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MicheleLSullivan_2016W-_懂得寻求幫助是一种能力，而不是一个弱点_
We all have milestones in life that we remember so vividly . 我们的生命中都会有一些 记忆深刻的里程碑式的事件。
milestones:n.里程碑;时间表; vividly:adv.生动地;强烈地;
The first one for me was when I was entering kindergarten . 对我来説,第一件这样的事情 发生在我进幼稚园的时候。
kindergarten:n.幼儿园;
My big brother was in school, and by golly, it was my time. 我哥哥那时候已经上学了, 哇,现在终于轮到我了。
And I went trottin' down that hallway. 我沿着走廊一路小跑,
I was so excited, I almost wet myself. 感到非常兴奋,差点要尿裤子。
And I go to the door, and there was the teacher with a warm welcome, and she took me into the classroom, showed me my little cubbyhole — we all remember those little cubbyholes, don't we —and we put our stuff in there. 我到了门边, 老师已经在那里, 然后她热烈地欢迎我, 并把我领进教室, 然后带我去看我的小柜子—— 大家应该都记得那样的小柜子吧, 就是我们会把东西放里面的那种。
cubbyhole:n.文件架;舒适的小房间; stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
And then she said, "Go over to the circle and play with the kids until class starts." 然后老师说:「先去圆圈那边 和小朋友们玩一会儿, 然后我们再上课。」
So I went over there and plopped down like I owned the place, and I'm playing, and all of a sudden , the boy next to me, he was wearing a white shirt with blue shorts. 于是我就过去一屁股坐下, 就像是我的地盘一样, 然后就开始玩耍, 突然坐在我旁边的男孩, 他当时穿着白衬衣和蓝短裤。
plopped:n.扑通声; vt.把…沉重地放下; vi.扑通落下; v.扑通一声地; all of a sudden:突然地,出乎意料地;
I remember it like it was yesterday. 我非常清楚地记得这点。
Suddenly he stopped playing and he said, "Why are you so short?" 他突然就不玩了,对我説: 「你为什么这么矮？」
And I just kept playing. 而我继续玩我的,
I didn't think he was talking to me. 压根没想到他是在和我説话。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And in a louder voice, he said, "Hey, why are you so short?" 他更大声地又问一遍: 「喂,你为什么这么矮呀？」
So I looked up and I said, "What are you talking about? 我擡起头看看他说: 「你在説什麽呀？我们
Let's just play. We're happy. 就一起玩嘛,大家都很开心呀。
I've been waiting for this." 我等这一天很久了。」
And so we played,and about a minute later, the girl next to him, in a white shirt and a pink skirt, stood up, put her hands on her hips , and said, "Yeah,why do you look so different?" 我们接着玩了不到一分钟, 坐在他旁边的一个女孩, 她穿着白色衬衣和粉红色裙子, 站起来,背着手问: 「对呀,你怎么和我们不一样？」
hips:n.臀部;髋;臀部…的;野蔷薇果(hip的复数)
And I went, "What are you talking about? 我説:「你到底在説什麽呀？
I don't look different. I'm not short. 我没有不一样呀,我又不矮,
Again, let's just play." 我们就一起玩吧。」
About this time, I looked all around the circle I was in, and all the kids had stopped playing and they were all looking at me. 这时我看了看周围, 所有的人都不再玩了,都在看着我。
in today's language, it would be "OMG" or "WTF." 用今天的话就是 「我的妈呀」或者「什么鬼」。
(Laughter) （笑声）
What just happened? 到底发生了什么？
So all the confidence that I went in with that morning was withering away as the morning went on and the questions kept coming. 就这样,我原本满满的信心 随着那个早上接二连三的提问 一点一点丧失了。
confidence:n.信心;信任;秘密;adj.(美)诈骗的;骗得信任的; withering:adj.尖刻的; v.(使)枯萎,凋谢;
And at the end of the morning,before I went home, the teacher had us in a circle, and I actually found myself outside of the circle. 最后快到中午了,在回家之前, 老师又让我们围成一个圈, 那时候我已经不敢站到圈子里面了。
I couldn't look at anybody. 我不敢看任何人。
I could not understand what just happened. 而且完全不知道到底发生了什么。
And over the next few years, 在接下来的几年里,
I hated to go out in public. 我讨厌去公共场所。
