Britain’s Got Talent 2009 参赛者 Susan Boyle 验明了一句话 “Do not judge a book by its cover”。确实,人绝对不该以貌取人,有些人啊,如 Susan Boyle,真真就是“深藏不露”。至于为什么Susan Boyle “深藏不露”,这其中的原因我们都懂吧,不用我明说。
在 Susan Boyle 演唱之前,每个人都把她当笑话来看,认为她不过又是个发白日梦的人,而这先入为主的看法,十之八九是建立在 Susan Boyle 的样貌,但 Susan Boyle 证明了 样貌 不等于 能力,样貌不与能力等同。
听听 Susan Boyle 在 Britain’s Got Talent 2009 一鸣惊人的表演吧。Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream,这一鸣惊人的表演,不单是Susan Boyle的Dream,也是我们世界上每个角落,每一个人的梦想 —— 不以貌取人,也不要旁人以貌取我们。
也在youtube找到了 Susan Boyle 十年前为慈善献声的录音,Susan Boyle’s Cry me a river。
打个比方说,参加奥运,一个选手,专攻一个项目,就准备一个项目;和一个什么项目都参加,准备所有项目的,谁比较累啊?这也不单是累不累的问题,而是,专攻一个项目的,在那么一个项目是精的,而准备、参加所有项目的,没一个项目是精的,也极可能最后一个奖项都没有。英文不是有一句话吗? Jack of all trades, Master of none。我认为,之所以落得 “Master of none”,最主要的原因就是时间不够,就是疲惫。
I arrived at the address where someone had requested a taxi. I honked but no one came out. I honked again, nothing. So I walked to the door and knocked. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets..
There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated’..
‘Oh, you’re such a good boy’, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, ‘Could you drive through downtown?’
‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly.
‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice’.
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued. ‘The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.
We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired. Let’s go now’
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up.. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.
I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
‘How much do I owe you?’ she asked, reaching into her purse.
‘Nothing,’ I said
‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.
‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.
‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said.
‘Thank you.’
I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?
What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.
You won’t get any big surprise in 10 days if you send this to ten people. But, you might help make the world a little kinder and more compassionate by sending it on.
Thank you, my friend…
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.