A Father and a Son
Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those trains that take travelers from the main terminal to their boarding gates. Free, sterile and impersonal, the trains run back and forth all day long. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter.
At the front of the first car – looking out the window at the track that lay ahead – were a man and his son.
They had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors were closing again. 「Here we go! Hold on to me tight!」 the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of sheer delight.
I know we’re supposed to avoid making racial distinctions these days, so I hope no one will mind if I mention that most people on the train were white, dressed for business trips or vacations – and that the father and son were black, dressed in clothes that were just about as inexpensive as you can buy.
「Look out there!」 the father said to his son. 「See that pilot? I bet he’s walking to his plane.」 The son craned his neck to look.
As I got off, I remembered some thing I』d wanted to buy in the terminal. I was early for my flight, so I decided to go back.
I did – and just as I was about to reboard the train for my gate, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn’t been heading for a flight, but had just been riding the shuttle.
"You want to go home now? " The father asked.
「I want to ride some more!」
「More?」 the father said, mock-exasperated but clearly pleased. 「You’re not tired?」
「This is fun!」 his son said.
「All right,」 the father replied, and when a door opened we all got on.
There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and the children turn out rotten. There are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong.
「Where are all these people going, Daddy?」 the son asked.
「All over the world,」 came the reply. The other people in the airport were leaving for distant destinations or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, sharing each other’s company.
Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.
Parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.
The train picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again.
父子倆
一天早晨去亞特蘭大機場，我看見一輛列車載著旅客從航空集散站抵達登記處。這類免費列車每天單調、無味地往返其間，沒人覺得有趣。但這個周六我卻聽到了笑聲。
在頭節車廂的最前面，坐著一個男人和他的兒子。他們正透過窗戶觀賞著一直往前延伸的鐵道。
他們停下來等候旅客下車，之後，車門關上了。「走吧。拉緊我!」父親說。兒子大約5歲吧，一路喜不自禁。
車上坐的多半是衣冠楚楚，或公差或度假的白人，只有這對黑人父子穿著樸素簡單。我知道如今我們不該種族歧視，我希望我這樣描述沒人介意。
「快看!」父親對兒子說：「看見那位飛行員了嗎?我敢肯定是去開飛機的。」兒子伸長脖子看。
下了車後我突然想起還得在航空集散站買點東西。離起飛時間還早，於是我決定再乘車回去。
正準備上車的時候，我看到那對父子也來了。我意識到他們不是來乘飛機的，而是特意來坐區間列車的。
爸爸問：「你想現在回家嗎?」
「我還想再坐一會兒!」
「再坐一會兒!」父親嗔怪模仿著兒子的語調，「你還不累?」
「真好玩!」兒子說。
「好吧，」父親說。車門開了，我們都上了車。
我們很多父母有能力送孩子去歐洲，去迪斯尼樂園，可孩子還是墮落了。
很多父母住豪華別墅，孩子有車有遊泳池，可孩子還是學壞了。
「爸爸，這些人去哪?」兒子問。
「世界各地。」父親回答。機場來來往往的人流或準備遠行，或剛剛歸來。這對父子卻在乘坐區間列車，享受著父子間的親情與陪伴。
而這裡。這位父親卻很在意花上一天陪伴兒子，並在這樣一個星期六的早上，提出這個計劃。
父母願意花時間，願意關注，願意盡心盡職。這不要花一分錢，可這卻是世間無價之寶。
火車加速了。父親指著窗外說著什麼，兒子直樂。
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