I felt every stare , every giggle , every pointed finger, not the finger, but every pointed finger, and I hated it. 我可以感受到每一次侧目, 每一声嘲笑,每一次指指点点, 不是说的手指本身, 而是每一次的指指点点, 我讨厌这一切。
stare:v.凝视;盯着看;注视;n.凝视; giggle:v.傻笑;咯咯地笑;n.吃吃的笑;
I would hide behind my parents' legs like nobody could see me. 我躲在我父母的身后, 就像没人能看见我一样。
And as a child,you can't understand another child's curiosity , nor an adult's ignorance . 当你还是孩子的时候, 你不理解其他孩子的好奇心, 也不理解成人的愚昧。
curiosity:n.好奇,好奇心;珍品,古董,古玩; ignorance:n.无知,愚昧;不知,不懂;
It became very apparent to me that the real world was not built for someone of my size, both literally or figuratively . 对我来说,很显然这个世界不是为 我这样的人建立的, 不管是形体上还是心理上。
apparent:adj.显然的;表面上的; literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: figuratively:adv.比喻地;象征性地;
And so I have no anonymity , as you can probably tell, and while you can see my size, we all go through many challenges through our lifetime. 当你看到我的时候 你大概就已经知道 我没办法掩饰我的弱点, 我们在生命里都会经历很多挑战。
anonymity:n.匿名;匿名者;无名之辈;
And some you can see, like mine. 有的挑战你能够看见,
Most you can't. 比如我的挑战。
You can't tell if someone's dealing with a mental illness, or they're struggling with their gender identity , they're caring for an aging parent, they're having financial difficulty. 但大多数是你看不见的。 你不会知道某人 正受精神疾病的困扰, 或者他们为自己的性别而困扰, 他们或许要照料年迈的父母,
mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者; gender:n.性别; identity:n.身份;同一性,一致;特性;恒等式; financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的;
You can't see that kind of stuff. 或许面临经济上的困难。你不会知道这些。
So while you can see one of my challenges is my size, seeing does not mean you understand what it's truly to be me on a daily basis, or what I go through. 你知道我所有的挑战之一, 就是我的身体, 但看到并不等于你知道 像我这样到底意味着什么, 或者每天会经历些什么。
And so I'm here to debunk a myth . 所以在此我要打破一个幻想。
debunk:vt.揭穿;拆穿…的假面具;暴露; myth:n.神话;虚构的人,虚构的事;
I do not believe you can walk in someone else's shoes, and because of that, we must adopt a new way of giving of ourselves. 我不相信你可以真正地 从别人的立场看问题, 正因如此,我们应该想想 到底自己该怎么做。
adopt:v.采取;接受;收养;正式通过;
Simply stated, I will never know what it's like to be you and you will never know what it's like to be me. 简单来説,就是我永远 不知道成为你是什麽感觉, 而你也永远不会知道 成为我是什么感觉。
I cannot face your fears or chase your dreams, and you can't do that for me, but we can be supportive of each other. 我不能体会你的恐惧, 或为你追逐你的梦想, 你也没法幫我做这些, 但是我们能支持彼此。
supportive:adj.支持的;支援的;赞助的;
Instead of trying to walk in each other's shoes, we must adopt a new way of giving of ourselves. 我们不再追求一定要感同身受, 而是学着用新的方式提供幫助。
I learned at an early age that I did have to do some things different than most people, but I also learned there were things 我很小就知道 我确实需要做很多 和大家不一样的事情, 但我也知道我在一些地方
different than:不同于;
I was on equal footing with, and one of those was the classroom. 理应被平等对待, 其中一个就是在课堂上。
Heh, heh, heh. I was equal. 哈哈,我是和大家一样的。
As a matter of fact ,I excelled in the classroom. 事实上,我在课堂上表现出色。
As a matter of fact:事实上; excelled:v.优于;超过;超越(excel的过去分词形式);胜过;
This was vitally important,I discovered as I grew older and realized I wasn't going to be able to do a physical job. 这一点极其重要,因为当我渐渐长大 并意识到我做不了体力劳动。
vitally:adv.极其;紧要地;生死攸关地; physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查;
I needed an education. 我就需要念书。
So I went on and got a university degree, but I felt to be one step ahead of everyone for employment , 就这样我一路拿到了大学文凭, 但我想,如果要在求职中领先一步,
