不工作真的很开心吗？

LearnAndRecord 2022-07-26

收录于合集 #跟着LR吃瓜学英语 707个

今天，微博上#不工作真的会很开心吗#的话题引发热议。上班或者不上班，你觉得呢？

无注释原文：

Even With a Dream Job, You Can Be Antiwork

The New York Times

Oct. 22, 2021

The world’s long-suffering workers have finally gained some measure of leverage over their bosses, and their new power is a glorious thing to behold.

In South Korea this week, tens of thousands of union members staged a one-day strike to demand better benefits and protections for temporary and contract workers. In Britain, where Brexit has contributed to severe shortages of goods and labor, Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has been taking dubious credit for what he calls a new era of higher pay.

And in the United States, a record nearly 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August, according to the Labor Department, and more than 10 million positions were vacant — slightly down from July, when about 11 million jobs needed filling. The shortage of workers has led to a growth in wages that has surpassed many economists’ expectations, and seems to have discombobulated bosses who are used to employees leaping at their every demand.

There are many potential reasons for workers’ reluctance to work terrible jobs. People who are flush with unemployment assistance and stimulus money might be holding out for better jobs to come along. Workers who spent the last year and half on the front lines of dangerous jobs in thankless industries — for instance, enforcing mask rules for belligerent customers in shops and restaurants — could be burned out by the experience. And many workers continue to fear for their health in an ongoing pandemic, while a lack of child and elder care has added costs and complications that have rendered many jobs just not worth the trouble.

All of this makes sense. But there might also be something deeper afoot. In its sudden rearrangement of daily life, the pandemic might have prompted many people to entertain a wonderfully un-American new possibility — that our society is entirely too obsessed with work, that employment is not the only avenue through which to derive meaning in life and that sometimes no job is better than a bad job.

“The pandemic gave us a kind of forced separation from work and a rare critical distance from the daily grind,” Kathi Weeks, a professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies at Duke University, told me. “I think what you’re seeing with people refusing to go back is a kind of yearning for freedom.”

Weeks, the author of “The Problem With Work,” is among a handful of scholars who have been pushing for a wholesale reappraisal of the role that work plays in wealthy societies. Their ideas have been dubbed “post-work” or “antiwork,” and although they share goals with other players in the labor market — among them labor unions and advocates for higher minimum wages and a stronger social safety net — these scholars are calling for something even grander than improved benefits.

They’re questioning some of the bedrock ideas in modern life, especially life in America: What if paid work is not the only worthwhile use of one’s time? What if crushing it in your career is not the only way to attain status and significance in society? What if electing to live a life that is not driven by the neuroses and obsessions of paid employment is considered a perfectly fine and reasonable way to live?

Evidence for such a reappraisal is, admittedly, more anecdotal than rigorous. It might well be that as soon as labor markets loosen up, workers will again answer to their bosses’ every beck and call.

But David Frayne, a sociologist who is the author of “The Refusal of Work,” noted that traumatic events often cause people to reassess their lives and goals.

“The pandemic has had the potential to create that kind of disruption on a mass scale,” Frayne told me, and the disruption has created new political opportunities for regulating labor markets in a way that favors workers. He pointed out that in Britain, where he lives, politicians have begun to entertain the idea of a four-day workweek, a plan that was long considered a no-go.

In the United States, the Biden administration’s huge social policy legislation — now stalled in Congress — was also conceived in part as a way to address the kind of problems working people experienced during the pandemic. And the pandemic cracked open space to discuss more far-flung ideas for a society that is no longer centered on work — especially a universal basic income, a policy that is being tested in pilot programs across the country.

You can get a peek of a post-job world at /antiwork, a Reddit forum “for those who want to end work” that has gone viral in recent months, with hundreds of thousands following its subversive cause. /antiwork teems with posts from workers who are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore — including many screenshots from folks saying they are telling off their managers, quitting in a rage after years of abuse.

I’ve been reading /antiwork for months, and I’ve been surprised to find myself joining in the visceral thrill of seeing people wrest the reins of their lives from the soul-sucking, health-destroying maw of capitalism.

I was surprised to find common cause with people on /antiwork because, of course, I have very little to complain about, job-wise. Indeed, at least once a day I revel in open-mouthed gratitude. What I do to make a living — writing this column — is less physically demanding and more intellectually rewarding than anything my ancestors had to endure to earn their supper, and — don’t tell my bosses — more than fair compensation for my time and effort.

