丢了手机的“天赐幸福”

07 丢了手机的“天赐幸福”

有人说，手机已经成为现代人的一个“器官”，深深地植入到我们的日常里了。不过FT专栏作家露西·凯拉韦在丢了手机之后，却发现了生活的另一面。

Last Wednesday, after a seven-day break, I rejoined the modern world.For a full week I had done something frightening, shaming yet ultimately liberating.I had been without a phone.

在度过了一个七天的“假期”后，上周三，我终于又回归了现代社会。在这整整一周的时间里，我先是感到不安、愧疚，不过最后又觉得自由——这是离开手机的一个星期。

This strange period started in Washington DC in a taxi bound for the airport.I had spent the journey doing emails on my phone, which I put down on the seat to pay the driver, only to leave the cab without it.In airport security a few minutes later I reached into my bag.No phone.I emptied it on to the floor.Nothing.My heart started to race, my breathing turned shallow and I was prickling with sweat.

这一段奇特经历始于华盛顿。那时我正坐在驶向机场的出租车上，一路上都在用手机处理邮件。后来在向司机付钱时，我把手机放在座位上，下车的时候就给忘了。几分钟后在机场安检时，我才翻了翻我的包，发现没有手机。我甚至还把包里的东西全都倒在地上——还是没找到手机。一瞬间，心跳加快，呼吸急促，身上冒汗。

I've lost my phone, I wailed at the person next to me.Half a dozen people overheard, and an impromptu crisis team formed.Someone tried to ring my number, but it was on silent.Others asked if I knew the name of the cab company and if I'd paid by card? No and no, I said.

我抓着身边的人就开始恸哭：我把手机搞丢了！不少人都听到了，好心人们迅速组成了应急处理小分队。有的人试着拨打我的号码，不过我的手机是静音状态。还有人问我记不记得出租车公司的名字，或者是不是刷卡支付的——“没记住，也没有刷卡”，我回答。

Already I'd learnt two things.People in general are very nice.And on the scale of human calamities losing your phone is now seen as up there with cardiac arrest.

到这里，我认识到两件事。1，一般来说人们还是很善良的；2，对于现代人而言，丢手机简直是堪比心脏骤停般的灾难。

Two hours later, queueing for a taxi in Boston I felt the need, Ancient Mariner style, to tell my story to the man next to me.He asked for my Apple login details and then showed me on his phone a little blue circle moving slowly over a bridge.There it is, he said.It's 396 miles away.I looked at the blob and wanted to cry.

两个小时后，在波士顿排队等候出租车时，我像柯勒律治笔下的老水手一样，觉得需要跟身边的人倾诉我的故事。这个人要了我的苹果账号细节，然后指着自己手机上的一个正缓缓跨越一座桥的小蓝圈给我看——“你的手机在那儿”，他说，“离我们396英里远”。我看着那一团只想哭。

In my hotel room I sat on the edge of one of two vast beds and gazed down on the city, lit up below me.Room service was on its way, and from my laptop I emailed various people to say I'd lost my phone.By any standards I was safe, facing no imminent or distant risk.Yet still I felt all wrong: exposed and vulnerable.The stress of the speech I was giving was nothing by comparison.

在酒店的房间里，我坐在一张大床边，俯瞰这座城市，慢慢点亮。客房服务在来的路上，我用我的电脑给各种人发邮件，告诉他们我把手机丢了。不管怎么说，我还算是安全的，没有远虑也没有近忧。不过我还是觉得既没有安全感又脆弱。相较而言，我对于将要发表演讲所感到的紧张，简直不值一提。

At the conference the next day the delegates filed out for coffee, but there was no networking going on as everyone was in silent communion with their emails.With no such comfort blanket I had no choice but do something retro — engage a stranger in conversation, who rewarded me by being both interesting and vaguely useful.

第二天的会议上，与会代表们陆续去喝杯咖啡，不过大家之间全无交流，因为每个人都在沉默着处理邮件。不过我没有这样的福利，于是只能做点“复古”的事情：找了个陌生人交谈。我发现这个人的回应不仅有趣，还有那么点儿用。

Later out on the street and bound for South Station, I did another thing I hadn't done since I got my first smartphone.I asked a woman for directions, and she duly provided them.Here was my next discovery: asking a person is better than Google Maps.It is faster and doesn't require reading glasses.

