第195期：那一年，总统教给我的事

想成为我们的主播，欢迎加微信 xdfbook 投稿。 一段美文，一首英文歌，或是一点生活感想，全由你做主。 《那一年，总统教给我的事》 An Unforgettable Lesson in Character Lucas Boyce ) was born six weeks premature ) and weighed just over four pounds. His mother was a young teen who struggled with drug abuse. It was a miracle he lived to be born. And his life has been a miracle, too. At ten days old, Lucas was sent to the foster-care home ) of Dorothy Boyce. Dorothy, a white woman from the Midwest, took care of over 40 foster-care children over 15 years. Dorothy adopted six of the children and had four of her own. At one point she was the single mother of eleven foster-care and adopted children. She married when Lucas was in elementary school, and she became the stepmother of her husband’s three girls, too. To keep the children focused, Lucas says that his mom taught them to believe in what was possible even when challenges seemed insurmountable ). She encouraged them to reach for their goals even if they didn’t seem plausible ). Little did she know that Lucas would one day work at the White House for President George W. Bush. Fast-forward to March 2002, when Lucas, as one of the interns in the Office of Presidential Personnel, was invited to the South Lawn of the White House as part of a photo opportunity ) in support of volunteer service. After the photo, Lucas stepped aside and, as he did, the president gestured to him and said, “Come on, let’s get a picture,” and he called over his official photographer, Eric Draper. Overcome with excitement, Lucas threw his arm around the president in kind of a brotherly hug. An obviously bold move and, he thought, probably a breach ) of protocol ), but, being a rookie ), he didn’t know any better. The next day Lucas’s boss, Ed Moy, came back to their office and said, “So, you made a real impression on the president,” and immediately Lucas got a sinking ) feeling that he’d gotten too chummy ) with the president and that his internship was over. He began to apologize, but Ed said that after the meeting the president called him over to his desk and said, “Hey, I met this kid on the South Lawn yesterday. He said he works for you. What’s his name again?” Moy said, “Lucas Boyce.” “Yeah, well, I really enjoyed meeting him.” Moy shot back ), “Probably not as much as he enjoyed meeting you, sir.” The president laughed and asked, “What’s his story?” Moy told him a little bit about Lucas and his background, and the president said, “Well, what can we do for him? Let’s bring him onboard ).” And that was how Lucas got his start: from a random chance encounter with the president on the South Lawn of the White House. Lucas said from that he learned that a measure of someone’s character is how they treat people who can do nothing for them. “George W. Bush didn’t have to do anything for me. I wasn’t anybody special, yet he took the time to chat, had a personal photo taken, and then asked his staff to help me out the next day. I was of no value to him, yet he influenced my life in more ways than I’d ever be able to repay.” He said. 卢卡斯·博伊斯早产了六周，出生时仅重四磅(编注：约3.6斤)多。他的妈妈当时才十几岁，深受毒瘾的折磨。他能活着出生就是一个奇迹了。而他的人生也算是一个奇迹。出生仅十天，卢卡斯就被送到了桃乐茜·博伊斯的寄养家庭。桃乐茜是一位来自美国中西部的白人妇女，她在15余年间照顾了40多名寄养儿童。 桃乐茜收养了这些孩子中的六个，自己还有四个亲生的孩子。她一度是11个寄养以及收养儿童的单亲妈妈。在卢卡斯上小学的时候，她结婚了，同时也成了她丈夫三个女儿的继母。 为了让孩子们保持专注力，卢卡斯说他的妈妈教他们去相信成功的可能性，即使存在看上去不可逾越的挑战。她鼓励他们去实现自己的目标，即使那些目标看起来不切实际。她从没想到过卢卡斯有一天会在白宫为乔治·W·布什总统工作。 时间快进到2002年3月，那时卢卡斯作为一名实习生在总统人事办公室工作，他应邀去白宫南草坪协助总统接受媒体拍照以示对志愿服务的支持。在拍照结束之后，卢卡斯站到一边，就在他回避的时候，总统向他示意说：“过来，我们拍张照片。”说着，总统把自己的官方摄影师埃里克·德雷伯叫了过来。 卢卡斯兴奋极了，像兄弟一样伸手搂着总统。他想这显然是一个大胆的动作，或许会违背社交礼节，但是作为一个新手，他不知道还有什么更好的动作。 第二天，卢卡斯的头儿艾德·莫伊来到他们的办公室说：“这么说，你给总统留下了真正深刻的印象。”卢卡斯突然觉得十分沮丧——他之前和总统的动作太亲密了，他的实习期要结束了。 他开始道歉，但是艾德却说会议结束以后，总统把他叫到了自己的办公室说：“嗨，我昨天在南草坪见到的那个孩子，他说他是你的手下。他叫什么名字来着？” 莫伊说：“卢卡斯·博伊斯。” “对，嗯，我见到他真的挺高兴的。” 莫伊立刻回复 道：“或许没有他见到您那么高兴，先生。” 总统开怀大笑问道：“说说他的情况？”莫伊给 他讲了一些卢卡斯的情况和背景，然后总统说：“那么，我们能为他做些什么呢？让他加入我们的团队吧。” 这就是卢卡斯职业生涯的开端：在白宫的南草坪与总统不期而遇。卢卡斯说他从这件事学会了衡量一个人品质的方法，那就是看这个人如何对待对自己没有价值的人。 “乔治·W·布什不必为我做任何事情。我不是什么特殊人物，然而他却花时间和我聊天、单独合影，还让他的工作人员第二天帮我。我对他毫无价值，他却在很多方面影响了我的人生，让我永远无以为报。”他说。 文章摘自：《新东方英语·中学生》杂志2017年2月号