In Atlantic City
On a recent weekend in Atlantic City, a woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine(老虎機(jī)，一種賭具). She took a break from the slots for dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room. But first she wanted to stash (貯藏，隱藏)the quarters in her room.
"I'll be right back and we'll go to eat," she told her husband and she carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator. As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard. Both were black. One of them was big ... very big ... an intimidating figure. The woman froze. Her first thought was: These two are going to rob me. Her next thought was: Don't be a bigot(頑固者), they look like perfectly nice gentlemen. But racial stereotypes (種族成見(jiàn))are powerful, and fear immobilized (使固定不動(dòng))her. She stood and stared at the two men. She felt anxious, flustered(慌亂的，狼狽的), and ashamed. She hoped they didn't read her mind, but knew they surely did; her hesitation about joining them on the elevator was all too obvious.
Her face was flushed. She couldn't just stand there, so with a mighty effort of will she picked up one foot and stepped forward and followed with the other foot and was on the elevator.
Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors as they closed. A second passed, and then another second, and then another. Her fear increased! The elevator didn't move. Panic consumed her. My God,
she thought, I'm trapped and about to be robbed! Her heart plummeted(垂直落下). Perspiration (出汗，汗水)poured from every pore(毛孔).
Then....one of the men said, "Hit the floor." Instinct (本能)told her: Do what they tell you. The bucket of quarters flew upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator carpet. A shower of coins rained down on her.
Take my money and spare me, she prayed. More seconds passed. She heard one of the men say politely, "Ma'am, if you'll just tell us what floor you're going to, we'll push the button." The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out. He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh. She lifted her head and looked up at the two men. They reached down to help her up. Confused, she struggled to her feet.
"When I told my man here to hit the floor," said the average sized one, "I meant that he should hit the elevator button for our floor. I didn't mean for you to hit the floor, ma'am."
He spoke genially. He bit his lip. It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing. She thought: My God, what a spectacle I've made of myself. She was too humiliated to speak. She wanted to blurt out (脫口而出)an apology, but words failed her. How do you apologize to two perfectly respectable gentlemen for behaving as though they were going to rob you? She didn't know what to say.
The three of them gathered up the strewn (散落的)quarters and refilled her bucket. When the elevator arrived at her floor they insisted on walking her to her room. She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid she
might not make it down the corridor.
At her door they bid (祝愿)her a good evening. As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with laughter while they walked back to the elevator. The woman brushed herself off. She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her husband.
The next morning flowers were delivered to her room - a dozen roses. Attached to EACH rose was a crisp (硬的，脆的)ten dollar bill. The card said: "Thanks for the best laugh we've had in years."
大西洋城驚魂
大西洋賭城的一個(gè)周末，一個(gè)老太太玩老虎機(jī)贏了一桶25分的硬幣。她決定休息一會(huì)，和丈夫到酒店餐廳共進(jìn)晚餐。進(jìn)餐廳前，老太太要將這一桶硬幣放到酒店房間里。
“我馬上就回來(lái)，然后咱們一起用餐。”老太太邊對(duì)丈夫說(shuō)，邊捧著這桶硬幣走到電梯前。老太太正要跨進(jìn)電梯，卻看到電梯里已站著兩個(gè)人。兩個(gè)都是黑人!
其中一個(gè)非常高大，高大得有些嚇人!老太太驚呆了，她的第一個(gè)反應(yīng)就是：這兩個(gè)黑人會(huì)搶劫我。但老太太馬上又告訴自己：不要有偏見(jiàn)!他們看起來(lái)都頗有紳士風(fēng)度!但是那種根深蒂固的種族觀念非常強(qiáng)烈，一種恐懼感讓老太太不知道是否該乘這趟電梯。
老太太站在那里看著兩個(gè)黑人，既緊張又害怕又感到羞恥。她希望兩個(gè)黑人不知道她在想什么，但她知道這只是自欺欺人。她的猶豫緊張如此明顯，任何人都能看出她在想什么。
老太太的臉開(kāi)始變紅，她知道自己不能總站在那兒不動(dòng)。經(jīng)過(guò)一番掙扎，老太太最終提起右腿，跟著又邁起左腿，踏進(jìn)電梯。老太太不敢直視兩個(gè)黑人，眼睛盯著關(guān)好的電梯門(mén)，一秒鐘，兩秒鐘，三秒鐘，隨著時(shí)間一秒一秒的滑過(guò)，老太太的恐懼開(kāi)始一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)增加。電梯依然原地不動(dòng)，我的上帝，老太太想，我被鎖進(jìn)電梯里，孤立無(wú)援，他們馬上要?jiǎng)邮至?。老太太心跳加速，渾身所有毛孔開(kāi)始冒冷汗。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候，她聽(tīng)到一個(gè)黑人說(shuō)道：“Hit the floor (趴到地上)，”本能告訴她：不要反抗，按照他們說(shuō)的去做。老太太迅速地兩手按地趴下去，一桶硬幣全倒在地板上，到處滾動(dòng)。老太太兩手按著地板，心里默默禱告：錢(qián)都拿走，千萬(wàn)別傷害我!如此靜靜的又過(guò)了幾秒鐘：她聽(tīng)到那個(gè)黑人很禮貌地問(wèn)她：“夫人，如果你能告訴我們你住在那一層，我們會(huì)很高興幫你按一下按鈕。”
說(shuō)話(huà)的黑人幾乎忍不住要笑出來(lái)。老太太抬起頭，看著兩個(gè)高大的黑人，他們伸出手來(lái)，要拉她起來(lái)。老太太有些疑惑，一時(shí)腿也不停使喚。“當(dāng)我對(duì)我的朋友說(shuō)hit the floor，”先前講話(huà)的黑人開(kāi)始解釋?zhuān)?ldquo;我指的是按一下我們所住樓層的按鈕，而不是讓您趴到地上，夫人。”(hit the floor既可做“趴到地上”，也可做“按電梯里樓層的按鈕”解釋)
講話(huà)的時(shí)候，這位黑人不斷地咬自己的嘴唇，顯然他在極力控制自己不笑出來(lái)。我的老天，我犯了一個(gè)多么愚蠢的錯(cuò)誤!老太太心想。她想道歉，又不知說(shuō)什么好!你如何向兩位自己認(rèn)為要搶劫自己的紳士道歉!三個(gè)人將滾了一地的硬幣撿起，放進(jìn)她的小桶里，電梯到了老太太所在樓層以后，兩個(gè)人堅(jiān)持要把老太太送到房間門(mén)口，因?yàn)槔咸瓷先プ呗愤€有些吃力。到了老太太門(mén)口，兩個(gè)人向老太太道聲晚安，轉(zhuǎn)身離開(kāi)。老太太走進(jìn)自己房間時(shí)，聽(tīng)到兩個(gè)人在樓道里大聲笑起來(lái)。
老太太重新梳妝一番，然后回到樓下與丈夫共進(jìn)晚餐。第二天早晨，一束鮮花送到了老太太的房間--十二只玫瑰!每一只玫瑰花上掛著一張嶄新的一百美元紙幣。隨鮮花一起送來(lái)的卡片上寫(xiě)著：多謝您送給我們多年來(lái)最歡暢的一次開(kāi)懷大笑。送花人：邁克·喬丹，愛(ài)迪·默菲
