DABDA (连载3)
Bargaining
Z到美国出差的第三周。T搬进新家的第三周。
大傻丫头地区变得越来越热了。T最近也像热锅上的蚂蚁,不知道怎么办才好,他瞥了一眼房间角落里不声不响的小t,心神不宁地拿出微波炉烤好的面包,涂上蜂蜜和豆渣,再端出昨天做好放在冰箱的豆浆准备开始今天的营养早餐。咦?Z那个小子怎么还没起床?刚想上去嘲笑一下这个比他还懒的同学,只见Z拎着书包从楼梯走了下来:早,你又做营养早餐了,呃?这个明信片是什么,不是写着上次你出给我的谜语吗? There’s a letter and a word. The word is starting with the letter, ending with the letter and full of the letter. What are they? 到底是什么?T望了一眼小t,想到了昨天的事,欲言又止。那是他一个人健身回来,想用车载电话打电话给他的mentor,结果GPS的静音突然失效了,不停地发出转弯信息,干扰他念出"Call Mentor Mobile"的指令。难道小t想阻止我联系mentor?太恐怖了。所以他把车开去跟“表弟”换了下车,开了辆BMW Z4回来,希望这辆车不会听从自家小t的命令,同时有了另一个计划:“Z,我们今天去看电影吧。”
又是时候上班了。“哇,敞篷跑车很酷嘛,把顶拉开兜兜风吧。”Z还是第一次坐敞篷跑车,更不用说他活了二十几年,这天才第一天穿牛仔裤。“你懂什么呀?我的车比表弟这辆酷多了好吧?”T开始大力维护自己的车,虽然有点心虚,不知道那辆车在表弟那儿会不会闯祸。“Z4外强中干,T35秀外慧中,我的车比它贵,马力比它强劲,可以坐四个人,我的车可以跟iphone连接,听歌打电话查饭店,后视镜可以指示当前方向还有开车库门,三天三夜也说不完哪,这些feature让表弟妒~恨~不~已啊。我就是喜欢这种自动的东西,我家可是高科技住宅的样板楷模…”T滔滔不绝地吹着,Z把手伸到窗外静静地听着,只是嘴角挂着摒不住的笑意。T说着说着突然觉得自己已经习惯了身边机器人的存在,洗碗的,扫地的,割草的,汽车,手机,和在M公司编写的软件,离上一次与动物植物亲近已经很久了,我真的是如小t所说,是注定属于神族阵营的吗?今天还要去电影院执行原定计划吗?快开出山路上520高速了,T正在考虑要不要把敞篷关起来,这时空中飘来一页纸落在车厢里。上面写着:
In a modern society, people always face the dilemma to choose whether AAA or BBB. This problem is the much debated one in that it affects everybody in their daily lives. People may prefer one to another although some may have no opinions about it at all. Before rendering my opinion, I think it is necessary to take a glance at the arguments of both sides.
It is quite easy for average people to choose BBB because of the obvious reason that—. It can be given by a well known example that —.
But at the mean time, although BBB has some advantages, it also has many drawbacks such as —. Therefore we have no complete evidence to suggest that BBB is always better than AAA. What is more, the innate quality of AAA, unfortunately, is often underestimated; in other words,if you notice the invisible benefits of choosing AAA, you can understand AAA more deeply.
Here I would explain a few of the most important reasons. The main reason is that —. To illustrate this, there is an appropriate example that is very persuasive: —.
— is only part of the important aspects, and another equally significant role of choosing AAA lies in the development of —.
This demonstrates the undeniable fact that —.
Besides, the further reason why I advocate AAA is that —. This may explain why —.
In addition, some experts maintain that —-. This significant point, however, is often not noticed by most people and accordingly, is unconsciously overlooked.
Finally, as a proverb says, “Everything has two sides”. Although I admit that there are a couple of advantages of —-, I still think that the disadvantages of it are more obvious. Such as —, —-, and —-. This demonstrates that we have no complete evidence to suggest that BBB is always better than AAA.
If all the factors above are considered, we will find out that the advantages of AAA outweigh those of BBB. Therefore from what we have discussed, we may safely come to the conclusion that choosing AAA is a rather wise decision. But I have not denied the opinion that choosing BBB. I must admit that people can do well without AAA, but no one can ignore the added convenience and satisfaction offered by AAA. Such experience will definitely be helpful in one’s later life.
