TED演讲:我无家可归的一年(2)
At first, living in the van was great. I showered in campgrounds.
一开始,住在车里是很不错的。我在露天洗澡。
I ate out regularly. And I had time to relax and to grieve.
正常的去外面吃东西。而且有时间去抒发情感。
But then the anger and the depression about my father’s death set in.
但是后来,因我父亲去世而带来的悲愤和痛沮开始加剧。
My freelance job ended. And I had to get a full-time job to pay the bills.
我自由作家的工作结束了。我就需要去找一件全职工作来支付我的账单。
What had been a really mild spring turned into a miserably hot summer.
从一个非常温和的春天变到一个极其炎热的夏天会怎样呢。
And it became impossible to park anywhere
不管车停在哪都是难以忍受的,
without being very obvious that I had a cat and a dog with me, and it was really hot.
不用说也很明显,我带着一只猫和一只狗,而且非常的热。
The cat came and went through an open window in the van.
猫从车窗来回的跑。
The doggy went into doggy day care. And I sweated.
狗跑到了狗狗护理中心。我则大汗淋漓。
Whenever I could, I used employee showers in office buildings and truck stops.
不管什么时候,只要可以,我就会去用在办公大楼和卡车车站里员工用的淋浴。
Or I washed up in public rest rooms.
或者在公共卫生间里洗洗。
Nighttime temperatures in the van rarely dropped below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, making it difficult or impossible to sleep.
在夜里车里的温度很少会降到华氏80度以下,这使我几乎无法入睡。
Food rotted in the heat. Ice in my ice chest melted within hours, and it was pretty miserable.
食物在高温下腐坏。冷藏柜里的冰几个小时就化完了,非常苦闷的时期。
I couldn’t afford to find an apartment, or couldn’t afford an apartment that would allow me to have the Rottweiler and the cat.
我没钱找公寓,或者找不到让我可以养狗和猫的地方。
And I refused to give them up, so I stayed in the van.
我不想把它们抛弃。所以我继续待在旅行车里。
And when the heat made me too sick to walk the 50 feet to the public restroom outside my van at night,
但炎热的天气使我饱受折磨,以至于在夜里走50英尺到车外面的公共卫生间都懒的动。
I used a bucket and a trash bag as a toilet.
我用桶和垃圾袋当厕所。
贝基·布兰顿计划在一年里就在他的小货车里住并且游历全国,但是当沮丧加剧而且自由作家的工作泡汤的时候,他的旅营就变成了无家可归了。在这个温馨的演讲中,她描述了她作为美国无家可归的工作者之一的独特经历。