「我在公共住房裡長大，早早就接觸了毒品。當我17歲時，我犯了一個又蠢又臭的搶劫案，最終作為成年人被起訴。我20歲時離開了監獄，然後工作了一段時間，領的工資是最低檔的。
後來我在服裝區發現了一家做山寨的韓國服裝店。他們能把任何標籤都印在衣服上，只要我想要。我可以用15美元買一條牛仔褲，然後去黑人居住區裡的撞球廳，把它以25美元的價格賣給牙買加人和多米尼加人。
我知道那不合法，但我還是覺得自己過著誠實的生活，特別是跟我過去相比。我拼命工作，一切都好像順風順水。我只在第一年可能就賣掉了2000條牛仔褲。
但在聖誕節前三天，我被搶劫了。三個屁孩子暗算了我。那天我整天都在外面工作，很累，手指都是冷的，而且不想把錢交出去，所以他們朝我肚子開了槍。
我氣極了，感覺受到了侵犯。我通過努力工作賺到的錢，卻被他們拿走了。我能感覺到那個過去的 Gerald 回來了，我想殺了他們，我出院後就去街上找他們，當時肚子上還掛著結腸鏡檢查的袋子。那時，我離我的過去近在咫尺。
但最終憤怒消退了，我又回去工作了。我甚至不再做山寨服裝，改賣我自己的設計。我不想再回到監獄。監獄並沒有糾正我，但它確實抑制了我。
那個過去的 Gerald 永遠都在，但存在感並不強，比如當我絕望時，或者我因為自己仍然沒法讓我媽搬出公共住房而氣到發瘋時，我總能把他抑制住。
我看到了太多得在監獄待到死的人了。我可不能成為他們，我太熱愛生活了，我還得去蹦極和釣魚呢。」
「I grew up in the projects and got involved in drugs early. I committed a stupid ass robbery when I was seventeen and ended up being charged as an adult. I got out of prison when I was twenty.
I worked a minimum wage job for awhile, then I found a Korean shop in the garment district that was making counterfeit clothes. They would put any label I wanted on them. I could buy jeans for $15 and bring them up to Harlem, and I』d go to the pool hall and sell them to the Jamaicans and Dominicans for $25.
I know it wasn’t exactly legal. But I finally felt like I was making an honest living. Especially compared to my past. I was working hard. Things were going well. I probably sold two thousand jeans that first year.
But three days before Christmas I got robbed. Three kids ambushed me. I』d been out working all day. I was tired. My fingers were cold. And I didn’t want to hand over the money. So they shot me in the stomach.
I was so angry. I felt so violated. I』d made that money by working hard and they』d taken it from me. I could feel the old Gerald coming back. I wanted to kill them. I went looking for them after I got out of the hospital. I walked the streets with my colonoscopy bag. I was so close to being pulled back to my past.
But eventually the anger subsided and I went back to work. I even stopped with the counterfeit clothes and sold my own designs. I didn’t want to go back to prison. Prison didn’t correct me, but it did check me.
The old Gerald is always there. Just a little bit. Like when I’m feeling desperate and I’m mad that I still can’t afford to get my mom out of the projects. But I always keep him in check.
I saw too many guys in prison who were there for life. And I love life too much to be them. I want to go bungee jumping one day. I want to go fishing.」
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ABOUT US
Humans of New York是紐約攝影師Brandon Stanton開創的街頭攝影計劃，他每天在紐約的街頭尋找普通的紐約人，請他們講述自己的生活和感悟，簡單的幾句話裡常常有讓人會心一笑或者擊中人心的力量。
這個項目堅持了幾年，目前在Facebook等幾大平臺有幾千萬粉絲，影響力巨大。我們的公眾號每天精選Humans of New York的內容同步翻譯成中文，翻譯時我們用最樸素的文字，不做任何演繹，力求原汁原味地展現這些紐約人的話語。
在Humans of New York的激勵下，世界上很多城市都有人開始了類似的攝影項目，其中也包括不少中國城市。我們也會從中選擇部分有意思的故事不定期發布。
人在紐約 | 紐約街頭普通人的故事 | 微信號 HONY2014