最孤独职业排行榜，你的工作上榜了吗？ | Is your job one of the loneliest ones?
How would you describe your job in just one or two words?
如果用一或两个字形容你的工作，你会怎么说？
Onerous, stressful, boring? Do you feel overworked, underpaid, or unappreciated? I'll bet that you said "yes" to at least one of those.
“辛苦”、“压力”、“枯燥”？还是“加班”、“低薪”、“烦心”？这些词语应该对你来说并不陌生。
It seems that everyone thinks they are the most hardworking person in the world. Most believe they are paid too little, have too much pressure or don't receive enough respect.
每个上班族都觉得自己是全世界最苦最忙付出最多的员工，却拿着最少的工资、承受着最大的压力、遭受着最深刻的误解和轻视。
But spare a thought for those whose jobs are truly lonely.
可在这世上浩如星海的工作种类里，有这么一些职业，可以用“最孤独”来描述。
Whether it's physical isolation or the emotional seclusion that comes with a high pressure role, it's fair to say that they are some of the loneliest workers in the world.
做着这些工作的人，或者忍受着无人相伴的生理苦闷，或是抵抗着无人相知的精神重压。可以说，他们是世界上最孤独的职场人。
You know so little about lonely jobs.
孤独的职业，多的是你不知道的事
Although loneliness can be cured, a really lonely job has to be experienced to be believed.
如果说生活中的孤独往往有迹可循、有药可解，那么工作中的孤独则偏偏有很多无人可诉的细枝末节和只可意会的时刻瞬间。
A year ago, the story of a train station in Hokkaido, Japan was circulated widely online.
一年前，日本北海道石北线一个车站的故事传遍朋友圈。
Kyu-Shirataki train station didn't shut down until its only regular passenger — a high school girl — finished her studies.
地处偏僻、乘客稀少的北海道石北线旧白泷车站花了3年的时间，陪伴唯一的乘客——少女原田走完她的高中旅程后关停。
Every day, the train driver would stop at the station. After the girl got on the train, the conductor blew a whistle and waved a flag to signal that the train could leave. Then, the lone signalman would press a button to give the train the green light.
每天，唯一的司机准时将列车稳稳地停在站台旁，唯一的列车指挥员在确认原田上车坐稳后会吹响口哨、挥动旗帜示意开动，而唯一的信号员也会按下绿色信号灯的按钮。
Though full of warmth and humanity, this is also a story of great loneliness.
故事里充满了人性之暖，却鲜少有人会留意，这些围绕着一位乘客展开工作的列车员，可能面对的孤独。
Train drivers are probably some of the loneliest workers in the world.
列车司机大概是这个世界上最孤独的职业。
Imagine for a moment what it must be like.
想象你是列车司机。
You accelerate, decelerate, stop at a station. Open and close the doors. Then repeat the same motions, again and again, like you're performing a one-person show.
列车开动，你在狭窄拥挤的驾驶室上演独角戏，提速、降速、刹车、开关门，无限的循环往复。
You pass through deserted tunnels, past barren mountains and bridges, meeting only sunlight, artificial lighting or darkness.
经过空无一人的隧道，穿过寂静萧索的山坡和桥梁，太阳光、人工照明和不见五指的黑暗在一站一站重复。
Even though the carriages behind are alive with the noise of passengers, you can neither talk to them nor look at them. Your whole world is in that narrow cab, with only the controls for company.
身后车厢里载满热闹喧哗的乘客，不能和他们交谈，也不能对视。你的世界只有你的小隔间和偶尔从设备里传来的指挥信息。
Other jobs demand a certain bravery, as well as a resistance to such solitude.
有些职业有时还伴随着时刻面临险境却又不得不做的“无畏之孤“。
Hong Yuqing was a student in the geophysics department of Yunnan University when the deadly Wenchuan earthquake struck in 2008. After graduating, he became a seismological inspector, working at the forefront of earthquake research.
2008年汶川地震的消息传来，洪玉清还在云南大学地球物理系的课堂上。毕业后，洪玉清成为一名地震检测员，工作在地震监测的第一线。
His job — to send earthquake alerts accurately and promptly — is easy but difficult, simple yet complex.
他的工作简单却也艰难，纯粹却也复杂—精确、迅速地将地震预警发出去。
He works on his own in a base station on a mountaintop. Most days, he doesn't speak a single word to another living soul. His commute is a trek through towering wild grass and he must carry all the food and water with him that he needs.
这意味着，在远避人群的山野基站工作间里，他需要穿过两米多高的荒草上下班、步行上下山买菜抬水，他需要面对一天到晚不说一句话的沉寂。
It takes great mental toughness to work under such conditions, all the while watching the constantly jumping needles on the seismograph and trying to determine the cause — was that a tectonic movement, blasting, or just rats scurrying by?