employment:n.使用;职业;雇用;
I needed to have an advanced university degree, so I went ahead and got that. 我还必须要一个更高级的文凭, 所以我又继续拿到了这个文凭。
advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式)
Now I'm ready for my interview . 这样的话我就准备好去面试了。
interview:n.接见,采访;面试,面谈;v.采访;接见;对…进行面谈;
Remember your first interview? 你还记得你的第一次面试吗？
What am I going to wear? 你会想面试要穿什么？
What questions? 会被问到什么问题？
And don't forget that firm handshake . 而且不要忘记要强有力地握手。
handshake:n.握手;
I was right there with you. 我想的和你一样。
So 24 hours before my interview, a friend of mine who I've known all my life called and said, "Michele, the building you're going in has steps." 在距我面试还有 24 小时的时候, 有一个我认识很长时间的 朋友打电话给我说: 「米歇尔,你要去的那座大厦有楼梯。」
And she knew I couldn't climb steps. 她知道我爬不了楼梯。
So suddenly, my focus changed. 就这样突然间,我关心的事情变了。
In my shoes, I was worried about how am I going to get there? 从我的角度来看,我担心的是 我该怎么去到面试的地方？
So I went early and found a loading dock and got in and had a great interview. 第二天我去得很早, 找到了一个卸货升降台,
dock:n.码头;船坞;被告席;尾巴的骨肉部分;vt.使靠码头;剪短;vi.入船坞;
They had no idea what I went through for the day and that's OK. 顺利地进到那座大厦 并且面试得还不错。
You're probably thinking my greatest challenge that day was the interview, or getting in the building. 你或许会认为我那天 最大的挑战是那场面试, 或是怎麽进到那座大厦。
In reality, my biggest challenge that day was getting through the loading dock without getting run over. 但实际上我那天最大的挑战 是怎样到达那个升降台 而不会被撞倒。
I am very vulnerable in certain situations: airports , hallways , parking lots, loading docks . 在很多场所我是一个非常脆弱的人, 比如机场、过道、停车场, 还有升降台。
vulnerable:adj.易受攻击的,易受…的攻击;易受伤害的;有弱点的; airports:n.[航]机场;[航]航空港(airport的复数形式); hallways:n.(美)走廊;门厅(hallway的复数); docks:n.[水运]码头; v.船入港;
And so I have to be very careful. 所以我不得不非常小心。
I have to anticipate and be flexible and move as quickly as I can sometimes. 我必须要预先判断情况,然后灵活调整行动。 有时要尽可能快地行动。
anticipate:v.预期,期望;占先,抢先;提前使用; flexible:adj.灵活的;柔韧的;易弯曲的;
So I got the job,and in my current role I travel quite a bit. 在最后我得到了那份工作,我现在的这份工作需要我频繁地出差。
And travel is a challenge for all of us these days. 去外地对我们所有人 来説都是一个挑战。
And so you probably get to the airport, run through security, get to the gate. 你可能跑到了机场, 通过安檢,到达登机门。
run through:n.贯通;从头到尾读一遍;排练;
Did I get my aisle seat or my window seat? 要考虑我是坐在靠走道的还是靠窗位置？
aisle:n.通道,走道;侧廊;
Did I get my upgrade ? 我能不能升等？
upgrade:v.使升级;提升;改良品种;n.升级;上升;上坡;adv.往上;adj.向上的;
Me, first of all ,I don't run through anything. 对我来説,这都和我无关。
first of all:adv.首先;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And I especially don't run through the TSA because I get to experience the personal patdown. 特别的是,我不用通过 运输安全管理局的檢测, 那是因为我需要接受全身搜查。
especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词;
I won't comment on that. 对此我不想说什麽。
comment on:对…评论;
And then I make my way to the gate, and with my gift of gab that my parents said I was born with, 然后我直接去了登机门, 我特别多话喜欢聊天, 我父母说我天生如此,
I talk to the gate agent , and then I say, " By the way , my scooter weighs this much, 我先和登机门的地勤聊天,然后说: 「顺带一提,我的助步车大概这么重。
agent:n.代理人,代理商;药剂;特工;v由…作中介;由…代理;adj.代理的; By the way:顺便说一下; scooter:n.小型摩托车:(儿童)滑板车:
I have a dry cell battery , and I can drive it down to the door of the plane." 我有干电池自动运行, 我可以自己驾驶到机舱门口。」
battery:n.[电]电池,蓄电池;n.[法]殴打;n.[军]炮台,炮位;
