空服員發飆變成勞工英雄

Flight attendant a Hero

Slater, a flight attendant on JetBlue, instantly became a folk hero in many people's eyes Monday after he grabbed a microphone and ranted at a passenger who had refused to apologize for hitting Slater with some luggage. Slater then grabbed a beer from the galley and fled the plane via the emergency exit.

一名乘客的行李箱打到JetBlue航空空服員Slater，卻不肯道歉。Slater隨即拿起麥克風對那位乘客開罵，接著從走廊拿了一罐啤酒，從逃生口閃人。這舉動在眾人眼中立刻成了英雄。

“How many of us can honestly say we haven't wanted to do the same thing? Slater is a working class hero!” one reader, Aaron Steele, commented on msnbc.com.

「多少人敢承認我們從來沒有想過做一模一樣的事？ Slater是我們勞工階級的英雄！」一位讀者Aaron Steele回應。

“Maybe not the best way to quit your job but hey, sometimes enough is enough,” said another, usa1967.

「或許這不是最好的辭職方式，不過有時候真的是夠了！」 另一位usa1967說。

Some may see Slater as a hero because they know they don't have the luxury to speak out like that in their own lives. While Slater may have felt great after finally letting loose in such a public way, the fact is that most of us need our jobs more than we need that release. And most of us realize that such a dramatic move can carry heavy consequences, such as the felony charges that Slater is currently facing.

有些人視Slater為英雄，因為他們沒辦法那樣發洩。雖然他在公開場合放縱情緒很過癮，不過多數人不會這麼做，因為飯碗還是重要，而不是發洩完，工作也跟著沒了。而且人們也知道這樣的行為得付出代價，例如Slate之後將面臨重罪指控。

That's especially true these days, with the unemployment rate hovering at 9.5 percent, nearly 15 million Americans looking for work, and many who are working being asked to do more work for the same or even less money.

尤其現在失業率達9.5％，近1千500萬美國人找不到工作，很多員工必須得做更多事，卻領相同甚至更少的錢。

“It's about time workers start to flip out!” wrote one reader, Jimi-2167680.

「員工本來就該發飆了！」讀者Jimi2167680說。

●It's about time

這句有兩個意思，第一個比較常見：「差不多時候了」。描述某件事情的過程或行程差不多該開始、結束、進行下個階段之類，用來表達個人判斷與想法。

例1：The meeting started at 10am. It's already 2pm now, it's about time we finish this meeting. 會議10點就開始了…現在已經兩點…我們差不多該結束這個會議了吧？

例2：I have been working here for over 10 years. I have contributed my time and energy to this company. I believe it's about time the company considers me for a promotion. 我在這間公司超過10年了，付出了我所有的時間和精神，我相信公司該差不多考慮晉升這件事了吧。

第二個意思較無法直翻，不過要是能理解背景就簡單多了。會用到這句的情況是想表達「一件事應該早就該發生卻到現在才實現」，所以帶著一些「終於」、「這樣才對嘛」的感覺在裡面，有時還有一些諷刺味，不過要看情況再加上說者的語氣才能意會到。

例1：

John: Hi Mary, about the money I borrowed from you, I will return it to you tonight. 嗨Mary，關於跟你借的那筆錢，我今晚會還給你。

Mary: It's about time! I lent that to you two years ago! 終於！那筆可是我兩年前借給你的！

例2：

Peter: I've had it with my colleague. I am going to confront him tomorrow and talk to him. 我受夠我同事了。我明天要好好的面對他，跟他談。

Vivian: It's about time you confronted him. He's been bullying you for a long time. 終於要面對他了！（這樣才對嘛／早就該這麼做了）他已經欺負你很久了。

注意：在文字上，有一個很好分辨是第二個意思的方法，那就是，因為這是一種久違的語氣，所以通常會用驚嘆號，例如文章裡的那句：It's about time workers start to flip out!

●Seen it a million times

英文裡，什麼事發生過很多次，不用「N次」或「幾百次」，反而用實際的數字來形容。不過，有趣的是，沒有規定一定要用a million這個數字，a thousand, a hundred, 也都很常用。不過要注意的是，雖然沒有規定用什麼數字，不過大部分還是用整數。另外，以one hundred為底限。“V+ amount + times”

例：

John: Are you sure this is safe? I have never bungee jumped before. 你確定這個安全嗎？我從來沒有高空彈跳過耶。

Mike: Don't worry! I've done this a thousand times. It's very safe! 放心！我跳過N百次了。很安全的！

●Let loose

有兩個意思。第一個是「釋放、放縱」，不過大部分是描述發出的聲音，例如嘆氣。

例：After she was told she didn't get the job position, she let loose a big sigh. 當被告知她應徵的工作沒被錄取，她嘆了一大口氣。

第二個意思跟「發洩」很相似，不過不一樣的是，在中文裡，發洩可以用來描述任何狀況，不只是語言上，也可以是行為上。但let loose特定描述一個人被逼到極限了，忍無可忍了，終於發飆，大罵一場，來當作發洩。請注意。

例：John's wife constantly scolds him for every little thing he does wrong. After years of this, one night he finally had enough and let loose.

John的太太對他做錯的任何一件事不管大小都在嘮叨及挑剔。這種情況持續好幾年，某天晚上他終於受夠了，對他太太發飆。

＜Window 1001＞是世界公民文化中心為金融、科技、貿易、管理等專業人才而打造的線上九宮格英語學習平台。每天只要7分鐘，堅持3個月，就能讓一個「英文只夠用來自我介紹」的上班族，進步到讀得懂Business Week、New York Times；持續9個月，聽得懂CNN、BBC的商業新聞。註冊或試讀請上網：www.window1001.com。