每周五，郵報都會多投一個塑料包。里面裝著厚厚一沓各大商家投放的印刷廣告：Macy’s, Best Buy, Verizon, Safeway…數(shù)不勝數(shù)。廣告紙上印著好多coupon(優(yōu)惠印花券)，剪下來去買該產(chǎn)品的話可以省個五毛一塊什么的。所以，周末在家剪coupon是美國大多數(shù)主婦都干的事。我不干這個，再說自己也沒那么多東西要買。但印刷廣告后附贈的那一本薄薄的WP Magazine（華盛頓郵報雜志）我卻是每期必看。里面的文章或洋灑或凝練，其中更不乏給出近期城中的各大活動資訊，生活妙方，即姿態(tài)高雅又不失平易近人。每期開篇第一章，必是城中一小人物的短訪。他們或是某家具店的小老板，或是某裁縫店的老師傅，或者是某醫(yī)院的接生護(hù)士。神學(xué)系的大學(xué)生轉(zhuǎn)行做木匠，露宿街頭的法國學(xué)徒奮斗一生終于有了自己的裁縫店，母親死于難產(chǎn)的菲律賓小鎮(zhèn)姑娘決心投身醫(yī)學(xué)，一個個小小人物看似平凡其實(shí)特別，勾勒出華府蕓蕓眾生相。誰說在DC只能正襟危坐談?wù)?？躺下來，慢慢讀，一樣能發(fā)現(xiàn)這座城市的平凡樂趣。
這是這周五（2010-10-08）的封面短訪
INTERVIEW BY
AMANDA ABRAMS
阿曼達(dá)•埃布蘭斯采訪
I wanted to get out of Ethiopia to flee the military regime there. It was chaos. I took a scholarship from Russia; the intention was not to stay in Russia but to get out somehow to any Western country. I was a student in Russia for eight years, studying economic planning. From there, I got an invitation from my friend in New York.
我要離開埃塞俄比亞，逃離那一團(tuán)糟的軍事政府。我申請了俄國一筆俄國的獎學(xué)金，但目的并不是想要留在俄羅斯而是盡可能的到任何一個西方國家。我在俄國讀了八年的經(jīng)濟(jì)計劃。在那里，我從一個朋友那搞到一封來自紐約的邀請函。
It was a hard time for me in the beginning. I applied for political asylum, but my request was denied after 10 years. I tried to tell the judge that I really don’t want to be part of the Ethiopian government; this is my belief. But he said that I’m an economically highly privileged person in Ethiopia. I got my green card through my wife, who is an American citizen. I knew her back home, and we met again here.
初來乍到實(shí)在辛苦。我政治避難申請了十年還是被拒。我曾試著告訴法官自己真的不想為埃塞俄比亞政府做事，這是我的堅(jiān)持。但他說我在埃塞俄比亞是高知高薪分子。我通過結(jié)婚拿到了綠卡，因?yàn)槲依掀攀枪?。我在老家的時候就認(rèn)識她，在這里我們又重遇到。
I tried to look for work in economics, but what happened was every time I applied for jobs, they said I’m overqualified, they say, I have to have an American education credential. I have to live my day-to-day life, so I started driving a taxicab in Washington, and after that I got into this business. We’ve had the store for three years now.
我嘗試過找與經(jīng)貿(mào)相關(guān)的工作，但每次求職時他們都說我條件太好。他們說我需要有美國的學(xué)歷背景。我每天都要過生活，所以我開始在DC開計程車，之后，我做起了現(xiàn)在這個生意。我們這家店開了三年了。
When you get into the business, there are so many, many things that you have to work on: the paperwork, going and buying the merchandise, dealing with customers, dealing with the maintenance. All that is me and my wife. this is a never-ending job; we’re working 13, 14 hours a day. I didn’t have a vacation for the last three years, not a single one. Not a single day off.
生意一旦做起來，就有好多，好多事情等著你去弄：文件報表，進(jìn)貨出貨，客服交流，店面維護(hù)。所有這些都靠我和我老婆，這是一個沒完沒了的工作。我們每天干13,14個小時。我過去三年沒休過假，一個假都沒。一天都沒休息過。
My son is 11 years old. We try to teach him the value of work. He always asks me to buy something, and I tell him, “I don’t have that kind of money.” he says, “Why? You work at the store.” So one day I took him and told, “Johannes,”—his name is Johannes—“you know, I’m buying this computer stuff for you because I’m working hard; If I didn’t work hard, I cannot make any money, and you could not get this. From now on, you come to the store and help me, and you make money.” Otherwise, he’s thinking that things are easy for me.
我兒子今年11歲。我們試著教他工作的價值。他總是鬧著要買這買那，我告訴他：“老爸沒那閑錢。”他說：“為什么？你不是在商店上班么。”于是某天我跟他說：“約翰內(nèi)斯，”—他叫約翰內(nèi)斯—“你曉得么，你老爸拼了命干活才買的這些電腦啊什么的給你。如果我不拼命干，我一點(diǎn)錢都掙不了，而你也就什么也沒得用。從現(xiàn)在開始，你來店里幫忙，你，自己掙錢。”我只能這么做，不然他只會覺得什么都來得很容易。
This is my country now. I learned the value of work here: You don’t need to be an economist to live; you can be an unskilled laborer and make a living. But I’m also regretting something, because I could’ve done much better when I came to the United States. But I’m happy. I make a living.
現(xiàn)在這里成了我的祖國。我領(lǐng)悟到這里的工作價值：你不必非要做個經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家而過生活；即便你是一個非技術(shù)工人也能過生活。但我還是為一些事感到遺憾，因?yàn)槲以究梢栽诿绹龅酶谩５椰F(xiàn)在開心。我過上了自己的生活。
其實(shí)我們都是小人物，丟在人堆里，我們的人生就和家對面三棟二單元四樓一室王會計的一樣普通。但普通并不是無意義。仔細(xì)想想，即便這樣的普通，這么多年來，我們經(jīng)歷了多少的輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)，苦痛掙扎？對于別人來說，那的確是沒意義，但對自己，這是我自己的一生，我開心，我過自己的生活，挺有意義。