Also, the day before, I had called the city where I'm traveling to to find out where I could rent a scooter in case mine gets broken on the way. 而且在头一天,我已经 打电话给我将要去的城市。 问清楚了哪里可以租助步车, 以防我这辆半路坏掉。
So in my shoes, it's a little bit different. 所以在我看来,旅途中 往往有不一样的考虑和担忧。
When I get onto the plane, 上飞机以后,
I use my gift of gab to ask the lady to put my bag up, and they graciously do. 通过闲聊,我会请空姐幫我把包放好, 她们总是愿意无私地幫助我。
graciously:adv.和蔼地;仁慈地;雅致地;
I try not to eat or drink on a plane because I don't want to have to get up and walk on the plane, but nature has its own schedule , and not long ago, it knocked and I answered. 我在飞机上一般尽量不吃喝东西。 因爲我不想被迫在 机舱内走动去洗手间, 但这我是控制不住自己的, 果然不久后我还是想上洗手间, 于是我不得不做点什么。
schedule:工作计划,日程安排
So I walked up to the front of the plane and gabbed with the flight attendant , and said, "Can you watch the door? 我走到机舱的前部, 小声地告诉空姐: 「可不可以幫我看下门？
gabbed:vi.空谈;瞎扯闲聊;唠叨;n.多嘴;饶舌;爱说话唠叨; flight attendant:n.空中乘务员;机上乘务员;
I can't reach the lock." 我够不着锁。」
So I'm in there doing my business, and the door flies open. 就在我使用洗手间时, 门忽然被打开了。
And there's a gentleman there with a look of horror on his face. 一位男士站在门口, 表情非常恐慌。
horror:n.恐惧;厌恶;震惊;对某事物的强烈畏惧(或憎恨);
I'm sure I had the same look. 我相信我的表情也是一样的恐慌。
As I came out, I noticed that he was sitting right across from me, and he's in total, complete embarrassment . 等我出来的时候, 我发现他就坐我对面。 他显得非常尴尬。
embarrassment:n.窘迫,难堪;使人为难的人或事物;拮据;
So I walk up to him and I quietly go, "Are you going to remember this as much as I am?" 于是我走到他身边,向他小声地说: 「你一定会和我一样 记住刚才那一幕吧？」
(Laughter) （大笑）
And he goes, "I think so." 他说:「我想是这样的。」
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now, while he's probably not talking about it publicly, I am. 他大概不会像我一样 公开谈论这件事情。
(Laughter) （笑声）
But we talked for the rest of the flight, and we got to know each other, our families, sports, work, and when we landed, he said, "Michele, I noticed someone put your bag up. 之后在飞机上我们一直在聊, 我们开始认识彼此,聊到我们的 家庭,喜欢的运动,工作等等 飞机降落了,他説: 「米歇尔,有人幫你把包放上去了,
Can I get that for you?" 要我幫你拿下来吗？」
And I said, "Of course, thank you." 我说:「好呀,谢谢你。」
And we wished each other well, and the most important thing that day was that he was not going to leave with that embarrassment,that experience of embarrassment. 我们祝彼此好运, 最重要的是 那一天我们没有带着尴尬分别, 也不会一直想着那次尴尬的经历。
He won't forget it, and neither will I, but I think he will remember more our chat and our different perspectives . 但是他不会忘记这件事,我也不会, 我知道留在他记忆里更多的是 我们的聊天以及我们各自看问题的视角。
perspectives:n.[数]透视,远景,看法;构面;观点展示(perspective的复数形式);
When you travel internationally , it can be even more challenging in certain ways. 当你在国际的旅行中, 也许会面对更多的挑战。
internationally:adv.国际性地;在国际间;
A few years ago, I was in Zanzibar, and I come wheeling in, and think about that. 几年前我去桑吉巴时, 我坐在轮椅上, 试想一下:
Short, white, blond woman in a chair. 一个矮小的金发白女人坐在一个小椅子上。
blond:adj.(头发)亚麻色的;白肤金发碧眼的;(家具等)浅色的;n.白肤金发碧眼人;
That doesn't probably happen every day. 这肯定不是每天都能见到的场景。
So I go up, and with my gift of gab, 因此我又啓动了自己
I start to talk to the agent. 爱説话的技能,和地勤搭话。
So friendly, and I ask about their culture and so forth, and I notice there wasn't a jet bridge. 我友好地问他们关于 他们文化一类的问题, 这时我发现这趟航班没有空桥。
So I had to kind of say, "Not only do you have to lift my chair, 于是我说: 「看来你不仅要幫我抬助步车,