随后在大街上和驶向波士顿南站的路上，我做了一件自从我用了智能手机就再也没做过的事情——向一个女士问路。她也很详细地把路线告诉了我。于是我的另一个发现是：找人问路比Google强。问路其实更快，并且我也不需要戴上眼镜去看屏幕。

On the train to New York I did my emails.Because it is a kerfuffle opening the laptop and signing on, I did them in one go, after which I shut the machine and read a book.

在驶向纽约的火车上，我处理了我的邮件。所有琐屑的事情在我打开电脑的时候一股脑地涌了进来，我把它们一口气全部处理完了。随后我关了电脑，读了一本书。

It then occurred to me that the invention of the BlackBerry was not progress.There is nothing to be gained from having your emails follow you around — and much to be lost as it detracts from whatever else you are doing.

随后我意识到，黑莓手机的发明其实并不是一个进步。它不过是让那些邮件如影随形地跟着你，并且因为你常常三心二意地做着别的事，很多邮件都会被错过。

By day three, all panic had gone, replaced by an unaccustomed feeling of freedom.Without my whole world tugging at me from my pocket I could simply marvel at the beauty of Central Park South in the early morning sun.

丢手机后的第三天，我感到惶恐已经全然消失，取而代之的是一种前所未有的自由感。我的世界再也不是被口袋里的手机牵着鼻子走，在清晨，终于可以简简单单地对着晨光里的南中央公园感到惊叹了。

Back home in London there were only two occasions when a phone might have come in handy.The first was when I'd missed the last overground home, and I wanted Uber, but this wasn't too bad as soon enough a bus came trundling along.

回到伦敦，只有两件事让我感到，可能需要手边有个手机。第一个是当我错过最后一班地上铁回家，我想要个手机叫优步。不过这个问题不难解决，因为很快就有一辆巴士缓缓驶来。

The second was when I was meeting someone who had tried to text to tell me she was running late.All that happened was I was left waiting for 20 minutes, which I spent thinking about what I wanted from the meeting.

第二件事是，我没有收到约见的一位女士的短信，她试着发信息告诉我她赶不及了，要晚点到。结果是我在那里等了20分钟，在这20分钟里，我想了想这次会面想要达成什么。

When my new phone arrived last Wednesday, I felt no pleasure at the neat white oblong box.I opened my text messages dreading all the messages I'd missed, only to find none at all — texts don't automatically transfer from one gadget to another.

当上周三我的新手机送到的时候，拿着那个精致的长方形白盒子，我却开心不起来。我心惊胆战地打开短信，想要查看这几天里错过的全部消息，不过什么也没发现——短信不能自动地在手机之间转存。

There was only one bad thing about losing my phone.I lost face at the same time.When one of my sons left his phone on a park bench a few months ago I told him if he wasn't mature enough to look after a smartphone, he wasn't mature enough to own one.My loss proves something different.Evidently, I'm too mature to look after mine.And now I know I'm too mature to need it as well.

在丢手机这件事上，只有一件坏事情，那就是我丢人了。几个月前，我儿子把手机丢在了公园长椅上。我告诉他：如果你还不能懂事到看好一部智能手机，那就不能拥有一部。我丢手机的事情说明了另外一个道理。显然，我过于“懂事”，因此也没有照看好自己的手机。现在我知道，自己已经懂得如何不再那么依赖手机了。

词汇总结

wail [weɪl]

vi.哀号；悲叹

vt.为某人死亡而悲痛；哀悼某人；哀号着说

n.哀号；悲叹；恸哭声

I've lost my phone, I wailed at the person next to me.

我抓着身边的人就开始恸哭：我把手机搞丢了！

calamity [kə'læmɪtɪ]

n.灾难；不幸事件

cardiac ['kɑːdɪæk]

n.强心剂；强胃剂

adj.心脏的；心脏病的；贲门的

On the scale of human calamities losing your phone is now seen as up there with cardiac arrest.

对于现代人而言，丢手机简直是堪比心脏骤停般的灾难。

delegate [‘dɛlɪ'ɡeɪt]

vt.委派…为代表

n.代表

At the conference the next day the delegates filed out for coffee.

第二天的会议上，与会代表们陆续去喝杯咖啡。

kerfuffle [kə'fʌf(ə)l]

n.混乱；动乱

v.使混乱；弄乱

Because it is a kerfuffle opening the laptop and signing on, I did them in one go, after which I shut the machine and read a book.

所有琐屑的事情在我打开电脑的时候一股脑地涌了进来，我把它们一口气全部处理完了。随后我关了电脑，读了一本书。