎、各种其他你可以通过询问得到的鱼——鲻鱼，这是这里的大而美味的鱼，还有来自河流的鳟鱼和鲶鱼。
You have the river cat and the saltwater cat.
你有河猫和咸水猫。
They seem to be cousins, but they taste a little different.
他们看起来是表兄弟，但味道有点不同。
And in addition to all of that, you get the kinds of things that the sea brings, which is from boats.
除此之外，你还可以从船上获得大海带来的各种东西。
There's always a certain amount of movement of cargo in boats, as well as fish.
船上的货物以及鱼类总是有一定量的移动。
And firewood around here is for the asking.
这里的柴火是可以要求的。
In a city like New York or Washington, firewood, I'm sure, costs $100 a truckload, $200.
我敢肯定，在纽约或华盛顿这样的城市，木柴的价格是每卡车 100 美元、200 美元。
Around here, you can go out and fill it up for nothing.
在这附近，你可以出去，免费加油。
There is a theory, for example, in archaeology that all of the early settlements were on the coast of man, that that's where the easiest life has always been, where everything was for the taking.
例如，考古学中有一种理论认为，所有早期定居点都位于人类的海岸上，那里一直是最容易生活的地方，那里的一切都是可以拿走的。
And you had the sea, and you had the land together, and the various mutations between them.
你有海洋，也有陆地，还有它们之间的各种突变。
And that's where food chains like to start, where you have that melting land or that solidifying water.
这就是食物链开始的地方，那里有融化的土地或凝固的水。
That's where the organisms get their start, especially if you have the right climate.
这就是生物体开始生长的地方，特别是如果气候适宜的话。
As a poor man, it means that things are coming to me, which don't happen very much on the prairie or in the big cities.
作为一个穷人，这意味着事情即将发生，而这在草原或大城市中很少发生。
Nothing comes to your door in a big city except a cop, or a taxi driver, or something.
在大城市里，除了警察、出租车司机或其他什么人之外，没有什么人会来找你。
But here, things actually come to your door.
但在这里，事情实际上就到了你家门口。
An excerpt from Ocean Hour in 1979.
摘自 1979 年《海洋时刻》。
A link to that entire program is at our website, and I do recommend it.
我们的网站上有整个程序的链接，我确实推荐它。
It's thisamericanlife.org.
这是 thisamericanlife.org。
Coming up, David Sedaris and his family go to the beach, except for one of them.
大卫·塞达里斯 (David Sedaris) 和他的家人去了海滩，只有他们一人除外。
That's in a minute from Chicago Public Radio when our program continues.
芝加哥公共广播电台一分钟后我们的节目仍在继续。
It's This American Life.
这就是美国生活。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Today, for everybody who is far from the beach, for everybody who's avoiding the beach because of coronavirus, for everybody who needs the beach, we take you there with stories about the beach.
今天，对于每个远离海滩的人，对于每个因为冠状病毒而避开海滩的人，对于每个需要海滩的人，我们带您去那里，讲述关于海滩的故事。
We've arrived at Act Four-- Act Four, Now We Are Five.
我们已经到了第四幕——第四幕，现在我们是第五幕了。
OK, so if you're a beach family, you go to the beach every year.
好吧，如果你是一个海滩家庭，你每年都会去海滩。
Good years, bad years, whatever happens in your family that year, it's just what you do.
好年景，坏年景，无论那一年你的家人发生什么，这都只是你所做的。
David Sedaris has this story about his family heading to the beach together one year.
大卫·塞达里斯 (David Sedaris) 有一个关于他的家人有一年一起去海滩的故事。
This was first published in The New Yorker a few years back.
几年前，这篇文章首次发表在《纽约客》上。
And here at our program, we all really loved it.
在我们的节目中，我们都非常喜欢它。
So here's David.
这是大卫。
In late May of last year, a few weeks shy of her 50th birthday, my youngest sister, Tiffany, committed suicide.
去年五月下旬，距离我的 50 岁生日还有几周，我最小的妹妹蒂芙尼自杀了。
She was living in a room in a beat-up house on the hard side of Somerville, Massachusetts and had been dead, the coroner guessed, for at least five days before her door was battered down.
验尸官猜测，她住在马萨诸塞州萨默维尔市一栋破旧房子的一个房间里，在她的门被砸坏之前，她已经死了至少五天了。
I was given the news over a white courtesy phone while at the Dallas airport.
我在达拉斯机场时通过白色礼貌电话得知了这一消息。
Then, because my plane to Baton Rouge was boarding and I wasn't sure what else to do, I got on it.
然后，因为我飞往巴吞鲁日的飞机即将登机，而我不知道还能做什么，所以我就上了飞机。
The following morning, I boarded another plane, this one to Atlanta.
第二天早上，我登上了另一架飞机，这架飞机飞往亚特兰大。
And the day after that, I flew to Nashville, thinking all the while about my ever-shrinking family.
第二天，我飞往纳什维尔，心里一直想着我日益缩小的家庭。
A person expects his parents to die, but a sibling?
一个人希望父母去世，但兄弟姐妹呢？
I felt I'd lost the identity I'd enjoyed since 1968 when my brother was born.
我觉得我已经失去了自 1968 年我哥哥出生以来我一直享有的身份。
"Six kids!" people would say.
“六个孩子！”人们会说。
"How do your poor folks manage?"
“你们这些可怜的人是怎么过日子的？”
There were a lot of big families in the neighborhood I grew up in.
我长大的社区里有很多大家庭。
Every other house was a fiefdom, so I never gave it much thought until I became an adult and my friends started having children.
每一个房子都是一个封地，所以我从来没有考虑过这个问题，直到我成年并且我的朋友开始有了孩子。
One or two seemed reasonable, but anything beyond that struck me as outrageous.
一两个似乎是合理的，但除此之外的任何事情都让我觉得令人无法容忍。
A couple Hugh and I knew in Normandy would occasionally come to dinner with their wrecking crew of three.
我和休在诺曼底认识的一对夫妇偶尔会和他们的三名失事人员一起吃晚饭。
When they'd leave several hours later, every last part of me would feel violated.