It sounds perfect, right?

And yet, a lot of times my job can feel like an all-consuming hell. I’ve got a wife and kids and two lovely cats, but work is the first thing I think about every morning and the last thing I worry about every night. My job has dibs on my mind and my time, it gets the best of my attention and creativity, and it is the subject of my deepest neuroses and my most intractable stresses.

I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t really realize how much work ruled my life until the pandemic — until this huge meteor took aim at our lives and forced me to reconsider what I was doing.

I’m not saying I’m quitting — I hope to keep this gig for a long time. It’s just that I now have space in my mind for a truth that my prepandemic workaholism never allowed me to consider — that even a dream job is still a job, and in America’s relentless hustle culture, we have turned our jobs into prisons for our minds and souls. It’s time to break free.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Even With a Dream Job, You Can Be Antiwork

The New York Times

Oct. 22, 2021

The world’s long-suffering workers have finally gained some measure of leverage over their bosses, and their new power is a glorious thing to behold.

全世界长期受苦的工人们终于在一定程度上获得了对老板的影响力，这份新的力量非常可观。

leverage

表示“影响力”，英文解释为“Leverage is the ability to influence situations or people so that you can control what happens.”举个🌰：

His position as mayor gives him leverage to get things done.

他的市长身份使他有能力办成一些事情。

glorious

1）表示“辉煌的；光荣的；荣耀的”，英文解释为“deserving great admiration, praise, and honour”如：a memorial to the glorious dead of two world wars 为缅怀在两次世界大战中光荣献身的人们而修建的纪念碑；

2）表示“令人愉快的，（尤指天气）极好的”，英文解释为“Glorious weather is very pleasant, and especially hot and sunny.”举个🌰：

They had glorious weather for their wedding.

他们举行婚礼的那天天气好极了。

In South Korea this week, tens of thousands of union members staged a one-day strike to demand better benefits and protections for temporary and contract workers. In Britain, where Brexit has contributed to severe shortages of goods and labor, Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has been taking dubious credit for what he calls a new era of higher pay.

本周在韩国，数万名工会成员举行了为期一天的罢工，要求为临时工和合同工提供更好的福利和保护。在英国，脱欧导致了商品和劳动力的严重短缺，首相鲍里斯·约翰逊（Boris Johnson）称这是一个高工资的新时代，并且这是他的功劳——这一点存疑。

stage

1）表示“上演；举办；举行”，英文解释为“to organize and present a play or an event for people to see”，如：to stage a ceremony/an event/an exhibition 举行仪式/活动/展览，举个🌰：

The local theatre group is staging a production of ‘Hamlet’.

当地剧团在上演《哈姆雷特》。

2）表示“组织；筹划”，英文解释为“to organize and take part in action that needs careful planning, especially as a public protest”，如：to stage a ceremony/an event/an exhibition 举行仪式/活动/展览。

3）表示“使发生；使出现”，英文解释为“to make sth happen”举个🌰：

After five years in retirement, he staged a comeback to international tennis.

退役五年之后，他又复出国际网坛。

dubious

表示“半信半疑的，可疑的；不确定的；不可信的”，英文解释为“thought not to be completely true or not able to be trusted”举个🌰：

These claims are dubious and not scientifically proven.

这些说法未经科学证实，有些可疑。

🎬电影《唐璜》（Don Jon）中的台词提到：- Yo, Jonny, you coming out tonight? - That's dubious.-璜璜你今晚出去吗 -不确定。

在美国，根据劳工部的数据，8月份有创纪录的430万人辞职，有1000万多个职位空缺，略低于7月份的1100万个。工人短缺导致工资增长，这超过了许多经济学家的预期，似乎让习惯了员工急于接受所有要求的老板们感到困惑。

surpass

表示“超过，优于，胜过”，英文解释为“to do or be better than”举个🌰：

He was determined to surpass the achievements of his older brothers.

他决心超过他的几位哥哥的成就。

discombobulate

discombobulate /ˌdɪs.kəmˈbɑː.bjə.leɪt/ 表示“使困惑，扰乱，打乱”，英文解释为“to confuse someone or make someone feel uncomfortable”.

leap at sth.

表示“赶紧抓住，迫不及待地接受”，英文解释为“to eagerly accept the chance to do or have something”举个🌰：

When I offered her the job, she leapt at it.

