文/Bob Greene 譯/何朝陽
Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those trains that take travelers from the main terminal to their boarding gates. Free, sterile and impersonal, the trains run back and forth all day long. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter.
At the front of the first car – looking out the window at the track that lay ahead – were a man and his son.
We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors wee closing again. “Here we go! Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of sheer delight.
I know we’re supposed to avoid making racial distinctions these days, so I hope no one will mind if I mention that most people on the train were white, dressed for business trips or vacations – and that the father and son were black, dressed in clothes that were just about as inexpensive as you can buy.
“Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he’s walking to his plane.” The son craned his neck to look.
As I got off, I remembered some thing I’d wanted to buy in the terminal. I was early for my flight, so I decided to go back.
I did – and just as I was about to reboard the train for my gate, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn’t been heading for a flight, but had just bee riding the shuttle.
“I want to ride some more!”
“More?” the father said, mock-exasperated but clearly pleased. “You’re not tired?”
“This is fun!” his son said.
“All right,” the father replied, and when a door opened we all got on.
There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and the children turn out rotten. There are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong. Rich and poor, black and white, so much goes wrong so often.
“Where are all these people going, Daddy?” the son asked.
“All over the world,” came the reply. The other people in the air port wee leaving for distant destinations or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, sharing each other’s company.
So many troubles in this country – crime, the murderous soullessness that seems to be taking over the lives of many young people, the lowering of educational standards, the increase in vile obscenities in public, the disappearance of simple civility. So many questions about what to do. Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.
The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.
The train picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again, and the answer is so simple.
父親、兒子與答案
（美） 鮑勃•格林
一天早晨去亞特蘭大機場，我看見一輛列車載載著旅客從航空集散站抵達登記處。這類免費列車每天單調、無味地往返其間，沒人覺得有趣。但這個周六我卻聽到了笑聲。
在頭節車廂的最前面，坐著一個男人和他的兒子。他們正透過窗戶觀賞著一直往前延伸的鐵道。
我們停下來等候旅客下車，之後，車門關上了。“走吧。拉緊我！”父親說。兒子大約5歲吧，一路喜不自禁。
車上坐的多半是衣冠楚楚，或公差或度假的白人，只有這對黑人父子穿著樸素簡單。我知道如今我們不該種族歧視，我希望我這樣描述沒人介意。
“快看！”父親對兒子說：“看見那位飛行員了嗎？我敢肯定是去開飛機的。”兒子伸長脖子看。
下了車後我突然想起還得在航空集散站買點東西。離起飛時間還早，於是我決定再乘車回去。
正准備上車的時候，我看到那對父子也來了。我意識到他們不是來乘飛機的，而是特意來坐區間列車的。
“我還想再坐一會兒！”
“再坐一會兒！”父親嗔怪模仿著兒子的語調，“你還不累？”
“真好玩！”兒子說。
“好吧，”父親說。車門開了，我們都上了車。
我們很多父母有能力送孩子去歐洲，去狄斯尼樂園，可孩子還是墮落了。很多父母住豪華別墅，孩子有車有游泳池，可孩子還是壆壞了。富人、窮人，黑人、白人，那麼多人都輕易壆壞了。
“爸爸，這些人去哪？”兒子問。
“世界各地。”父親回答。機場來來往往的人流或准備遠行，或剛剛掃來。這對父子卻在乘坐區間列車，享受著父子間的親情與陪伴。
我們正面臨許多問題：犯罪、越來越多的年輕人變得冷漠無情、文化水平下降、公共場合卑劣猥褻上升、起碼的禮貌喪失，等等。我們有那麼多的問題要處理。而這裏。這位父親卻很在意花上一天陪伴兒子，並在這樣一個星期六的早上，提出這個計劃。
其實答案很簡單：父母願意花時間，願意關注，願意儘心儘職。這不要花一分錢，可這卻是世間無價之寶。
火車加速了。父親指著窗外說著什麼，兒子直樂。是的，答案就是這麼簡單。Bob Greene