当他们几个小时后离开时，我的每一部分都会感到被侵犯。
Take those kids, double them, and subtract the cable TV-- that's what my parents had to deal with.
把这些孩子加倍，然后减去有线电视——这就是我父母必须处理的问题。
Now, though, there weren't six, only five.
但现在，不再是六个，而是五个。
"And you can't really say, 'There used to be six,'" I told my sister, Lisa.
“你不能真的说，‘以前有六个，’”我告诉我的妹妹丽莎。
"It just makes people uncomfortable."
“这只会让人感到不舒服。”
I recalled a father and son I'd met in California a few years back.
我想起几年前在加利福尼亚州遇到的一对父子。
"There are," the man said.
“有的，”男人说。
"Three who are living and a daughter, Chloe, who died before she was born, 18 years ago."
“三人还活着，其中一个女儿克洛伊 (Chloe) 在出生前就去世了，时间是 18 年前。”
That's not fair, I remember thinking.
我记得这样想，这不公平。
Because, I mean, what's a person supposed to do with that?
因为，我的意思是，一个人应该用它做什么？
Compared to most 49-year-olds or even most 49-month-olds, Tiffany didn't have much.
与大多数 49 岁甚至大多数 49 个月大的人相比，蒂芙尼拥有的东西并不多。
She did leave a will, though.
不过，她确实留下了遗嘱。
In it, she decreed that we, her family, could not have her body or attend her memorial service.
在其中，她规定我们，她的家人，不能拥有她的遗体或参加她的追悼会。
"So put that in your pipe and smoke it," her mother would have said.
“所以把它放进你的烟斗里抽吧，”她母亲会说。
A few days after getting the news, my sister, Amy, drove to Somerville with a friend and collected two boxes of things from Tiffany's room-- family photos, many of which had been ripped into pieces, comment cards from a neighborhood grocery store, notebooks, receipts.
得知消息几天后，我的妹妹艾米和一位朋友开车前往萨默维尔，从蒂芙尼的房间里收集了两箱东西——家庭照片（其中许多已被撕成碎片）、附近杂货店的评论卡、笔记本、收据。
The bed, a mattress on the floor, had been taken away, and a large industrial fan had been set up.
床和地板上的床垫都被拿走了，并安装了一台大型工业风扇。
Amy snapped some pictures while she was there.
艾米在那里拍了一些照片。
And individually and in groups, those of us left studied them for clues-- a paper plate on a dresser that had several drawers missing, a phone number written on a wall, a collection of mop handles, each one a different color, arranged like cattails in a barrel painted green.
我们这些留下来的人单独或成群地研究它们，寻找线索——梳妆台上的一个纸盘，几个抽屉不见了，墙上写着一个电话号码，一堆拖把把手，每个把手都有不同的颜色，排列得像漆成绿色的桶里的香蒲。
Six months before our sister killed herself, I had made plans for us all to gather at a beach house on Emerald Isle off the coast of North Carolina.
在我们姐姐自杀前六个月，我计划让我们大家聚集在北卡罗来纳州海岸附近翡翠岛的一栋海滨别墅里。
My family used to vacation there every summer, but after my mother died we stopped going-- not because we lost interest, but because it was she who always made the arrangements and, more importantly, paid for it.
我的家人过去每年夏天都去那里度假，但在我母亲去世后，我们就不再去了——不是因为我们失去了兴趣，而是因为总是由她安排，更重要的是，她支付费用。
The place I found with the help of my sister-in-law, Kathy, had six bedrooms and a small swimming pool.
我在嫂子凯西的帮助下找到的房子有六间卧室和一个小游泳池。
Our week-long rental period began on Saturday, June 8, and we arrived to find a delivery woman standing in the driveway with seven pounds of seafood, a sympathy gift sent by friends.
我们为期一周的租赁期从 6 月 8 日星期六开始，我们到达时发现一名送货员站在车道上，手里拿着七磅海鲜，这是朋友们送来的慰问礼物。
"There's slaw in there too," she said, handing over the bags.
“里面还有沙拉，”她说着，把袋子递了过去。
In the past, when my family rented a cottage, my sisters and I would crowd the door like puppies around a food dish.
过去，当我的家人租了一间小屋时，我和姐妹们会像小狗围着食物盘子一样挤在门口。
Our father would unlock it, and we'd tear through the house, claiming rooms.
我们的父亲会打开它，我们会撕毁房子，占领房间。
I always picked the biggest one facing the ocean.
我总是选最大的面向大海的。
And just as I'd start to unpack, my parents would enter and tell me that this was theirs.
当我开始打开行李时，我的父母会进来并告诉我这是他们的。
"I mean, just who the hell do you think you are?" my father would ask.
“我是说，你以为你到底是谁？”我父亲会问。
He and my mother would move in, and I would get booted to what was called the maid's room.
他和我母亲会搬进来，而我会被赶到所谓的女佣房间。
It was always on the ground level, a kind of dank shed next to where the car was parked.
它总是在地面上，是汽车停放处旁边的一个潮湿的棚子。
There was never an interior stairway leading to the upper floor.
从来没有通往上层的内部楼梯。
Instead, I had to take the outside steps and, more often than not, knock on the locked front door, like a beggar hoping to be invited in.
相反，我不得不走到外面的台阶上，而且常常敲着锁着的前门，就像一个乞丐希望被邀请进来一样。
"What do you want?" my sisters would ask.
“你想要什么？”我的姐妹们会问。
"I want to come inside." "That's funny," Lisa, the eldest, would say to the others, who were gathered like disciples around her.
“我想进去。” “这很有趣，”最大的丽莎会对其他像门徒一样聚集在她周围的人说。
"Did you hear something, a whining sound?
“你有没有听到什么声音，呜呜的声音？
What is it that makes a noise like that?
到底是什么东西发出这样的声音？
A hermit crab?
寄居蟹？
A little sea slug?"
小海蛞蝓吗？”
Normally, there was a social divide between the three oldest and three youngest children in my family.
