势利者和非精英阶层

2012-04-29

英语学习 2012年6期

Ive met plenty of people in my life, but have been lucky enough to avoid extended interactions1 with unpleasant people. And I suppose that those interactions were brief for a reason: who wants to be around the unfriendly? Of course, living in a big city in China, its inevitable to be pushed around and yelled at—but most of those are fleeting and easily forgettable.2 In the past, my parents were usually the ones who were left to fend off those aforementioned people as my brother and I safely watched on.3 However, now that Im alone, its up to me to learn how to deal with them.

What brings me to write about this is a particularly distressing4 situation I found myself in this afternoon. Im currently in New York for spring break, and my friend and I decided that we would explore the areas of New York we had never been in. For me, this was an adventure—New York is a lot like Beijing in many ways, and after staying in Boston for these past few months, its nice to be back in a city with the possibility of excitement around every corner.

Crossing the streets of New York has always been a great fear of mine—without any warning, you can easily be hit by a belligerent5 taxi driver or an absent-minded grandmother who really shouldnt be holding a license anymore. I am always a stickler6 to the rules, simply because… well, there are better ways to die, arent there? This time was no different—as soon as I saw the WALK sign flash on, I carefully began to cross the street after looking both ways. A limo7 began turning, and I paused to see if he was going to let me finish crossing, and it appeared he was. But then he suddenly began coming at me without any intention of slowing down, and I panicked8. I quickly ran across but looked at the driver through the window to see how he could be so rude. He rolled down the window, sneered at me, and stuck his middle finger up at me.9 Shocked and enraged10, I yelled back, “Are you serious?” But he had already gone.

My friend urged me to forget about the incident, but I couldnt help fuming11 with fury. My anger was partly due to the fact that I hadnt been breaking any rules but had yet been punished for it and partly because I had had very little experience with unpleasant people. I suppose I was angrier than was warranted, but I couldnt help but seethe12 at the horrible expression on his face as he had directed that rude gesture towards me. As a person who is normally short-tempered to begin with, I couldnt help but get myself worked up over that interaction which had lasted all of five seconds.13

But the frustration soon wore off14 as I began to think about why this person took the energy to be so rude to a harmless looking Asian teenager like me. Was it racism15? Perhaps—but he was Mexican, another minority, himself. It could have partly inspired his crassness16, but I really doubted that that was the real reason. What could have possibly motivated this not-so-elite member of society to be so disrespectful to someone whom he had never met before? My thinking really began to get imaginative as I voiced my thoughts to my friend.17

Most immigrants have a dream. They dream of America—the country that is supposed to be filled with opportunity and fulfilled promises. For example, lets take this limo driver. In Mexico, he probably had a hard life. Maybe he was a laborer, a factory worker, or a farmer, who knows. Maybe he spent the former years of his life saving up his money to fulfill his dream of going to the United States, only a border18 away, but with so much opportunity where maybe he could stop hurting his back and find a job where he could finally live a comfortable life and provide for his family. Perhaps he finally got across the border, maybe illegally, with the huge risk of getting arrested and losing everything. But its worth it, to get to the land of opportunity. And he finally makes it over, but finds that it isnt all that he thought it would be. Here, theres a stigma against him—Americans pride themselves on being liberal and accepting of all races,19 but they arent completely accepting yet. They still have a tendency to look down on Hispanics because of the suspicion that theyre illegal immigrants invading on the American land and consuming their resources.20 So hes reduced to21 driving some rich American around.

No wonder he has a bad attitude.

Sometimes I always wonder about those immigrants crossing over to finally fulfill their “American Dream”, only to find that its far from perfect. I look at street artists, selling their sketches and caricatures for five,22 ten dollars, and wonder if thats what they thought their future in America would be like. Struggling to sell at least one of their pieces, wasting a whole day sitting outside, and watching people walk by them without buying anything from them. The weariness23 and sadness in their eyes is hurtful to see, but you realize you cant do anything for them but feel sad. And that doesnt even do anything for them.

So, Mr. Driver, maybe you are mad all the time. Maybe youre mad that your life isnt what you thought you would be, maybe youre mad that you have to serve the rich American jerks that treat you like dirt, or maybe youre that you never got a chance to finish your education and get a job that doesnt involve you degrading yourself.24I get it.

But despite it all, there is never a good reason for poor manners.

Welcome to America.