Routine

去上英文課的時候，老師選了一篇短文給我們閱讀，用意是讓我們學習當中的一些單字。

文章的標題是："Woman"，看起來作者是個華人女性，內容寫的是一個中年女性每天一成不變的生活，我簡單翻了一下中文。

She wakes up to the soft sound of the radio playing Chinese oldies. Her eyes are reluctant to open, but she forces herself to get up and perform the actions to which she has become accustomed. The toilet is flushing and the tap is running as she rushes to apply make-up and runs to the car.

她在收音機播放的中文老歌輕柔聲中醒來。雖然眼睛抗拒睜開，但她還是強迫自己起來去做那些她已習以為常的動作。沖馬桶，開水龍頭，快速地化妝，跑向汽車。

The drive to work is monotonous. She feels surrounded by polluted air and impatient people. All she can hearing is the honking of cars, the occasional profanity, and Bill Good’s voice saying, “Good morning…”

去工作的路上沒什麼新鮮事。四周圍繞著污染的空氣和不耐煩的人。就聽到汽車喇叭聲、偶爾冒出的髒話，還有Bill Good的聲音：「早上好...」

She walks through the doors. Her hair is perfect, her clothes have not one wrinkle and her well-prepared smile is plastered on her face as she greets her fellow employees. She goes up the stairs, into the office, and to the desk where she has worked for almost fifteen years. In the midst of the burning coffee, flying papers, and running people, she sits there and works, oblivious to the chaos. Determination enables her to tune out the passive scolding, the shallow gossip, and the false comradeship. Finally, after hours of typing, counting, writing and punching in meaningless numbers, it is time to go home.

走進大門，頭髮很完美，衣服上沒有一點皺摺。換上已經準備好的微笑，向同事們打招呼。上樓進了辦公室，走向辦公桌，那是她已工作了近15年的地方。在滾燙的咖啡、傳來傳去的文件、走來走去的人中，她坐在那裡工作，完全無視那些混亂。她定心讓自己與那些責罵聲、八卦消息、虛偽的人際關係隔離。最後，經過好幾個小時的打字、計算、撰寫、跟一些無謂的數字奮鬥後，是該回家的時候了。

She waits at the corner, and a car stops. Her husband is driving it. She hops in. Her husband chatters about his day, and she listens patiently while her mind wanders aimlessly. She watched him and wonders what made her choose this man twenty years before.  An ambulance speeds by, wailing at the top of its lungs. Maybe another fall victim, maybe another heart attack, may be another death. The car pulls into the driveway, and she walks into the house. The rice is cooking, the water is boiling and the vegetables are steaming. A tower of dirty dishes awaits her at the sink. She passes it and heads for the bathroom.

她在街角等待，一輛汽車停下來，是她的丈夫。她跳進車去，她的丈夫喋喋不休地講他這天發生的事，她很有耐心地聆聽，不過心思卻飛到別的地方去。她看著他，疑惑著到底是什麼原因讓她在二十年前選擇了這個人。一輛救護車高聲呼嘯，快速經過。也許有人墜樓了，也許有人心髒病發作了，也許有人死了。車子開進私人車道，然後她走進屋裡。煮飯，燒開水，蒸蔬菜。疊成像塔一樣的髒碗盤在水槽裡等著。她越過那些直接進了浴室。

Relaxing in the steamy bath, she releases the stress that has bottled up inside her. Feeling clean, she steps out and stares at herself in the mirror. She frowns at the excess lipid around her waist and hips. As she splashes her face with water, makeup slides off, finally freeing her from her disguise. Looking closely, she spots some wrinkles and even a couple of white hairs: the signs of aging. She signs, knowing that she can never recapture the beauty that she once was able to claim as her own.

以熱水澡來放鬆後，關在體內的壓力終於被釋放出來。感覺到清爽，她走了出來，盯著鏡子中的自己，皺著眉看著在腰部和臀部周圍多餘的脂肪。當她以水拍打臉龐，卸除化妝品，終於從偽裝中脫離了出來。仔細查看，注意到了一些皺紋，甚至一些白頭髮：那是變老的跡象。她嘆息著，知道她無法再抓住那過去她多麼引以為傲的美貌。

In the living room, she flips on the TV, just in time for the late night news. An earthquake in Tokyo, a plane crash in Moscow, a killing spree in Texas, starving children in Somalia. Nothing out of the ordinary. She watches the screen, noticing how the broadcaster is able to tell of these events looking completely indifferent and then smile when he announces the daily forecast. Her head begins to ache and her eyes become blurry, so she turns off the TV. She swallows two tablets of extra strength aspirin, then heads to bed, knowing that she’ll be doing the same things again tomorrow.

坐在客廳，打開電視，剛好是夜間新聞的時間。東京發生地震了，莫斯科有飛機墜毀了，在德州發生了一個屠殺事件，還有索馬利亞的飢餓兒童，沒有什麼好特別的。她注視著螢幕，看主播是如何能在播報完這些新聞，看來無動於衷地繼續微笑著預報天氣。她的頭開始發疼，視線變得模糊，所以她關掉了電視。吞下兩片藥效加強的阿斯匹靈，然後上床睡覺，並且知道這些事情，明天又會再重複一次。

看這樣的文章，內心有共鳴嗎？或許有不少人，看了之後會心有戚戚焉。努力讀書，然後工作，找個不錯的對象結婚，看來是人就該走的道路，但是隨著時間過去，卻變得好像是覺得什麼都有又什麼都沒有的虛空。是這樣嗎？

不過，也有不一樣的呢，我看了這短文，是覺得頭也要痛起來了。

Routine，這麼糟糕嗎？我的生活中，也有很多Routine存在呢，可是，我都不是像文章內那樣的感覺呢。

我打算，也把我的一天寫下，看看有什麼不同吧。

真的，去天國，去地獄，是自己決定的啊，不想人生這麼無趣的人，可以做到的呢。