通常，我家里三个最大的孩子和三个最小的孩子之间存在社会鸿沟。
Lisa, Gretchen, and I treated the others like servants and did very well for ourselves.
丽莎、格雷琴和我对待其他人就像对待仆人一样，我们自己也做得很好。
At the beach, though, all bets were off, and it was just upstairs against downstairs, meaning everyone against me.
然而，在海滩上，所有的赌注都被取消了，而且只是楼上对抗楼下，这意味着每个人都反对我。
This time, because I was paying, I got to choose the best room.
这次，因为我付了钱，所以我必须选择最好的房间。
Amy moved in next door, and my brother, Paul, his wife, and their 10-year-old daughter, Maddy, took the spot next to her.
艾米搬到了隔壁，我的兄弟保罗、他的妻子和他们 10 岁的女儿玛迪占据了她旁边的位置。
That was it for oceanfront.
这就是海滨的情况。
The others arrived later and had to take the leftovers.
其他人后来到了，只好拿走剩菜。
Lisa's room faced the street, as did my father's.
丽莎的房间面向街道，我父亲的房间也是如此。
Gretchen's faced the street and was intended for someone who was paralyzed.
格雷琴的房间面向街道，是为瘫痪的人准备的。
Hanging from the ceiling were electric pulleys designed to lift a harnessed body into and out of bed.
天花板上悬挂着电动滑轮，旨在将佩戴安全带的人抬上床或抬下床。
Unlike the cottages of our youth, this one did not have a maid's room.
与我们年轻时的小屋不同，这里没有女仆房。
It was too new and fancy for that, as were the homes that surrounded it.
它太新太奇特了，周围的房子也是如此。
Traditionally, all the island houses were on stilts, but more and more often now the ground floors are filled in.
传统上，所有岛上的房屋都是高跷的，但现在越来越多的底层都被填满了。
They all have beachy names and are painted beachy colors.
它们都有海滩般的名字，并被涂上海滩般的颜色。
But most of those built after Hurricane Fran hit the coast in 1996 are three stories tall and look almost suburban.
但 1996 年弗兰飓风袭击海岸后建造的大部分建筑都是三层楼高，看起来几乎是郊区的。
This place was vast and airy.
这个地方广阔而通风。
The kitchen table sat 12, and there was not one but two dishwashers.
厨房里有12张桌子，洗碗机不是一台而是两台。
All the pictures were ocean related-- seascapes and lighthouses, all with the airborne V's that are shorthand for seagull.
所有的照片都与海洋有关——海景和灯塔，都带有空中的V字，这是海鸥的简写。
A sampler on the living room wall read, "Old shellers never die.
客厅墙上的一个样本上写着：“老剥壳者永远不会死。
They simply conch out." On the round clock beside it, the numbers lay in an indecipherable heap, as if they had come unglued.
他们只是用海螺敲出来。”旁边的圆形钟上，数字堆成一堆，难以辨认，就好像它们已经脱开一样。
Just above them were printed the words, "Who cares?"
就在它们的上方印着这样的字：“谁在乎？”
This was what we found ourselves saying whenever anyone asked the time.
每当有人问起时间时，我们都会这么说。
"Who cares?" The day before we arrived at the beach, Tiffany's obituary ran in the Raleigh News and Observer.
“谁在乎？”在我们到达海滩的前一天，《罗利新闻和观察家报》刊登了蒂芙尼的讣告。
It was submitted by Gretchen, who stated that our sister had passed away peacefully at her home.
它是由格雷琴提交的，她说我们的妹妹在家中安详地去世了。
This made it sound as if she were very old and had a house, but what else could you do?
这听上去好像她已经很老了，而且有房子，但还能做什么呢？
People were leaving responses on the paper's website, and one fellow wrote that Tiffany used to come into the video store where he worked in Somerville.
人们在该报的网站上留下回复，一位同事写道，蒂芙尼曾经去过他在萨默维尔工作的音像店。
When his glasses broke, she offered him a pair she had found while foraging for art supplies in somebody's trash can.
当他的眼镜破碎时，她给了他一副她在某人的垃圾桶里寻找美术用品时找到的一副眼镜。
He said she also gave him a Playboy magazine from the 1960s that included a photo spread titled "The Ass Menagerie."
他说她还给了他一本 20 世纪 60 年代的《花花公子》杂志，其中包括一张题为“屁股动物园”的照片。
This was fascinating, as we didn't really know our sister very well.
这很有趣，因为我们不太了解我们的妹妹。
Each of us had pulled away from the family at some point in our lives.
我们每个人在生命中的某个时刻都曾远离过家庭。
We'd had to in order to forge our own identities, to go from being a Sedaris to our own specific Sedaris.
为了塑造我们自己的身份，我们必须从一个 Sedaris 变成我们自己的特定 Sedaris。
Tiffany, though, stayed away.
然而，蒂芙尼却远离了。
She might promise to come home for Christmas, but at the last minute there'd always be some excuse-- she missed her plane, she had to work.
她可能答应回家过圣诞节，但在最后一刻总会有一些借口——她错过了飞机，她必须工作。
The same would happen with our summer vacations.
我们的暑假也会发生同样的情况。
"The rest of us managed to make it," I'd say, aware of how old and guilt trippy I sounded.
“我们其他人都成功了，”我会说，意识到自己听起来有多么苍老和内疚。
All of us would be disappointed by her absence, though for different reasons.
尽管出于不同的原因，我们所有人都会对她的缺席感到失望。
Even if you weren't getting along with Tiffany at the time, you couldn't deny the show she put on-- the dramatic entrances, the non-stop, professional-grade insults, the chaos she'd inevitably leave in her wake.
即使你当时和蒂芙尼相处得不好，你也不能否认她上演的表演——戏剧性的入场，不间断的专业级侮辱，以及她身后不可避免地留下的混乱。
One day she'd throw a dish at you and the next she'd create a mosaic made of the shards.
有一天她会向你扔一个盘子，第二天她就会用碎片创造出一幅马赛克。
When allegiances with one brother or sister flamed out, she'd take up with someone else.