他的心跳、神经和反应永远要与检测设备上不断跳跃的线条保持同步，在以秒数计的瞬间判断指针不规则的跃动来自附近的地壳运动、爆破，还是匆匆跑过的老鼠。
When an earthquake does come, he can neither panic nor run away. He must overcome his fear and raise the alarm as quickly as possible.
当真正的地震来临，他不能慌、不能跑，而是必须克服巨大的恐惧和逃避本能，将自己死死地按在椅子上，冷静、快速地发出地震预警。
As he said in an interview: "The only thought in my mind is to report the earthquake as quickly and accurately as I can!"
如他在采访中说：“怕？根本来不及，更没想过跑。脑子里唯一的念头，就是把地震的信息又快又准地给报出去！”
Jobs such as his are the epitome of loneliness. Like an astronaut on a interstellar spacecraft flying through outer space, he must brave the unknown and be strong in the face of possible destruction.
这样的工作是孤独的完美诠释。这样的孤独，好像在寂静无声的外太空独自遨游的星际探索飞行器，他必须经受未知的恐惧，在面临可能的毁灭时表现出超人的坚强。
Maybe you think your daily life is boring, but it's people like Hong who bear the weight of responsibility, and loneliness, for you.
你觉得日常生活枯燥且乏味，是因为有人在你看不见的岗位，帮你挡住了始料不及的危机和孤独。
Does your job make the lonely list?
孤独职业排行榜，你的工作上榜没？
Shan Jixiang, director of the National Palace Museum, made a name for himself recently by being a bit of a joker.
最近，“最会讲段子”的故宫博物院院长单霁翔火爆朋友圈。
He created something he likes to call "cultural dumplings", inspired by the dumplings, glutinous rice balls and wontons that are so popular in Chinese cuisine.
中国人爱吃饺子、汤圆、馄饨这些有里有面儿、有皮有馅儿的美食，而单霁翔院长之所以如此受欢迎，就在于他是做“文化饺子”的高手。
The "filling", in Shan's case, is knowledge and opinions, seasoned with a pinch of cultural heritage and wrapped up in an outer layer of jokes.
他把实打实的知识和见解当做肉馅儿，把发人深思的文化传承理念作为零星点缀，统统包裹在“段子”这层白亮筋道的饺子皮里。
By presenting information in this way, he makes the dreary work of protecting ancient relics interesting, both for his listeners and himself.
这样，遥远又枯燥的文物古建保护工作变得香气扑鼻，听者津津有味，说者唇齿留香。
Yet his unique style went unappreciated by much of the wider public for decades, until he had his moment in the sun.
然而这样有温度、有见地的声音，却也在获得大众关注之前默默无闻几十年。
In fact, there aren't many cultural researchers that operate in the limelight — their lot is often lonely archaeological excavations, the painstaking restoration of cultural relics and thankless hours spent researching with little to no support.
事实上，文化研究工作者们大多数都无法像单霁翔院长一样一朝天下知，他们面对的更多是在强忍孤独的考古挖掘，辛苦疲乏的文物修复，以及面对公众的不理解和政策的不支持时愤懑难言的苦楚。
But it's not just researchers, many people like train drivers and seismologists are facing boredom and loneliness.
除了这些清苦的文化工作者、形单影只的列车司机、直面危机的地震监测员，有很多职业都在承受如常的压力、枯燥之外，还添着一份浩大而无声的孤独。
Here are some of the other world's loneliest jobs. Did yours make the list?
我们收集了世界上最孤独的几个职业，来看看你的工作是不是也在榜单里。
Astronaut
太空宇航员
Astronauts are often held up as national heroes and the pioneers of space exploration. But behind all that glory can be great loneliness.
宇航员基本和国家英雄、宇宙探索先驱划等号，然而这份沉甸甸的荣耀背后刻着一道巨大的孤独。
On the International Space Station, for instance, an astronaut can spend long periods of time alone in a narrow capsule. As time wears on, the wonder becomes worn away by loneliness.
国际空间站的宇航员一个人待在狭小的太空舱，年长日久的岁月打磨中，所有的奇妙体验都会被孤独消磨殆尽。
But the astronauts' joys and sorrows reach no further than the bounds of his small capsule, surrounded, as it is, by the unending emptiness of space.
宇航员的悲欢离合只会留在那个狭小的空间里，喜怒哀乐也无法传播到静谧无边、沉默如石的宇宙。
CEO (chief executive officer)
首席执行官
A CEO has nobody to depend on, or open up to.
