Toss-up

2018/12/13 05:12:31 網誌分類: 生活

13 Dec

        　　Whenever friends ask me which American city I like the best I tell them it's a toss-up between Seattle and New York. I have lived in Seattle for many years but have never lived in New York although I went there many times when I lived in Washington DC. I like Seattle because it's scenic (pretty, picturesque), liberal, and laid-back. New York is fast-paced but I like its multicultural population. It is a melting pot city. The word “toss-up” means the tossing (throwing) of a coin into the air to make a decision between two choices. But if you say it’s a toss-up between two possibilities, such as Seattle and New York, it means either possibility is likely.

        　　The word “laid-back” means relaxed, informal, and easy-going. When a city is fast-paced, it means everything moves or happens very fast and people are always in a rush. Hong Kong is a fast-paced city. A melting pot city is a city where people of many different races and cultures have combined to live as a society. For example, New York, Los Angeles, and London are melting pots. Hong Kong is not a melting pot because about 92 percent of the population is Chinese. During a recent trip to Europe, I tried out the newly-opened Plaza Premium Lounge at the Hong Kong airport. I noticed the staff at the lounge was like a mini melting pot.

        　　The staff included Filipinos, Nepalese, Eurasians, and other ethnic minorities, as well as mainlanders. The deputy lounge manager on duty on the evening I went there was a young Nepalese man called Anil. He was very friendly and helpful. Two Filipino waitresses at the lounge told me they used to be singers and actually sang a few lines of one of my favorite songs. Ethnic minorities in Hong Kong often have difficulty getting jobs. That’s why it’s good to see companies like Plaza Premium hiring ethnic minorities. When I went to a Cathay Pacific airport lounge last year, I also noticed ethnic minorities working there. I still remember the young Filipino bartender who was skillful in making cocktail drinks.

        *****

        　　每當有朋友問我最喜歡哪一個美國城市？我總是告訴他們，西雅圖和紐約二者皆可（toss-up）。我在西雅圖住了許多年，但就從未住過紐約，即使我住華盛頓時已去過紐約多遍。我喜歡西雅圖是因為它風景優美（scenic）、自由和悠閒（laid-back）。紐約則是節奏急促（fast-paced），但我又喜歡它多元文化的人口，是個「大熔爐」（melting pot）的城市。“Toss-up”是指拋擲（tossing）硬幣到空中，以「擲公字」在兩個選擇中間做決定；但若你說那是在兩個可能性，如西雅圖和紐約之間的 toss-up，那即是說兩個選擇都是合適的。

        　　“Laid-back”是指很悠閒、不拘束、隨和的。當一個城市是fast-paced，即是說那裏的一切都很快，人們總是匆匆忙忙的。香港就是個急促（fast-paced）的城市。A melting pot city就是許多不同種族和文化融合、共冶一爐的城市。譬如，紐約、洛杉磯和倫敦都是文化的大熔爐（melting pots）。香港不算是個大熔爐（melting pot），因為差不多92%的人口都是華人。在一次遊歐途中，我在香港機場試了那時新開的環亞機場貴賓室。我發現，貴賓室的工作團隊就像是個迷你的大熔爐（melting pot）。

        　　那裏的員工包括了菲律賓裔、尼泊爾裔、亞歐裔以及其他少數族裔，也有內地人。那天傍晚我到訪貴賓室時，當值的副經理是位年輕的尼泊爾籍男人名 Anil，他很友善和樂於幫忙。貴賓室的兩名菲裔女侍應告訴我，她們從前是歌手，更現場獻唱了幾句我一首喜歡的歌。在香港的少數族裔總是難以找工作，因此我樂見像環亞般的公司會聘請少數族裔。當我上年去一個國泰航空貴賓室時，我也留意到有少數族裔在那兒工作。我仍然記得那位年輕的菲律賓調酒師，很會調配各種的雞尾酒。

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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