当对一个兄弟姐妹的忠诚消失时，她就会转向其他人。
At no time did she get along with everybody, but there was always someone she was in contact with.
她从来没有和每个人都相处融洽，但总有人和她有联系。
Toward the end, it was Lisa, but before that we'd all had our turn.
快到最后的时候，轮到了丽莎，但在那之前就轮到我们了。
The last time she joined us on Emerald Isle was 1986.
她最后一次来到翡翠岛和我们在一起是 1986 年。
"And even then, she left after three days," Gretchen reminded us.
“即便如此，三天后她还是离开了，”格雷琴提醒我们。
As kids, we spent our beach time swimming.
小时候，我们在海滩上游泳。
Then we became teenagers and devoted ourselves to tanning.
然后我们成为青少年并致力于晒黑。
There's a certain kind of talk that takes place when you're lying, dazed in the sun, and I've always been partial to it.
当你躺在阳光下、头晕目眩时，就会发生某种特定的谈话，而我一直偏爱这种谈话。
On the first afternoon of our most recent trip, we laid out one of the bedspreads we had as children and arranged ourselves side by side on it, trading stories about Tiffany.
在我们最近一次旅行的第一个下午，我们铺开了小时候拥有的一张床罩，并排坐在上面，交换着有关蒂芙尼的故事。
"What about the Halloween she spent on that Army base?"
“她在那个陆军基地度过的万圣节怎么样？”
"And the time she showed up at Dad's birthday party with a black eye?"
“那一次她带着黑眼圈出现在爸爸的生日聚会上呢？”
"I remember this girl she met years ago at a party," I began, when my turn came.
“我记得她几年前在一次聚会上认识的这个女孩，”轮到我时我开始说道。
"She'd been talking about facial scars and how terrible it would be to have one, so Tiffany said, 'I have a little scar on my face, and I don't think it's so awful.' 'Well,' the girl said, 'you would if you were pretty.'"
“她一直在谈论面部疤痕，以及如果有疤痕会有多可怕，所以蒂芙尼说，‘我脸上有一点疤痕，但我不认为有那么可怕。’ “好吧，”女孩说，“如果你漂亮的话，你就会的。”
Amy laughed and rolled over onto her stomach.
艾米笑了，翻了个身趴在地上。
Oh, that's a good line.
哦，这是一条好线。
I rearranged the towel I was using as a pillow.
我重新整理了用作枕头的毛巾。
Isn't it, though?
但不是吗？
Coming from someone else, the story might have been upsetting, but not being pretty was never one of Tiffany's problems, especially when she was in her 20s and 30s, and men tumbled helpless before her.
这个故事出自别人之手，可能会令人心烦意乱，但蒂芙尼的问题从来都不是长得漂亮，尤其是在她20多岁和30多岁的时候，男人们在她面前无助地倒下。
"Funny," I said, "but I don't remember a scar on her face."
“有趣，”我说，“但我不记得她脸上有伤疤。”
I stayed in the sun too long that day and got a burn on my forehead.
那天我在阳光下晒得太久了，额头被烫伤了。
That was basically it for me and the beach blanket.
我和沙滩毯基本上就是这样了。
I made brief appearances for the rest of the week, stopping to dry off after a swim, but mainly I spent my days on a bike, cycling up and down the coast and thinking about what had happened.
这周剩下的时间里，我短暂露面，游完泳后停下来擦干身子，但主要是骑自行车，沿着海岸骑车，思考发生的事情。
While the rest of us seemed to get along effortlessly, with Tiffany it always felt like work.
虽然我们其他人似乎相处得毫不费力，但和蒂芙尼在一起总是感觉像是在工作。
She and I usually made up after arguing, but our last fight took it out of me.
我和她通常在争吵后和好，但我们上次的争吵让我彻底崩溃了。
And at the time of her death, we hadn't spoken in eight years.
当她去世时，我们已经八年没有说过话了。
During that period, I regularly found myself near Somerville.
在那段时间里，我经常去萨默维尔附近。
And though I'd always toy with the idea of contacting her, I never did, despite my father's encouragement.
尽管我一直有联系她的念头，但尽管父亲鼓励我，我却从未这样做过。
Meanwhile, I'd get reports from him and Lisa.
与此同时，我会收到他和丽莎的报告。
Tiffany had lost her apartment, had gone on disability, had moved into a room found for her by a social service agency.
蒂芙尼失去了她的公寓，变成了残疾，搬进了一家社会服务机构为她找到的房间。
Perhaps she was more forthcoming with her friends, but her family got things only in bits and pieces.
也许她对朋友比较坦诚，但她的家人得到的只是零碎的东西。
She didn't talk with us so much as at us, great blocks of speech that were in turns funny, astute, and so contradictory, it was hard to connect the sentence you were hearing to the one that preceded it.
她与其说是对我们说话，不如说是对我们说话，一大堆话又有趣又精明，又如此矛盾，你很难将你听到的句子与前面的句子联系起来。
Before we stopped speaking, I could always tell when she was on the phone.
在我们停止说话之前，我总能看出她什么时候在打电话。
I'd walk into the house and hear Hugh say, "Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh."
我走进房子，听到休说：“嗯嗯，嗯嗯，嗯嗯。”
In addition to the two boxes that Amy had filled in Somerville, she also brought down our sister's 1978 ninth grade yearbook.
除了艾米在萨默维尔填写的两个盒子外，她还带来了我们姐姐 1978 年九年级的年鉴。
Among the messages inscribed by her classmates was the following, written by someone who had drawn a marijuana leaf beside her name.
她的同学刻下的信息如下，是由一个在她名字旁边画了一片大麻叶的人写的。
"Tiffany, you are a one-of-a-kind girl, so stay that way, you unique ass.
“蒂芙尼，你是一个独一无二的女孩，所以就保持这样吧，你这个独一无二的混蛋。
I'm only sorry we couldn't have partied more together.
我只是很遗憾我们不能一起参加更多的聚会。
This school sucks to hell.