我刚一提出要给她这份工作，她立即就接受了。

工人们不愿从事糟糕的工作有许多潜在的原因。获得失业补助和经济刺激资金的人可能会坚持等待更好的工作出现。在过去一年半的时间里，那些在吃力不讨好的行业从事危险工作的工作者——比如负责在商店和餐馆里试图让好斗的顾客遵守口罩规定——可能会因这一时期的经历而疲惫不堪。在持续的疫情中，许多工人一直担心自己的健康，而儿童和老人的护理缺乏增加了成本和困难，使得许多工作不值得费力去做。

reluctance

表示“勉强；不情愿”，英文解释为“an unwillingness to do something”举个🌰：

I accepted his resignation with great reluctance.

我极不情愿地接受了他的辞呈。

flush

表示“有钱的，富有的”，英文解释为“having a lot of money”举个🌰：

I've just been paid so I'm feeling flush.

我刚领了薪水，所以感觉挺有钱的。

thankless

表示“出力不讨好的；徒劳无功的”，英文解释为“A thankless job is difficult or unpleasant, and people do not thank you for it.”举个🌰：

Keeping the boys' rooms tidy is a thankless job.

保持男孩们的房间整洁是件吃力不讨好的事。

belligerent

belligerent /bəˈlɪdʒ.ər.ənt/ 表示“好斗的；挑衅的”，英文解释为“wishing to fight or argue”举个🌰：

Watch out! He's in a belligerent mood.

小心点儿！他今天看谁都不顺眼。

burned out

表示“极度劳累；疲劳过度”，英文解释为“extreme tiredness usually caused by working too much”。

render

1）此前，在经济学人翻译的出路在哪里？这篇文章中出现过，render表示“翻译，把...译成...”，通常用法为render sth into English/Russian/Chinese etc，将sth译成英语/俄语/汉语等，举个🌰：

She is rendering the book into English from French.

她正在把这本书从法语译成英语。

2）表示“（以某种方式）表达；表现”，英文解释为“to express or present something in a particular way”，如：a sculpture rendered in bronze 一尊青铜雕像；

3）此处含义为“使成为；使变得；使处于某种状态”，英文解释为to cause someone or something to be in a particular state，举个🌰：

His rudeness rendered me speechless.

他的粗暴无礼让我无言以对。

4）还可以指“给予，提供”，英文解释为to give something to someone or do something, because it is your duty or because someone expects you to，如：an obligation to render assistance to those in need 为有困难的人提供援助的义务，举个🌰：

We see that freight railroads make good profits while rendering excellent service.

我们看到铁路货运公司在提供优质服务的同时也赢得了丰厚的利润。

5）还还还可以表示“粉刷；给（墙壁）抹灰（或水泥）”，英文解释为to put a first layer of plaster or cement on a wall.

所有这些都说得通。但也可能有更深层次的东西在酝酿。通过对日常生活突如其来的重新安排，疫情可能促使很多人接受一种奇妙的、非美国式的新可能——我们的社会过于迷恋工作，就业并不是获得生活意义的唯一途径，有的时候，没工作要好过坏工作。

afoot

表示“进行中的；策划中的；准备中的”，英文解释为“happening or being planned or prepared”举个🌰：

There are plans afoot to launch a new radio station.

成立一家新广播电台的计划正在酝酿之中。

obsess

表示“使痴迷，使迷恋，使心神不宁”，英文解释为“if something or someone obsesses you, you think or worry about them all the time and you cannot think about anything else – used to show disapproval”，用法：be obsessed by / with sth. / sb.，举个🌰：

A lot of young girls are obsessed by their weight.

许多少女都过于担心自己的体重。

she has been obsessed with some lifeguard for months.

她几个月来一直在迷恋着某个救生员。

avenue

表示“方法；途径；渠道”，英文解释为“a method or way of doing something”举个🌰：

We should pursue every avenue in the search for an answer to this problem.

我们应该尝试一切途径寻求该问题的答案。

derive

表示“从…中得到，从…中获得”，英文解释为“to get something from something else”举个🌰：

She derives great pleasure from playing the violin.

