The Sociology Class
一堂社會(huì)學(xué)課

I have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology and the last project of the term was called “Smile”.

不久前我取得了我的大學(xué)學(xué)位。我上的最后一堂課是社會(huì)學(xué)，學(xué)期的最后一次作業(yè)是“微笑”。

The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's, one crisp March morning. We were waiting to be served, when suddenly everyone around us began to back away. As I turned around to see what was happening I smelled a horrible “dirty body” smell...and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.

老師讓全體同學(xué)走出課堂對(duì)三個(gè)人“微笑”，并且記錄下人們的反應(yīng)。不久，在一個(gè)明媚的三月的早晨，我和丈夫、小兒子一起去麥當(dāng)勞吃早餐。就在我們等候點(diǎn)餐的時(shí)候，突然我周圍的人開(kāi)始向后退去。當(dāng)我轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)想要看看發(fā)生了什么事，我聞到一股難聞的“骯臟的身體”的味道——就在我的身后站著兩個(gè)可憐的無(wú)家可歸的人。

As I looked down at the blue�瞖yed gentleman, close to me, he was “smiling”. He said “Good day” as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue�瞖yed gentle man was his protector.

我低下頭看了看站在我身旁的這位藍(lán)眼睛先生，發(fā)現(xiàn)他正在對(duì)我“微笑”。他一邊對(duì)我說(shuō)“早上好”，一邊數(shù)著手里一直攥著的幾枚硬幣。另一個(gè)人站在他的身后，手到處亂抓。我意識(shí)到這個(gè)人智力上有缺陷，而這位藍(lán)眼睛先生是他的保護(hù)人。

All he ordered was coffee because that was all they could afford to sit in the restaurant and warm up. Then I felt a strong compulsion to reach out and to embrace the blue�瞖yed man. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me...judging my every action.

他只要了一杯咖啡，因?yàn)樗麄冎荒茇?fù)擔(dān)起一杯咖啡——為了能在餐館里面坐一坐，取一下暖。我感到一種強(qiáng)烈的想要伸出雙臂擁抱這位藍(lán)眼睛先生的沖動(dòng)。就在這時(shí)我注意到餐館里所有的眼睛都在注視著我——想要看清我的每一個(gè)舉動(dòng)。

I smiled and asked for two more breakfast. I put the tray on the table where the two men were seated and laid my hand on the blue�瞖yed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, “Thank you.” I leaned over, began to hold his hand and said, “God is here working through me to give you hope.”

我微笑著又點(diǎn)了兩份早餐。我把托盤放在那兩個(gè)人的桌子上并把我的手放在那位藍(lán)眼睛先生冰冷的手上。他抬頭看著我，眼里含著淚，對(duì)我說(shuō)了聲謝謝。我俯下身去，握著他的手說(shuō)，“上帝希望通過(guò)我給你帶來(lái)希望�！�

When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That is why God gave you to me, Honey...to give me hope.”

當(dāng)我坐下來(lái)的時(shí)候，我的丈夫微笑著對(duì)我說(shuō)，“親愛(ài)的，上帝之所以讓你來(lái)到我身邊，就是為了給我?guī)��?lái)希望�！�

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in “my project” and we shared the story in the class...It is then that I knew that we, as human beings share this need to heal people and be healed.

在最后一課的那個(gè)晚上，我?guī)е�我的這個(gè)故事，回到了學(xué)校。我交上“作業(yè)”，并在課堂上分享了這個(gè)故事。就是在那時(shí)我明白我們?nèi)祟愋枰獛椭鷦e人，同時(shí)也需要?jiǎng)e人的幫助。

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn—Unconditional Acceptance!

我用自己的方式感動(dòng)了那天在麥當(dāng)勞的人，感動(dòng)了我的丈夫、兒子、老師，感動(dòng)了每一個(gè)在課堂上分享這個(gè)故事的人。我畢業(yè)了，并且學(xué)到了所學(xué)課程中最重要的一課，那就是“無(wú)條件的接納”!