这学校简直就是地狱。
Stay cool, stoned, drunk, [BLEEP] up.
保持冷静，喝醉了，喝醉了，[哔]起来。
Check your ass later." Then there's, "Tiffany, I'm looking forward to getting high with you this summer," and, "Tiffany, call me sometime this summer, and we'll go out and get blitzed."
稍后检查一下你的屁股。”然后是，“蒂芙尼，我期待今年夏天和你一起狂欢”，以及“蒂芙尼，今年夏天的某个时候给我打电话，我们会出去享受闪电战。”
A few weeks after these messages were written, Tiffany ran away and was subsequently sent to a disciplinary institution in Maine called Elan.
这些信息写完几周后，蒂芙尼逃跑了，随后被送往缅因州一所名为“Elan”的纪律机构。
According to what she told us later, it was a horrible place.
据她后来告诉我们，那是一个可怕的地方。
She returned home in 1980, having spent two years there.
她于 1980 年回国，在那里呆了两年。
And from that point on, none of us can recall a conversation in which she did not mention it.
从那时起，我们谁都记不起她没有提到过的谈话。
She blamed the family for sending her off, but we, her siblings, had nothing to do with it.
她责怪家人送她走，但我们，她的兄弟姐妹，与这无关。
Paul, for instance-- Paul was 10 when she left.
以保罗为例——她离开时保罗十岁。
I was 21.
那年我21岁。
For a year, I sent her monthly letters.
一年来，我每月给她寄信。
Then she wrote and told me to stop.
然后她写信叫我停下来。
As for my parents, there were only so many times they could apologize.
至于我的父母，他们只能道歉几次。
We had other kids, they said in their defense.
他们为自己辩护说，我们还有其他孩子。
You think we could let the world stop on account of any one of you?
你认为我们可以因为你们中的任何一个人而让世界停止运转吗？
We were at the beach for three days before Lisa and our father, who is now 90, joined us.
我们在海滩待了三天，然后丽莎和我们 90 岁的父亲加入了我们。
Being on the island meant missing the spinning classes he takes in Raleigh, so I found a fitness center not far from the rental cottage, and every afternoon he and I would spend some time there.
在岛上意味着错过了他在罗利参加的动感单车课程，所以我在出租小屋不远的地方找到了一个健身中心，每天下午我和他都会在那里度过一段时间。
On the way over, we talked to each other, but as soon as we mounted our stationary bikes we'd each retreat into our own thoughts.
路上，我们互相交谈，但一旦我们骑上固定自行车，我们就会各自陷入各自的思绪中。
It was a small place, not very lively.
那地方很小，不太热闹。
A mute television oversaw the room, tuned to the weather channel and reminding us that there's always a catastrophe somewhere or other, always someone flooded from his home or running for his life from a funnel-shaped cloud.
一台静音电视监视着整个房间，调到天气频道，提醒我们某处总会发生灾难，总会有人从家里被洪水淹没，或者从漏斗状的云中逃命。
Toward the end of the week, I came upon my father in Amy's room, sifting through the photos that Tiffany had destroyed.
临近周末时，我在艾米的房间里遇见了父亲，他正在翻阅蒂芙尼毁掉的照片。
In his hand was a fragment of my mother's head with a patch of blue sky behind her.
他手里拿着我母亲的头部碎片，她身后是一片蓝天。
Under what circumstances had this been ripped up, I wondered.
我想知道这是在什么情况下被撕掉的。
It seemed such a melodramatic gesture, like throwing a glass against a wall, something someone in a movie would do.
这看起来是一个很戏剧化的动作，就像电影里有人会做的那样，把玻璃扔到墙上。
"Just awful," my father whispered.
“太糟糕了，”我父亲低声说道。
"A person's life reduced to one lousy box."
“一个人的生命沦为一个糟糕的盒子。”
I put my hand on his shoulder.
我把手放在他的肩膀上。
"Actually, there are two of them."
“其实，有两个。”
He corrected himself-- "Two lousy boxes."
他纠正自己——“两个破盒子。”
One afternoon on Emerald Isle, we all rode to the Food Lion for groceries.
在翡翠岛的一天下午，我们都骑着马去 Food Lion 买杂货。
I was in the produce department looking at red onions when my brother sneaked up from behind and let loose with a loud achoo, this while whipping a bouquet of wet parsley through the air.
当我在农产品部门看红洋葱时，我哥哥从后面偷偷溜了过来，发出一声响亮的阿呼声，同时在空中鞭打一束湿欧芹。
I felt the spray on the back of my neck and froze, thinking a very sick stranger had just sneezed on me.
我感觉到喷雾喷到了我的脖子后面，我愣住了，以为是一个病得很重的陌生人刚刚对我打了喷嚏。
It's a neat trick, but he also doused the Indian woman who was standing to my left.
这是一个巧妙的把戏，但他也浇了站在我左边的印度女人。
She was wearing a blood-colored sari, so got it on her bare arm as well as her neck and the lower part of her back.
她穿着一件血色的纱丽，所以它被涂在她裸露的手臂上，还有她的脖子和她的后背下部。
"Sorry, man," Paul said when she turned around, horrified.
“对不起，伙计，”当她转身时，保罗惊恐地说道。
"I was just playing a joke on my brother."
“我只是跟哥哥开个玩笑而已。”
The woman had many thin bracelets on, and they jangled as she brushed her hand against the back of her head.
那女人戴着许多细细的手镯，当她用手抚过后脑勺时，手镯发出叮当作响的声音。
"You called her man," I said to him after she walked off.
“你叫她男人，”她走后我对他说。
"For real?" he asked.
“真正的？”他问道。
Amy mimicked him perfectly-- "For real?"
艾米完美地模仿了他——“真的吗？”
Over the phone, my brother, like me, is often mistaken for a woman.
在电话中，我的兄弟和我一样，经常被误认为是女性。
As we continued shopping, he told us that his van had recently broken down and that when he called for a tow truck the dispatcher said, "We'll be right out, sweetie." He lowered a watermelon into the cart and turned to his daughter.