拉小提琴能让她获得极大的乐趣。

📺英剧《唐顿庄园》（Downton Abbey）中的台词提到：Lord Gillingham thought Lady Mary might derive benefit from it. 吉利安姆子爵觉得玛丽小姐去参加一下有好处。

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述2020年诺贝尔经济学奖的文章中提到：Mr Milgrom (whose doctoral thesis was supervised by Mr Wilson) derived a number of important lessons from his analyses. 米尔格罗姆（威尔逊是他的博士论文导师）通过分析得出了许多重要经验。

“The pandemic gave us a kind of forced separation from work and a rare critical distance from the daily grind,” Kathi Weeks, a professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies at Duke University, told me. “I think what you're seeing with people refusing to go back is a kind of yearning for freedom.”

“疫情让我们在某种程度上被迫离开了工作，与日常工作保持了一种难得的关键距离，”杜克大学（Duke University）性别、性行为和女权主义研究教授卡蒂·威克斯（Kathi Weeks）告诉我。“我认为，你看到的人们拒绝回去上班是一种对自由的渴望。”

grind

表示“令人厌倦的苦事，苦差事”，英文解释为“a difficult or boring activity that needs a lot of effort”举个🌰：

Having to type up my handwritten work was a real grind.

还得把手写的作业打出来，这让我叫苦不迭。

feminist

作形容词，也可以作名词，表示“女权主义者；女权主义的”，英文解释为“A feminist is a person who believes in and supports feminism. Feminist groups, ideas, and activities are involved in feminism.”举个🌰：

She's been an outspoken feminist for over twenty years.

20多年来，她一直是个直言不讳的女权主义者。

yearning

表示“渴望，切盼，渴求”，英文解释为“a strong feeling of wishing for something, especially something that you cannot have or get easily”举个🌰：

He spoke of his yearning for another child.

他说起了自己想再要一个孩子的强烈愿望。

著有《工作的问题》（The Problem With Work）一书的威克斯，是少数几位一直主张全面重新评估工作在富裕社会中所扮演角色的学者之一。他们的想法被称为“后工作”或“反工作”，尽管他们与劳动力市场上的其他参与者有着共同的目标——包括工会，提高最低工资以及更强大社会保障网络——但这些学者所呼吁的是比提高福利更宏大的东西。

reappraisal

reappraisal /ˌriː.əˈpreɪ.zəl/ 表示“重新评价；重新估计”，英文解释为“the act of examining and judging something or someone again”举个🌰：

He'd like to see a fundamental reappraisal of the way unions operate.

他希望能对工会的运作方式进行彻底的重新评估。

dub

1）表示“把…称为”，英文解释为“If someone or something is dubbed a particular thing, they are given that description or name.”举个🌰：

Today's session has been widely dubbed as a "make or break" meeting.

今天的会议被大众称为“不成则散”的会议。

2）表示“为（影片或声道等）配音”，英文解释为“If a film or soundtrack in a foreign language is dubbed, a new soundtrack is added with actors giving a translation.”举个🌰：

It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences.

它已为墨西哥观众配成西班牙语了。

grand

表示“重大的；主要的；首要的”，英文解释为“important and large in degree”举个🌰：

She has all kinds of grand ideas.

她脑子里都是些经天纬地的想法。

他们对现代生活，尤其是美国生活中的一些基本观念提出了质疑：如果有偿工作不是唯一值得花时间的事情呢？如果在事业上大展拳脚并不是获得社会地位和意义的唯一途径呢？如果选择一种不受神经衰弱和有偿工作困扰的生活被视为一种完美而合理的生活方式，那又会怎样呢？

bedrock

表示“基础；牢固基础；基本事实；基本原则”，英文解释为“the main principles on which something is based”举个🌰：

Honesty is the bedrock of any healthy relationship.

诚实是维持一切良好关系的基本原则。

neuroses

单数neurosis /nʊˈroʊ.sɪs/ 复数 neuroses，表示“神经官能症，神经症”，英文解释为“a mental illness resulting in high levels of anxiety, unreasonable fears and behaviour and, often, a need to repeat actions for no reason”举个🌰：

If you want my opinion, I think she's suffering from some form of neurosis.

如果你想听听我的意见，我认为她患有某种神经官能症。

Evidence for such a reappraisal is, admittedly, more anecdotal than rigorous. It might well be that as soon as labor markets loosen up, workers will again answer to their bosses' every beck and call.