这不是托福作文模板吗?Z嘟囔道,怎么美国也会有垃圾漂在空中的,不过这个模板倒是挺万能的,真的什么都能套呵,要是生活当中的事情都能分析得这么门儿清就好了,怕的就是拎不清。这世道吧,有时候教育你退一步海阔天空,有时候又说知难而进哪怕只有1%的机会也要100%地去争取。说有的事情是你能不控制的,要有勇气放弃,有的事情是你能做好的,要有毅力做好,关键是哪有那样的无上智慧能区分这两种情况呢。没有宗教的人活着就是累,你说要不咱也像TC一样也去信个曾哥啥的。T听Z唧唧歪歪了半天好像也挺迷茫彷徨的,觉得还是自己的mentor可能更能给他的现状提供些建议,于是牛头不对马嘴地应道“今天看电影叫Y也一起去吧。”
下班,Crossroads, Ice Age 3。先在电影院对面吃饭,Y对着西餐菜单看了半天,对着服务员说,就要这个吧,T-bag。What?服务员眼都瞪大了,Z和T笑得都快喷了。然后Z点饮料,说要Spirit,服务员纠结了好久才明白他要点的是Sprite雪碧,T和Y也狠狠地嘲笑了Z一把,最后,T说对面是不是电影院啊,怎么也没看到cinema三个字啊。Ci~ne~ma,三个字…就这样三个人一顿饭从头笑到尾。等到后来看搞笑的Ice Age 3的时候笑得都快抽筋了。T还是没有忘记自己的计划,留下自己的iphone,问Y借了中国移动的手机,悄悄起身来到厕所去给mentor打电话。希望侥幸中国移动还没有被美国神族拉拢。
果然作为旅居美国多年的mentor,早就选好了边–虫族。难怪他家里那么多猫猫狗狗,平时在后院撒把花生就有松鼠,兰雀和乌鸦跑来围食,特别是看兰雀的眼神很特别,难道那是他的守护精灵?原来《变形金刚》是神族早年内战的缩影,T还得知今天得到的托福作文模板也是神族争取支持者的暗战传单,AAA – American Automobile Association, 美国汽车协会, BBB – Better Business Bureau,商业改进局,其实这两家就是神虫两族的指挥中心。难怪AAA总是鼓励汽车尾气自由排放,以毒害虫族,而BBB也经常打击iphone等神族企业的市场销售。另一个很有用的信息,在汽车人当中,车牌号码越特别的,越是资深厉害的神族单位。T回想起今天看到的一些有印象的车牌和车:AUDI.A4的大红AUDI A4,WINXP的大奔X5,IMYOURS的疑似大黄蜂,哦,还有车牌为那个谜底的…天哪,原来自己和神族大佬曾经这么接近。Mentor作为无欲无求的虫族支持者,至今保持着不开车的习惯,但这些年在M公司好像混得不怎么样了,是不是和公司的文化已经脱离了。
屏幕上巴克嘲笑着老虎说cover your back,那Who’s gonna cover your front? Z和小孩们一起开心地大笑起来。和小孩子们在一起Z似乎格外容易开心,周末的时候和同事L全家去爬Rainier雪山,Z全程和L刚上小学的女儿甜雨大手拉小手,相谈甚欢。甜雨作为ABC小孩子,英语说得又快又溜,让Z不认真还跟不上。印象最深的是,甜雨很怕自己在积雪满地的路上滑到,让Z紧点再紧点地拽住她的手,回头一笑"That feels much better"。Z感到久违了的被人需要的感觉,立刻开始思索x gf有类似的举动是什么时候了。甜雨又问“Do you love snow?”Z顺口答道“Yes, absolutely.”,甜雨又来了一句“Why don’t you marry her?”Z想,一言难尽啊,这小孩子怎么思维跳跃这么快,问我这么个问题,哦,不对,想歪了,她是问我为什么不娶雪:)真是个调皮的小女生。
电影散场,又是九点半,太阳披着一道飘逸艳极的霞光,向地平线滑去。T带着Z,收完信又回到了家中。听了mentor的话,T的彷徨并没有减轻,他不确信那是自己想要的生活,他的内心仿佛还是有份automan的渴望,希望驾着自己钉着汽车人或者霸天虎标志的T35,一骑绝尘。遐想中,忽然停电了,T看看小t,电池还能撑一段时间。这会不会是虫族的进攻?神族对能源的依赖,让它也不是那么无敌?T带着一天多过一天的问号入睡了。停电前,Z正在MSN上安慰一个刚分手的高中同学,Whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you stronger。刚说完这句话就停电了,笔记本倒是有九星电池,路由器挂了。黑暗中,Z又默念了一遍这句话,但心底里有个声音问:但是要是就是被kill了怎么办?