当我们继续购物时，他告诉我们他的货车最近坏了，当他叫来一辆拖车时，调度员说：“我们马上就出去，亲爱的。”他把一个西瓜放进车里，然后转向他的女儿。
"Maddy's got a daddy who talks like a lady, but she don't care, do she?"
“麦迪有一个说话像淑女的爸爸，但她不在乎，不是吗？”
Giggling, she punched him in the stomach, and I was struck by how comfortable the two of them are with each other.
她咯咯笑着，一拳打在了他的肚子上，我对他们两个相处得如此自在感到惊讶。
Our father was a figure of authority, while Paul is more of a playmate.
我们的父亲是一个权威人物，而保罗更多的是一个玩伴。
When we went to the beach as children, on or about the fourth day our father would say, "Wouldn't it be nice to buy a cottage down here?" We'd get our hopes up, and then he would bring practical concerns into it.
当我们小时候去海滩时，大约第四天，我们的父亲会说：“在这里买一间小屋不是很好吗？”我们会抱有希望，然后他会把实际的担忧带入其中。
They weren't petty.
他们并不小气。
Buying a house that will eventually get blown away by a hurricane probably isn't the best way to spend your money, but still we wanted one desperately.
购买一栋最终会被飓风吹走的房子可能不是花钱的最佳方式，但我们仍然迫切想要一套。
I told myself when I was young that one day I would buy a beach house, and then it would be everyone's, as long as they followed my Draconian rules and never stopped thanking me for it.
当我年轻的时候，我告诉自己，有一天我会买一栋海滨别墅，然后它就会成为每个人的，只要他们遵守我的严厉规则，并且不断地感谢我。
Thus it was on Wednesday morning, midway through our vacation, Hugh and I contacted a real estate agent named Phyllis, who took us around to look at available properties.
因此，就在星期三早上，我们假期中途，休和我联系了一位名叫菲利斯的房地产经纪人，她带我们四处查看可用的房产。
On Friday afternoon, we made an offer on an oceanfront cottage not far from the one we were renting.
周五下午，我们对离我们租用的小屋不远的一间海滨小屋提出了报价。
Before sunset, our bid was accepted.
日落之前，我们的出价被接受了。
I made the announcement at the dinner table and got the reaction I had expected.
我在餐桌上宣布了这一消息，并得到了我预期的反应。
"Now wait a minute," my father said.
“现在等一下，”我父亲说。
"You need to think clearly here."
“这里你需要考虑清楚。”
"I already have," I told him.
“我已经有了，”我告诉他。
"OK, then how old is the roof?
“好吧，那么屋顶有多少年了？
How many times has it been replaced in the past 10 years?"
10年来更换了多少次？”
Lisa wanted to know if she could bring her dogs, and Amy asked what the house was named.
丽莎想知道她是否可以带她的狗，艾米问房子叫什么名字。
"Right now it's called Fantastic Place," I told her, "but we're going to change it." I used to think the ideal name for a beach house was the Ship Shape.
“现在它被称为神奇之地，”我告诉她，“但我们要改变它。”我曾经认为海滨别墅的理想名称是“船形”。
Now, though, I had a better idea.
不过现在我有了一个更好的主意。
"We're going to call it the Sea Section."
“我们将其称为“海域”。”
My father put down his hamburger.
我父亲放下了他的汉堡。
"Oh, no, you're not."
“哦，不，你不是。”
"But it's perfect," I argued.
“但这很完美，”我争辩道。
"The name's supposed to be beachy, and, if it's a pun, all the better."
“这个名字应该是海滩式的，如果是双关语，那就更好了。”
I brought up a cottage we'd seen earlier in the day called Dune Our Thing, and my father winced.
我提起当天早些时候我们见过的一座小屋，名叫“我们的沙丘”，我父亲皱起了眉头。
"What about naming it Tiffany?" he said.
“把它命名为蒂芙尼怎么样？”他说。
Our silence translated to, let's pretend we didn't hear that.
我们的沉默转化为，让我们假装我们没有听到。
He picked his hamburger back up.
他又拿起了汉堡。
"I think it's a great idea-- the perfect way to pay our respects."
“我认为这是一个好主意——这是表达我们敬意的完美方式。”
"If that's the case, we could name it after Mom," I told him, "or half after Mom and half after Tiffany.
“如果是这样的话，我们可以用妈妈的名字来命名它，”我告诉他，“或者一半用妈妈的名字，一半用蒂芙尼的名字。
But it's a house, not a tombstone, and it wouldn't fit in with the names of the other houses."
但这是一栋房子，不是墓碑，它与其他房子的名字不相符。”
"Aw, baloney," my father said.
“噢，胡说八道，”我父亲说。
"Fitting in-- that's not who we are.
“融入——那不是我们。
That's not what we're about."
那不是我们的目的。”
Paul interrupted to nominate the Conch Sucker.
保罗中断了提名海螺吸盘。
Amy's suggestion had the word "seaman" in it, and Gretchen's was even dirtier.
艾米的建议里有“海员”这个词，格雷琴的建议更肮脏。
"What's wrong with the name it already has," Lisa asked.
“它已有的名字有什么问题吗？”丽莎问道。
"No, no, no," my father said, forgetting, I think, that this wasn't his decision.
“不，不，不，”我父亲说道，我想，他忘记了这不是他的决定。
A few days later, after the buyer's remorse had kicked in, I'd wonder if I hadn't bought the house as a way of saying, see, it's just that easy-- no hemming and hawing, no asking to look at the septic tank.
几天后，在买家开始悔恨之后，我想知道我买这栋房子是否不是为了表达，看，事情就是这么简单——没有支支吾吾，也没有要求查看化粪池。
Rather, you make your family happy and iron out the details later.
相反，你先让家人幸福，然后再解决细节。
The cottage we bought is two stories tall and was built in 1978.
我们买的小屋有两层楼高，建于1978年。
It's on proper stilts and has two rear decks, one above the other, overlooking the ocean.