诚然，这种重新评估更主要是基于各种轶事而不是严谨的证据。一旦劳动力市场出现松动，员工将再次听从老板的所有命令，这是很有可能的。

anecdotal

anecdotal /ˌænɛkˈdəʊtəl/ 表示“逸事的；趣闻的；传闻的”，英文解释为“based on anecdotes and possibly not true or accurate”，如：anecdotal evidence 传闻的证据。

rigorous

表示“严格缜密的；谨慎的；细致的；彻底的”，英文解释为“A test, system, or procedure that is rigorous is very thorough and strict.”举个🌰：

The selection process is based on rigorous tests of competence and experience.

挑选过程是建立在对能力和经验严格缜密的考核的基础之上的。

sb's beck and call

表示“听命于，唯…之命是从”，英文解释为“always willing and able to do whatever someone asks”举个🌰：

Go and get it yourself! I'm not at your beck and call, you know.

自己去拿！我才不听你使唤呢。

But David Frayne, a sociologist who is the author of “The Refusal of Work,” noted that traumatic events often cause people to reassess their lives and goals.

但《拒绝工作》（The Refusal of Work）一书的作者、社会学家戴维·弗莱恩（David Frayne）指出，创伤性事件往往会让人们重新评估自己的生活和目标。

traumatic

表示“（经历）痛苦难忘的，造成精神创伤的”，英文解释为“If an experience is traumatic, it causes you severe emotional shock and upset.”如：traumatic amnesia 创伤性遗忘。举个🌰：

Some of the most disturbed children had witnessed really traumatic things.

有些心理极不正常的孩子曾经目睹过给他们造成精神创伤的事情。

“The pandemic has had the potential to create that kind of disruption on a mass scale,” Frayne told me, and the disruption has created new political opportunities for regulating labor markets in a way that favors workers. He pointed out that in Britain, where he lives, politicians have begun to entertain the idea of a four-day workweek, a plan that was long considered a no-go.

“疫情有可能在大范围内造成这种破坏，”弗莱恩告诉我，而这种破坏创造了新的政治机会，以有利工人的方式去监管劳动力市场。他指出，在他居住的英国，政界人士已经开始考虑每周工作四天的想法，而这一计划长期以来一直被认为是不可行的。

disruption

表示“妨碍；扰乱”，英文解释为“When there is disruption of an event, system, or process, it is prevented from continuing or operating in a normal way.”举个🌰：

The plan was designed to ensure disruption to business was kept to a minimum.

该计划旨在确保对业务的妨碍保持在最低限度。

entertain

熟词僻义，表示“怀着；抱有；心存；持有”，英文解释为“to hold something in your mind or to be willing to consider or accept something”举个🌰：

He refused to entertain the possibility of defeat.

他拒绝考虑失败的可能性。

在美国，拜登政府庞大的社会政策立法——目前在国会受阻——也在一定程度上被认为可以解决劳动者在疫情期间遇到的那种问题。疫情为讨论一个不再以工作为中心的社会这一远大想法提供了更广阔的空间——特别是全民基本收入，这一政策正在全国各地的试点项目中进行测试。

stall

表示“推迟，暂缓；搁置”，英文解释为“If you stall an event, you delay it or prevent it from making progress.”举个🌰：

Fears are growing that a tax increase may stall economic recovery.

人们越来越担心增税可能会阻碍经济复苏。

conceive

1）conceive (of) sth (as sth)表示“想出（主意、计划等）；想象；构想；设想”，英文解释为“to form an idea, a plan, etc. in your mind; to imagine sth”举个🌰：

God is often conceived of as male.

上帝常常被想象为男性。

2）另一个含义表示“怀孕；怀（胎）”，英文解释为“When a woman conceives or conceives a child , she becomes pregnant”。

🎬电影《云图》（Cloud Atlas）中的台词提到：One may transcend any convention, if only one can first conceive of doing so. 一个人可以打破任何陈规，只要这个人能首先想到这样做。

🎬电影《最后的维加斯》（Last Vegas）中的台词提到：My brain cannot conceive how old this body is. 我的脑袋没办法接受老去的躯体。

🎵歌曲《A Better Way》中就有这么一句歌词：

I'll try

我会尝试

Try to believe it

尝试着去相信

Try to conceive it

尝试着去思索

By using your bone

循着你的脚步

There's gotta be a way to get out of here

我定会找到办法从此地脱困

far-flung

表示“遥远的；分布广的；广泛的”，英文解释为“used to refer to places that are a great distance away, or something that is spread over a very large area”举个🌰：

She has travelled to the most far-flung corners of the world.

