8    Late Tuesday, on a subway ride from Brooklyn to the north of Manhattan, I resaw something I'd noticed and forgotten about. It is that more and more, on the streets and on the train, I see people wearing ID tags. We all wear IDs now. We didn't use to. They hang from thick cotton string or an aluminum chain; they're worn one at a time or three at a time, but they're there.
      星期二晚些时候，在从布鲁克林开往曼哈顿北部的地铁上，我又看到一个我注意过，可后来又忘了的现象。那就是大街上，地铁里，我越来越经常地发现人们挂着表明身份的胸卡。如今人人都佩带胸卡。过去我们是不带的。胸卡吊在粗棉线或铝制链上；有的佩带一张，有的同时佩带三张，反正胸卡处处可见。 

 
9    I ponder the implications. What does it mean that we wear IDs? What are we saying, or do we think we're saying? I mean aside from the obvious.
      我思索着这一现象意味着什么。大家随身携带身份证件，这意味着什么？我们是在表明什么？或者说我们自以为是在表明什么？我指的是表象之外的意义。 

  
10    I imagined yesterday the row of people across from me on the train, looking up all of a sudden from their newspaper and answering one after another:
      假设昨天地铁车厢里我对面的那排人一下子放下报纸抬起头来，逐个回答道： 
 
  
11    "It means I know who I am," says the man in blue shirt and suspenders.
      “这意味着我知道自己是谁，”穿蓝衬衫和吊裤带的那个男子说。 

  
12    "It means I can get into the building," says the woman in gray.
      “这意味着我能进办公楼，”那个灰衣女子说。 
  
  
13    "It means I am a solid citizen with a job."
      “这表明我是个有职业的体面公民。” 

  
14    "I am known to others in my workplace."
      “在工作场所别人知道我是谁。” 

  
15    "I'm not just blowing through life, I'm integrated into it. I belong to something. I receive a regular paycheck."
      “我不是在混日子，我融入了生活。我有所归属。我有固定的工资。” 
 
  
16    "I have had a background check done by security and have been found to be a Safe Person. Have you?"
      “安检部门对我的背景来历核查过，认定我为人可靠。你呢？” 

  
17    I wonder if unemployed people on the train look at the tags around the other peoples' necks and think. Soon I hope I'll have one too. I wonder if kids just getting their first job at 17 will ever know that in America we didn't all use to be ID'd. Used to be only for people who worked in nuclear power plants or great halls of government. Otherwise you could be pretty obscure. Which isn't a bad way to be.
      我不知道车上那些失业的人看着别人头颈里吊着的胸卡，会不会有什么想法。我希望不久我也有张胸卡。我不知道那些刚刚开始工作的17岁的小伙子们会不会知晓，以前在美国，我们并不是人人携带身份证的。过去只有在核电站或政府办公大楼里工作的人才用。在别处，没人会知道你是谁。这可不是件坏事。 
  
  
18    A month ago there were news reports of a post-Sept. 11 baby boom. Everyone was so rocked by news of their mortality that they realized there will never be a perfect time to have kids but we're here now so let's have a family. I believed the baby boom story and waited for the babies.
      一个月前，有关于9·11事件之后出现生育高峰的新闻报道。大家为那些关于死亡的报道所震惊，意识到决没有什么生养孩子的最佳时机，现在我们既然活着，就该生儿育女。我相信关于生育高峰报道的真实性，期待着这些孩子的出生。 

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