它有适当的高跷，有两个后甲板，一个在另一个之上，俯瞰着大海。
It was rented to vacationers until late September, but Phyllis allowed us to drop by and show it to the family the following morning, after we checked out of the house we'd been staying in.
它一直租给度假者直到九月底，但菲利斯允许我们在第二天早上从我们住的房子退房后顺便把它展示给家人看。
A place always looks different-- worse, most often-- after you've made the commitment to buy it.
当你决定购买一个地方后，它看起来总是不一样——最糟糕的是，最常见的是。
So while the others raced up and down the stairs, claiming their future bedrooms, I held my nose to a vent and caught a whiff of mildew.
因此，当其他人在楼梯上跑上跑下，争夺他们未来的卧室时，我把鼻子凑到通风口，闻到了一股霉味。
The sale included the furniture, so I also made an inventory of the Barcaloungers and massive TVs I would eventually be getting rid of, along with the shell-patterned bedspreads and cushions with anchors on them.
这次销售包括家具，所以我还清点了我最终要扔掉的酒吧沙发和大型电视，以及贝壳图案的床罩和带有锚的垫子。
"For our beach house, I want to have a train theme," I announced.
“对于我们的海滨别墅，我想要一个火车主题，”我宣布。
"Trains on the curtains, trains on the towels-- we're going to go all out."
“窗帘上的火车，毛巾上的火车——我们要全力以赴。”
We sketched a plan to return for Thanksgiving.
我们制定了感恩节回来的计划。
And after saying goodbye to one another, my family splintered into groups and headed off to our respective homes.
互相告别后，我的家人分成几组，各自回家。
There had been a breeze at the beach house, but once we left the island the air grew still.
海滨别墅里有一阵微风，但我们离开小岛后，空气就静止了。
As the heat intensified, so did the general feeling of depression.
随着炎热的加剧，抑郁的感觉也随之增强。
Throughout the '60s and '70s, the road back to Raleigh took us past Smithfield and a billboard on the outskirts of town that read, "Welcome to Klan Country." This time we took a different route, one my brother recommended.
在整个 60 年代和 70 年代，返回罗利的路上我们经过史密斯菲尔德和镇郊的一块广告牌，上面写着“欢迎来到三K党国家”。这次我们走了一条不同的路线，是我哥哥推荐的。
Hugh drove, and my father sat beside him.
休开车，我父亲坐在他旁边。
I slumped down in the back seat next to Amy, and every time I raised my head I'd see the same soybean field or low-slung cinder block building we'd seemingly passed 20 minutes earlier.
我在艾米旁边的后座上坐下，每次我抬起头，我都会看到同样的大豆田或低矮的煤渣砖建筑，我们似乎在 20 分钟前经过了。
We'd been on the road for a little more than an hour when we stopped at a farmer's market.
我们在路上开了一个多小时，在一个农贸市场停了下来。
Inside an open air pavilion, a woman offered complimentary plates of hummus served with a corn and black bean salad, so we each accepted one and took seats on a bench.
在一个露天凉亭里，一位女士免费赠送了几盘鹰嘴豆泥，配上玉米和黑豆沙拉，所以我们每个人都接受了一份，并在长凳上坐下。
20 years earlier, the most a place like this might have offered was fried okra.
20 年前，这样的地方最多只能提供炸秋葵。
Now there was organic coffee and artisanal goat cheese.
现在有有机咖啡和手工山羊奶酪。
Above our heads hung a sign that read "Whispering Dove Ranch." And just as I thought that we might be anywhere, I noticed that the music piped through the speakers was Christian, the new kind, which says that Jesus is awesome.
我们头顶上挂着一块牌子，上面写着“低语鸽子牧场”。正当我以为我们可能在任何地方时，我注意到扬声器中传出的是基督教音乐，一种新的音乐，它说耶稣是伟大的。
Hugh brought my father a plastic cup of water.
休给我父亲带来了一杯塑料水。
"You OK, Lou?"
“你还好吗，卢？”
"Fine," my father answered.
“好吧，”我父亲回答道。
"Why do you think she did it?" I asked as we stepped back into the sunlight.
“你认为她为什么这么做？”当我们回到阳光下时，我问道。
For that's all any of us were thinking, had been thinking since we got the news.
因为这就是我们得到这个消息以来我们所有人都在想的事情。
Musn't Tiffany have hoped that whatever pills she'd taken wouldn't be strong enough and that her failed attempt would lead her back into our fold?
蒂芙尼难道不希望她服用的任何药物都不够有效，而她的失败尝试会让她回到我们的怀抱吗？
How could anyone purposefully leave us, us of all people?
怎么会有人故意离开我们，离开我们所有人呢？
This is how I thought of it, for though I've often lost faith in myself, I've never lost faith in my family in my certainty that we are fundamentally better than everyone else.
这就是我的想法，因为虽然我经常对自己失去信心，但我从未对家人失去信心，因为我确信我们从根本上比其他人都好。
It's an archaic belief, one I haven't seriously reconsidered since my late teens, but still I hold it.
这是一种古老的信念，从十几岁起我就没有认真地重新考虑过这一信念，但我仍然坚持它。
Ours is the only club I'd ever wanted to be a member of, so I couldn't imagine quitting.
我们的俱乐部是我唯一想成为会员的俱乐部，所以我无法想象退出。
Backing off for a year or two was understandable, but to want out so badly that you'd take your own life?
退出一两年是可以理解的，但是如此强烈地想要退出以至于你想结束自己的生命吗？
"I don't know that it had anything to do with us," my father said.
“我不知道这和我们有什么关系，”我父亲说。
But how could it have not?
但怎么可能没有呢？
Doesn't the blood of every suicide splash back on our faces?
每一次自杀的血不都会溅回到我们的脸上吗？
At the far end of the parking lot was a stand selling reptiles.
停车场的尽头有一个卖爬行动物的摊位。
In giant tanks were two pythons, each as big around as a fire hose.
巨大的水箱里有两条蟒蛇，每条都有消防水龙带那么大。
The heat seemed to suit them, and I watched as they raised their heads, testing the screened ceilings.