她游历到过世界最远的角落。

你可以在Reddit论坛“反工作”(/antiwork)上一睹后工作的世界。该论坛“专为那些不想再工作的人而设”，近几个月来在网上走红，有几十万人关注它的颠覆性事业。“反工作”充斥着员工们发的帖子，他们非常崩溃，再也无法忍受——还有好多截图，图中是人们痛骂自己的经理，经受多年的虐待，他们愤怒地辞职了。

viral

表示“（通过网络在个体之间迅速）病毒式的（传播）”，英文解释为“used to describe something that quickly becomes very popular or well known by being published on the internet or sent from person to person by email, phone, etc.”举个🌰：

Here's a list of the top ten viral videos this week.

以下是本周十大病毒式传播的视频。

📍常用短语 go viral，字面意思就是“像病毒一样传播、扩散”，引申为“走红，十分流行，疯狂传播”，比如朋友圈xxx刷屏了，也可以说go viral.

subversive

subversive /səbˈvɝː.sɪv/ 表示“起破坏作用的，有颠覆性的”，英文解释为“trying to destroy or damage something, especially an established political system”如：subversive ideas 煽动性想法。

tell off

表示“责备，斥责（某人）”，英文解释为“to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong”举个🌰：

The teacher told me off for swearing.

我因骂脏话遭到了老师的训斥。

rage

表示“（一阵）盛怒；（一阵）狂怒；（一阵）暴怒”，英文解释为“(a period of) extreme or violent anger”举个🌰：

I was frightened because I had never seen him in such a rage before.

以前从未见他如此狂怒，我被吓坏了。

I've been reading /antiwork for months, and I've been surprised to find myself joining in the visceral thrill of seeing people wrest the reins of their lives from the soul-sucking, health-destroying maw of capitalism.

几个月来，我一直在看“反工作”，我惊讶地发现自己参与了一种发自内心的激情，目睹人们从吸食灵魂、破坏健康的资本主义的大嘴中夺回了生活的控制权。

visceral

visceral /ˈvɪs.ər.əl/ 表示“发自内心的；发自肺腑的”，英文解释为“based on deep feeling and emotional reactions rather than on reason or thought”举个🌰：

His approach to acting is visceral rather than intellectual.

他的表演重真情实感，而不是只讲技巧。

thrill

表示“兴奋；激动；紧张感”，英文解释为“a feeling of extreme excitement, usually caused by something pleasant”举个🌰：

It gave me a real thrill to see her again after so many years.

这么多年以后与她重逢，着实令我激动。

wrest

1）表示“夺取；攫取”，英文解释为“to violently pull something away from someone”举个🌰：

He wrested the letter from my grasp.

他从我手中夺走了那封信。

2）表示“辛苦谋求；费力取得”，英文解释为“to get something with effort or difficulty”举个🌰：

The shareholders are planning to wrest control of the company (away) from the current directors.

股东们正在计划从现任董事们手中夺取公司的控制权。

reins

the reins 复数，表示“控制；主宰；掌管”，英文解释为“the state of being in control or the leader of sth”举个🌰：

It was time to hand over the reins of power (= to give control to sb else).

是该让权的时候了。

maw

1）表示“（凶猛动物的）口部，嘴巴”，英文解释为“the mouth of a fierce (= frightening) animal”如：the lion's maw 狮子的嘴。

2）表示“无底洞，深渊”，英文解释为“something that seems to surround and absorb everything near it”举个🌰：

She fears that the matter will simply be swallowed up by the maw of bureaucracy.

她害怕这件事只会被官僚体制的无底洞所吞没。

I was surprised to find common cause with people on /antiwork because, of course, I have very little to complain about, job-wise. Indeed, at least once a day I revel in open-mouthed gratitude. What I do to make a living — writing this column — is less physically demanding and more intellectually rewarding than anything my ancestors had to endure to earn their supper, and — don't tell my bosses — more than fair compensation for my time and effort.