向上无人可以依靠，向下又常常无人能够交心。
It's often said that it's "lonely at the top", especially by those at the summit of their careers. Even Steve Jobs, who was so strong-willed, spoke in an interview about this feelings of loneliness.
站在职场山巅的CEO们的孤独，源自那份始终存在的“高处不胜孤”。精神意志强大如史蒂夫·乔布斯者，也表达过“我很孤独”这样的感受。
But perhaps that's just the price a leader must pay for being in charge.
这份孤独，可以看做是作为领袖的代价。
Actor
演员
Stars of both stage and screen are met adoring fans, spotlights and camera clicks wherever they go. But behind the makeup, they are just ordinary people who struggle to find anyone to talk to about their real feelings.
荧幕前、舞台上，他们所到之处人群簇拥、灯光追逐、记者围拍，可是在卸下精致的妆容之后，他们也只是平凡人，渴望与别人倾诉自己的感受。
Countless actors like Leslie Cheung have tried to express themselves through their work, but too often their true voices go unheard.
演员们人人都是“外向的孤独患者”，而无数个张国荣们也一次次向四周围发出无人能听到的呐喊，这喊声里写满了孤独。
Taxi driver
出租车司机
All taxi drivers are chatterboxes, right? In fact, they never seem to shut up! But in truth, these are some of the most solitary souls to roam the urban jungle.
印象中好像所有的出租车司机都是话痨，然而很可能他们才是钢筋水泥铸造的都市森林里独自游走的最孤独的灵魂。
Talkative and passionate they may be, but all too often their exuberance belies a loneliness that their dry lips and scratchy throats can only hint at.
他们健谈、多话、热情、爆皮的嘴唇和干燥的喉舌，都像是孩子气地极力证明自己很好，却又无力地把自己的孤独全盘暴露。
Maybe next time you're in a taxi, you could give the driver a thought.
下回不忙的时候，试着和司机师傅多聊几句吧。
Stay-at-home mom
全职妈妈
This one may come as a bit of a surprise, especially for those of us who moved far away to chase our dreams, but some of the loneliest people are the mothers whose children have flown the nest.
这个答案可能出人意料，但是比起离开家人的北上广们，最孤独的其实是孩子们振翅高飞之后留在家中的母亲。
We sometimes take it for granted that our moms will always be there, to love and take care of us. But just think of what she has had to sacrifice to take on this role.
妈妈爱我们、照顾我们的饮食起居，好像天然如此。然而这些也都是她牺牲自己职业诉求后，毫无怨言负担起的另一份工作。
Then, once her children have grown and left, the stay-at-home mom is almost always destined for loneliness.
然而孩子们会长大，母亲们会老去，全职妈妈这份工作，注定会陷于孤独。
Other well-known lonely occupations include doctors, nurses, couriers, programmers, crematorium workers and lighthouse keepers, either because solitude is a requirement of the job, or else it's too hard for them to share their experiences with others.
除了这些，以下职业也在工作的流水账里面对着无解的孤独感：医生护士、快递配送员、程序员、火葬场工作人员、灯塔守望者。这些职业中面对的孤独，有的来自工作内容本身的要求，有些则源自我们内心被认同的恒久渴求。
Loneliness is a state of mind
孤独的不是职业，是人心
For the crews of mail delivery ships serving islands out in the distant ocean, the rangers who patrol vast wildernesses and uninhabited frontiers, and the Arctic meteorologists who must confront the tundra's cold emptiness all year round, loneliness is never far away.
除了上文提到的职业，奔波在零散在大洋中各个小岛之间的快递员、忍受天寒地冻和噬人孤寂的护林人、终年与世隔绝坚守观测的北极气象学家，都付出了孤独。
Not only do their jobs demand that they withstand inhospitable conditions, but they must also sacrifice the solace of companionship to serve those of us living a more comfortable life.
他们的孤独，不光是为个人生存的挣扎，更是为这个红尘俗世里生活着的人们作出的牺牲。
Loneliness can also be born of misunderstanding.
然而很多时候，这些孤独的职场人，也会在面对不解时辗转反侧。
In truth, any job can feel lonely at times. We all encounter lonely moments from which there's seemingly no escape.
其实，这世上的每种职业都是孤独的，每份工作、每个职场人都会在工作中遇到无处可逃的孤独时刻。
But we must remember, all of us, that loneliness is just a state of mind.
但我们要记住，孤独的不是职业，是人心。
Feelings of loneliness can be overcome. We just hope that you don't feel alone.
孤独的感觉是可以克服的。但愿每一位职场人，能够不再孤独。
How would you describe your job in just one or two words? Do you feel it lonely?
Source: LinkedIn
Editors&Translators: Zhang Xi, Jin Chuanzhi (intern)
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