炎热的天气似乎很适合他们，我看着他们抬起头，测试屏蔽的天花板。
Beside the snakes was a low pen corralling an alligator with its mouth banded shut.
蛇旁边有一个低矮的围栏，圈住了一条鳄鱼，鳄鱼的嘴被用胶带封住。
It wasn't full grown, but perhaps an adolescent, around 3 feet long, and grumpy looking.
它还没有完全长大，但可能是一个青少年，大约三英尺长，看上去脾气暴躁。
A girl had stuck her arm through the wire and was stroking the thing's back while it glared, seething.
一个女孩把手臂伸进了金属丝，抚摸着那东西的背部，而那东西则怒目而视，沸腾着。
"I'd like to buy everything here just so I could kill it," I said.
“我想买下这里的所有东西，这样我就可以杀死它，”我说。
My father mopped his forehead with Kleenex.
我父亲用面巾纸擦了擦额头。
"I'm with you, brother."
“我和你在一起，兄弟。”
When we were young and would set off for the beach, I'd look out the window at all the landmarks we drove by-- the Purina silo on the south side of Raleigh, the Klan billboard-- knowing that when we passed them a week later I'd be miserable.
当我们年轻的时候，出发去海滩时，我会看着窗外我们开车经过的所有地标——罗利南侧的普里纳筒仓，三K党的广告牌——知道当我们一周后经过它们时，我会很痛苦。
Our vacation over, now there'd be nothing to live for until Christmas.
我们的假期结束了，圣诞节之前就没什么可活的了。
My life is much fuller than it was back then, yet this return felt no different.
我的生活比以前充实多了，但这次回归感觉并没有什么不同。
"What time is it?" I asked Amy.
“现在是几奌？”我问艾米。
And instead of saying, "Who cares?" she said, "You tell me.
而不是说“谁在乎呢？”她说：“你告诉我。
You're the one with the watch on."
你就是那个戴着手表的人。”
At the airport a few hours later, I picked sand from my pockets and thought of our final moments at the beach house I'd bought.
几个小时后，在机场，我从口袋里掏出沙子，想起我们在我买的海滨别墅里的最后时刻。
I was on the front porch with Phyllis, who had just locked the door, and we turned to see the others in the driveway below us.
我和菲利斯一起在前廊，她刚刚锁上了门，我们转身看到下面车道上的其他人。
"So is that one of your sisters?" she asked, pointing to Gretchen.
“那她是你的妹妹吗？”她指着格雷琴问道。
"It is," I said.
“是的，”我说。
"And so are the two women standing on either side of her."
“站在她两侧的两个女人也是如此。”
"Then you've got your brother," she observed.
“那么你就有了你的兄弟，”她说。
"That makes five.
“这样就五个了。
Wow.
哇。
Now, that's a big family."
现在，这是一个大家庭了。”
I looked at the sunbaked cars we would soon be climbing into, furnaces every one of them, and said, "Yes.
我看着我们很快就要爬进的那些被太阳烤焦的汽车，每一辆都是熔炉，然后说：“是的。
It certainly is."
确实如此。”
David Sedaris.
大卫·塞达里斯。
This story appears in his book, Calypso, and in his forthcoming collection, Best of Me.
这个故事出现在他的书《Calypso》和他即将出版的小说集《Best of Me》中。
We want to share the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
我们想分享国家预防自杀热线的电话号码。
That number is 1-800-273-8255.
该号码是 1-800-273-8255。
Again, 1-800-273-8255.
再次拨打 1-800-273-8255。
[MUSIC - "DAY AT THE BEACH" BY ATLANTIC THRILLS]
[音乐 - ATLANTIC THRILLS 的《海滩的一天》]
Credits Ira Glass Our program was produced today by Robyn Semien with Alex Blumberg, Ben Calhoun, Sarah Koenig, Miki Meek, Jonathan Menjivar, Brian Reed, Alissa Shipp, and Nancy Updike.
图片来源 Ira Glass 我们今天的节目由 Robyn Semien 与 Alex Blumberg、Ben Calhoun、Sarah Koenig、Miki Meek、Jonathan Menjivar、Brian Reed、Alissa Shipp 和 Nancy Updike 共同制作。
Senior producer for today's show is Julie Snyder.
今天节目的高级制片人是朱莉·斯奈德。
Production help on this rerun from Sarah Abdurrahmana, Noor Gill, Katherine Rae Mondo, Stowe Nelson, and Matt Tierney.
莎拉·阿卜杜拉赫马纳 (Sarah Abdurrahmana)、努尔·吉尔 (Noor Gill)、凯瑟琳·雷·蒙多 (Katherine Rae Mondo)、斯托·尼尔森 (Stowe Nelson) 和马特·蒂尔尼 (Matt Tierney) 为这部重播剧提供了制作帮助。
Research help today from Michelle Harris.
米歇尔·哈里斯今天提供研究帮助。
Music help from Damian Graef and Rob Geddis.
Damian Graef 和 Rob Geddis 提供音乐帮助。
Special thanks today to Willow Yamauchi, Craig Desson, and the Factory Theater in Toronto.
今天特别感谢 Willow Yamauchi、Craig Desson 和多伦多工厂剧院。
Our website, thisamericanlife.org.
我们的网站 thisamericanlife.org。
This American Life is distributed to public radio stations by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange.
《美国生活》由公共广播电台 PRX 分发到公共广播电台。
Thanks, as always, to our program's co-founder, Mr. Torey Malatia, or as we like to call him--
一如既往地感谢我们项目的联合创始人 Torey Malatia 先生，或者我们喜欢这样称呼他——
The grape smuggler, the Miami meat tent, the dingaling sling, the Saint-Tropez truffle duffle.
葡萄走私者、迈阿密肉类帐篷、丁加林吊带、圣特罗佩松露行李袋。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Don't forget the sunscreen.
别忘了防晒霜。
I'll be back next week with more stories of This American Life.
下周我会带着更多《美国生活》的故事回来。
This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
《This American Life》与 WBEZ Chicago 合作制作，并由 PRX 公共广播电台传送到各电台。