我很惊讶地发现，我和“反工作”上的那些人有着相同的诉求，当然，就工作而言，我没什么可抱怨的。事实上，我每天至少有一次会张着嘴满怀对这份工作的感激。我的谋生之道（写这个专栏）比我的祖先为了赚取晚餐而不得不忍受的事情要消耗更少的体力，获得更多的智力回报，而且（别告诉我的老板）它为我的时间和精力所付的报酬，比合理的数字要多。

revel in

表示“陶醉于；着迷于；纵情于”，英文解释为“to enjoy sth very much”举个🌰：

She was clearly revelling in all the attention.

显而易见，她对大家的关注感到十分高兴。

补充：

📍reveler /'revələ/ 表示“欢宴者，狂欢者；饮酒狂欢者；摆设酒宴者”，英文解释为“someone who dances, drinks, sings, etc. at a party or in public, especially in a noisy way”。

rewarding

表示“值得做的；有意义的”，英文解释为“giving a reward, especially by making you feel satisfied that you have done something important or useful, or done something well”举个🌰：

Is it a rewarding job?

干这份工作有意义吗？

It sounds perfect, right?

听起来很完美，对吧？

And yet, a lot of times my job can feel like an all-consuming hell. I've got a wife and kids and two lovely cats, but work is the first thing I think about every morning and the last thing I worry about every night. My job has dibs on my mind and my time, it gets the best of my attention and creativity, and it is the subject of my deepest neuroses and my most intractable stresses.

然而，很多时候，我的工作感觉就像一个吞噬一切的地狱。我有妻子、孩子和两只可爱的猫，但工作是我每天早上想到的第一件事，也是每晚担心的最后一件事。工作占用了我的精力和时间，占用了我最佳的注意力和创造力，也为我带来最深层的神经衰弱和最困扰的压力。

dibs on

表示“对…的所有权（或使用权）”，英文解释为“a right to have or get something from someone, or to use something”举个🌰：

The current owner might have first dibs on buying the rest of the property.

目前的所有人或许对其余财产拥有优先购买权。

intractable

表示“难驾驭的；难对付的；难解决的”，英文解释为“very difficult or impossible to control, manage, or solve”举个🌰：

We are facing an intractable problem.

我们面临着一个棘手的问题。

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't really realize how much work ruled my life until the pandemic — until this huge meteor took aim at our lives and forced me to reconsider what I was doing.

我很不好意思地说，在疫情之前，我并没有真正意识到工作是多么严重地主宰着我——直到这颗巨大的灾星瞄准了我们的生活，迫使我重新考虑我在做什么。

meteor

meteor /ˈmiː.t̬i.ɔːr/ 表示“流星”，英文解释为“a piece of rock or other matter from space that produces a bright light as it travels through the atmosphere”

📍还有用shooting star / falling star 表示“流星”，英文解释为“a meteor (= a piece of rock from space that produces a bright light as it travels through the earth's atmosphere)”

📍meteor shower 表示“流星雨”，英文解释为“an occasion when a number of meteors (= pieces of matter in space that produce a bright light as they travel) move fast across the sky at night”举个🌰：

This could be the best meteor shower that anybody alive today will ever see.

这可能是目前世人可能看到的最棒的流星雨。

I'm not saying I'm quitting — I hope to keep this gig for a long time. It's just that I now have space in my mind for a truth that my prepandemic workaholism never allowed me to consider — that even a dream job is still a job, and in America's relentless hustle culture, we have turned our jobs into prisons for our minds and souls. It’s time to break free.

我并不是说我要辞职——我希望能长期保住这份工作。只是现在我的脑海里为一个事实腾出了空间，在疫情之前，我的工作狂精神不允许我去考虑它——即使是一份理想的工作也只是一份工作，在美国无情的忙碌文化中，我们已经把工作变成了思想和灵魂的监狱。是时候挣脱束缚了。

gig

1）表示“（尤指临时的）工作”，英文解释为“a job, especially a temporary one”.

2）表示“现场演出；现场演奏会，现场演唱会；现场喜剧表演”，英文解释为“A gig is a live performance by someone such as a musician or a comedian.”举个🌰：

The two bands join forces for a gig on February 8.

这两支乐队将于2月8日联手举行一场演出。

relentless

表示“毫不留情的；持续严厉的；持续强烈的”，英文解释为“Something bad that is relentless never stops or never becomes less intense.”如：relentless criticism/pressure 不断的严厉批评/施压，relentless heat 持续高温，举个🌰：

The pressure now was relentless.

压力现在毫无减弱之意。

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