隨身之物

Track 9

by anonymous翻譯：常青

隨身之物

Track 9

by anonymous翻譯：常青

The most important thing in my bag that I carry year around is not the heaviest， but the strongest. It’s my EpiPen注. This one1）needle has the ability to save my life within seconds. In the early 2000， I began to have trouble breathing at the dinner table. And in that same day， I was informed that peanuts were now the new addition to the list of things I needed to stay away from. From that day on， I had to carry around this needle everywhere I go just in case.

Carrying around an EpiPen involves carrying a great amount of responsibility. The weight of responsibility that I carried is far greater than anything else. Being a young adult， I am responsible for my work， my health， and most importantly， my safety. Having responsibility2）ages you in a way that can prepare you for the future. With responsibility， I carry the expectations that I must hold above my head wherever I go. As a woman， each day I try to prove the3）stereotypes that have been set upon us are wrong.4）Gender should not be thought of as a5）factor to determine who is better or worse in society， yet sometimes it is. The same thing goes with my race. Being African American has caused many to6）think less of me or to feel as though I must follow a certain standard because of the7）pigments in my skin. It’s thought as though I must not be able to do something as well or even better than a person with a lighter8）complexion than me. I believe that the expectation that I carry around is much heavier than most things and requires a lot of strength and patience.

I must also carry the weight of trust that I’ve built with friends and family. Trust is a weight that if I stop carrying， it won’t feel as though I am lighter. I carry my mistakes， but with them I carry my9）accomplishments. I carry my fears， but with them I carry love. I10）guard it with my life because life is too short to live without having the feeling of loving someone or being loved. With each new moment in life， I carry another memory. With each memory， I carry the hope that I will continue to carry along memories which will have11）shaped me into the woman I want to become.

我一年到頭在包里裝著的，雖不是最沉重的，但卻是對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)最重要的東西，那便是我的腎上腺素筆。這支針管可以在幾秒鐘內(nèi)挽救我的生命。2000年初，我在餐桌上發(fā)現(xiàn)了自己開(kāi)始有呼吸困難的問(wèn)題。而就在同一天里，我又被告知自己的“禁忌物”清單上多了花生類(lèi)食品。從那天起，為以防萬(wàn)一，我到哪兒都要隨身攜帶著這支針管。

隨身攜帶腎上腺素筆的同時(shí)我也正背負(fù)著巨大的責(zé)任感，這種責(zé)任感遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)重于其他一切。作為一名青年，我要對(duì)我的工作和健康負(fù)責(zé)，最重要的還有我的自身安全。責(zé)任感會(huì)讓你變得成熟，讓你時(shí)刻準(zhǔn)備好迎接未來(lái)的挑戰(zhàn)。有了責(zé)任感，我便承載著自己無(wú)論走到哪里都必須昂首挺胸的期許。作為一名女性，我每天都試圖證明那些建立在我們身上的刻板印象是錯(cuò)誤的。性別不應(yīng)該成為社會(huì)去判定一個(gè)人好壞的因素，但有的時(shí)候它就是這樣。而我所屬的種族亦會(huì)面臨同樣的問(wèn)題。非洲裔美國(guó)人的身份讓很多人將我看輕，或者讓他們因?yàn)槲业哪w色而覺(jué)得我必須遵循一定的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)做事。他們似乎認(rèn)為，與膚色較淺的人相比，我肯定什么事都不能做得跟他們一樣好，或者更好。我想我身上承載著的對(duì)自我的期許要比大多數(shù)事物更為沉重，而且它還需要注入極大的力量與耐心。

我還必須背負(fù)著朋友和家人對(duì)我的信任之重。哪怕我放棄了信任的重量，我似乎也并不會(huì)感到輕松一些。……