I could use some help getting up the steps." 可能还要幫我爬上台阶。」
So we got to spend about an hour together while we waited for the flight, and it was the most magnificent hour. 接下来等飞机的一个小时里, 我们都待在一起, 那是非常美妙的一个小时。
magnificent:adj.高尚的;壮丽的;华丽的;宏伟的;
Our perspective changed for both of us that day. 我们俩看待对方的视角 都发生了改变。
And once I got on the flight, he patted me on the back and wished me well, and I thanked him so much. 我登上飞机以后, 他拍了拍我的背,祝我一切顺利, 我也再三感谢他。
patted:轻拍;
And again, I think he's going to remember that experience more than when I first came in,and there was a bit of hesitation . 我想他会更多地记住我们的谈话, 而不是我走进来时的尴尬。
hesitation:n.犹豫;
And as you notice, I get a lot of help. 你应该知道,我得过很多人的幫助。
I would not be where I am today if it was not for my family, my friends, my colleagues and the many strangers that help me every single day of my life. 如果没有我的家庭,朋友,同事, 还有无数的陌生人每天给我的幫助, 我今天不会站在这里。
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
And it's important that we all have a support system. 有一点非常重要的是,我们 有一个互相支持与幫助的体系。
Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. 懂得寻求幫助是一种能力, 而不是一个弱点。
(Applause) （掌声）
We all need help throughout our lifetime, but it is just as important that we are part of other people's support systems. 终其一生我们都需要别人的幫助, 同时也给予别人幫助 也非常重要。
throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及;
We must adopt that way of giving back. 我们应该学着用这样的方式回馈他人。
We all obviously have a role to play in our own successes, but think about the role we have to play in other people's successes, just like people do for me every single day. 很显然我们在各自的人生里扮演着重要的角色, 但同时也应该想想我们能在 别人的人生里扮演怎样的角色, 就像别人每天为我做的一切一样。
It's vitally important that we help each other, because society is increasingly placing people in silos based on biases and ideologies . 互相幫助非常重要, 因爲这个社会渐渐地把人们隔离在 由偏见和意识形态建成的高塔里。
increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; silos:n.筒仓;粮仓;贮仓(silo的复数); biases:n.偏差,偏见(bias的复数形式);v.偏见(bias的三单形式); ideologies:意识形态;
And we must look past the surface and be confronted with the truth that none of us are what you can see. 而我们不能单单看表面, 我们要去瞭解事情的真相:你看不到我们每个人真正的内心。
confronted:v.使…无法回避;降临于;处理;面对;对抗;(confront的过去分词和过去式)
There's more to us than that, and we're all dealing with things that you cannot see. 因为每个人都是那么的丰富, 而我们一直在和 你看不到的东西打交道。
So living a life free of judgment allows all of us to share those experiences together and have a totally different perspective, just like the couple of people I mentioned earlier in my stories. 所以我们不要去评判别人的人生, 而是能够一起分享我们的经历, 去从不同点角度看待事物, 就像我之前提到的几个故事一样。
judgment:n.判断;裁判;判决书;辨别力;
So remember, the only shoes you truly can walk in are your own. 记住这一点: 你只能穿着你自己的鞋子走路,就好比只有你瞭解自己。
I cannot walk in yours. 我不能穿你的鞋。
I know you can't walk in my size 1s — 我想你也穿不下我 1 号的鞋一样——
(Laughter) （笑声）
but you can try. 没准你能试试。
But we can do something better than that. 然而,我们能做得更好。
With compassion ,courage and understanding, we can walk side by side and support one another, and think about how society can change if we all do that instead of judging on only what you can see. 带着同情、勇气和理解, 我们可以并肩同行, 支持彼此。 如果我们都这样做了, 而不是仅仅依靠你 所看见的东西判断事物, 想一想,这个社会会有怎样的改变？
compassion:n.同情;怜悯; side by side:adj.并肩的;并行的;
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）
Thank you. 谢谢大家。