-灯泡
急于求成的社会
Quick Fix
Society
詹妮特·曼德尔·戈德斯坦
Janet
Mendell
Goldstein
我和老公在西弗吉尼亚州度了一周的假，刚回来。
My husband and I just got
back from a week's vacation in West Virginia.
不用说
，我们迫不及待地想到那里，于是便走了宾夕法尼亚收费高速公路和几条州际公路。
Of course, we
couldn
’
t wait to get there,
so we took the Pennsylvania Turnpike and a couple
of
interstates.
“看哪，那些美丽的农场！
”老公高声喊道，田园景色以每小时五十五英里的速度在我们
身边滑过
。
at
those
gorgeous
farms!
my
husband
exclaimed
as
pastoral
scenery
slid
by
us
at
55
mph.
“你看
见那些奶牛了吗？”可是，每小时五十五英里的速度，很难看清任何东西。美丽的
农场像
移动的绿色棋盘，成群的奶牛在后视镜里缩成了几个小黑点。
“
Did you see
those cows?
”
But
at 55 mph, it's difficult to see anything; the
gorgeous farms
look like moving green
checkerboards, and the herd of cows is reduced to
a few dots in the
rear-view mirror.
四个小
时里，我们唯一真正的乐趣就是数出口的标志，还有就是想再次停车时会有什么样
的感觉
。
For four hours, our only
real amusement consisted of counting exit signs
and wondering what it
would feel like
to hold still again.
的确，去那里看上去没多少快乐，事实上根本就没一点儿快乐。
Getting there certainly
didn't seem like half the fun; in fact, getting
there wasn't any fun at all.
所以，该回费城外的家的时候，我坚持要换条路走。
So, when it was time to return to our
home outside of Philadelphia, I
insisted that we take a different route.
我建议
说：
“咱们去考察一下农村吧。
”结果，我们返程的两天里满是
新鲜的经历。
“
Let's explore that
countryside,
”
I
suggested. The two days it took us to make the
return trip
were filled with new
experiences.
<
/p>
我们游览了内战时的一个战场，站在了一座小山上。一百二十五年前，也是一个七月炎热<
/p>
的下午，一万五千名南部邦联的士兵曾努力想攻占它，不想他们当中有一半人在徒劳的尝<
/p>
试中身亡。
We toured a Civil War battlefield and
stood on the little hill that fifteen thousand
Confederate
soldiers had tried to take
on another hot July afternoon, one hundred and
twenty-five years
ago, not knowing that
half of them would get killed in the vain attempt.
我们驾
车缓慢地驶过宾夕法尼亚安静的德国城的主要街道，将速度降至每小时二十英里，
以免和
去赶集的马匹和马车挤在一起。
We drove slowly through main streets of
sleepy Pennsylvania Dutch towns, slowing to twenty
miles an hour so as not to crowd the
horses and horse carriages on their way to market.
在县城
的博物馆里，我们欣赏了玩具火车和老式汽车；在工厂的直销商店里（购物）
，省了
七成的钱。
We
admired toy
trains
and
antique
cars
in
county
museums
and
saved 70
percent in factory
outlets.
在农户的自助餐厅里，我们饱饱地
吃了一顿香料沙拉和家庭自制面包，而后便在外边闲逛，
享受着阳光，
< br>欣赏着卧在阳光里的成群奶牛——这时可不是小黑点了。
We stuffed ourselves
with
spicy
salads
and
homemade
bread
in
an
farmhouse
restaurant,
then
wandered
outside
to
enjoy
the
sunshine
and
the
herds
of
cows
—
no
little
dots
this
time
—
lying in it.
我们回到家里，恢复了精力，也恢
复了活力，还又一次受到教育。这回到那儿的确是快乐
啊。
And
We
returned
home
refreshed,
revitalized,
and
reeducated.
This
time,
getting
there
had
been the fun.
<
/p>
毫无特色的收费高速公路和州际公路成了我们许多人的专门选择，这是为什么呢？
Why is it that the
featureless turnpikes and interstates are the
routes of choice for so many of
us?
大家为什么不试着放慢速度，去考察一下农村呢？
Why doesn't everybody try
slowing down and exploring the countryside?
可是，
越来越多的情况是，快车道看来成了我们要走的唯一道路。
But more and more, the fast lane seems
to be the only way for us to go.
实际上，大多数美国人总是匆匆忙
忙——而且不光是在从甲地赶到乙地这样的事上。
In fact, most Americans are constantly
in a hurry
—
and not just to
get from Point A to Point B.
我们的国家已经变成了一个追求速
战速决的国家——不止在一个方面。
Our country has become a nation in
search of the quick fix
—
in
more ways than one.
不要将来，只求现在：从前，美国
人明白“好事多磨”的道理。我们从每次的收入里拿出
一小部分，以备不时之需。
Now instead of later:
Americans understood the
principle of deferred gratification
(
被推迟的
满足
). We put
a little of each paycheck away
如果我们想要一个新沙发，或者在
湖边的小屋里过上一周，我们就为此攒些钱。银行则会
提供特别的圣诞购物储蓄账户和度
假储蓄账户帮我们渡过难关。
If
we wanted a new sofa or a week at a lakeside
cabin, we saved up for it, and the banks helped
us out by providing special Christmas
Club and Vacation Club accounts.
如果我
们住在乡下，地方合适，就种下玉米和豆子，耐心地等待着收获。
If we lived in the right
part of the country, we planted corn and beans and
waited patiently for
the
harvest.
如果我们想要瘦一些，我们就少吃一些最喜爱的食物，耐心地
等着磅秤降下来，一次降一
磅。
If we wanted to be thinner, we simply
ate less of our favorite foods and waited
patiently for the
scale to drop, a
pound at a time.
可是现在，我们没有这份耐心了。我们不攒钱了，而是去贷款；我们用信用卡去买家具、
去度假旅行——眼下要放松，以后再付钱。
But today we aren't so patient. We take
out loans instead of making deposits, or we use
our
credit card to get that furniture
or vacation trip
—
relax now,
pay later.
我们买食品也像买衣服一样，
都是已经弄好的，
现成的。
We buy our food, like
our clothing,
ready-made and off the
rack.
< br>如果我们急着要减轻体重，就试用最新的神奇套餐，它保证能在十天之内减去十磅??除非
我们很有钱，可以去做吸脂手术。
And If we're in a hurry to lose weight,
we try the latest miracle diet, guaranteed to take
away
ten pounds in ten days ... unless
we're rich enough to afford liposuction.
不要缓慢，只求快速：我们不但现在就要，我们甚至不想被动地等待。
Faster instead of slower:
Not only do we want it now; we don't even want to
be kept waiting
for it.
这种急躁、
“讨厌等待”的普遍心态已经影响了我们生活的各个层面。
This general impatience, the
我们用
二十秒从自动取款机里取出二十元钱，而不会去银行排队（等候）
。
Instead of standing in
line at the bank, we withdraw twenty dollars in as
many seconds from an
automatic teller
machine.
而后我们拿着这快速取出的钱去一家快捷
的便利商店（为什么在超市里排队呢？）
，购买已
经全部包好、
随时可放进微波炉的速冻晚餐??除非我们不介意等那么长时间买些快餐来代
替。