父亲节
Father’s Day
杜靖/文
By Zach Dodd
在母亲节，每个人通常都会给母亲送花或泰迪熊。但在父亲节这一天，往往很少有人想到去庆祝它。今年的父亲节，我和妈妈决定从亚马逊网给爸爸买一双Hoka跑鞋。我爸爸非常喜欢跑步。每次我和妹妹去参加游泳训练，他都会去跑步，因此他的鞋子磨损得很快。这就是我们决定给他买新鞋的原因。
Usually on Mother’s Day, everyone gives flowers or teddy bears to their moms. But on Father’s Day, hardly anyone does anything to celebrate. So this year, for Father’s Day, my mom and I decided to buy my dad a pair of Hoka running shoes from Amazon. My dad loves running. Every time my sister and I go to swim practice, he goes for a run. So his shoes wear out quickly. That’s why we decided to get him a new pair.
这事应该很简单：我妈妈几个月前在亚马逊上为爸爸买过这双鞋，所以我们需要做的就是使用”再次购买”按钮订购新的，对吗？不，事实比想象困难得多。让我告诉你我们在网上给爸爸买鞋的那段令人难以置信的经历。
It should’ve been simple: my mom had bought the same shoes for him on Amazon a few months ago. So all we needed to do was hit the “Buy Again” button, right? Nope. It turned out to be way harder than we imagined. Let me tell you about the unbelievable journey of buying my dad shoes online.
当我们进入亚马逊应用程序时，惊恐地发现这双鞋”目前缺货”！接下来的几天里，我们一直在刷新。幸运的是，就在父亲节前几天，它终于补货了，并且将在父亲节前一天到达，非常及时！然而，当我们尝试付款时，我妈妈的信用卡”无法使用”！
When we opened the Amazon app, we were horrified to find that the shoes were “currently out of stock”! For the next few days, we kept refreshing. Finally, just a few days before Father’s Day, they were restocked and scheduled to arrive the day before—perfect timing! But when we tried to pay, my mom’s credit card was “unusable”!
“没关系，我们进城去续卡吧。”虽然我平静地说出这句话，但内心深处，我感觉自己像热锅上的蚂蚁。
“No worries, we’ll go into town and renew the card.” I said this calmly, but inside I felt like an ant on a hot pan.
我们赶到城里的银行，却发现它关门了！我一拳打在墙上，感到指关节传来疼痛，妈妈建议我深呼吸，说：”我们开车去附近的鞋店用现金买吧。”附近有三家鞋店，我们决定全部跑一遍，看看是否有我们想要的鞋子。
We rushed to the bank in town only to find it was closed! I punched the wall and instantly regretted it when pain shot through my knuckles. Mom told me to take a deep breath and said, “Let’s drive to a nearby shoe store and pay in cash.” There were three shoe stores near us, so we decided to visit them all to see if they had the shoes we wanted.
我们到达第一家鞋店，询问正在整理货架的店员是否有Hoka跑鞋。他带我们来到一个陈列着Hoka跑鞋的架子前。我们仔细看完整个货架，发现并没有我们要的型号。时间不多了，我们赶紧跳上车，飞奔到下一家鞋店，那里也发生了同样的事情。这时我真想把头发扯下来，但我们已经没有时间可以浪费了。我双手合十，跳回车里，希望最后一家鞋店能买到我们要的鞋子。
At the first store, we asked a staff member who was arranging shelves if they had Hoka running shoes. He led us to a rack full of Hokas. We checked the whole shelf, but they didn’t have the model we needed. Time was running out, so we jumped back in the car and sped to the next store. Same story there. I wanted to tear my hair out, but throwing a tantrum would waste time we didn’t have. I clasped my hands together and jumped back into the car, hoping the last store would have the shoes.
走进最后一家鞋店，我径直冲向Hoka货架，拼命地四处扫视。”我找到了！”妈妈惊呼道。我飞奔到她身边。它是架子上的最后一双，幸运的是尺码正是我们需要的！我们抓起它，飞快地奔向收银台。店主对我们用现金购买一双200英镑的鞋子感到惊讶。回家的路上，我催促妈妈开快点，因为在爸爸下班回家之前，我们只剩30分钟的时间可以藏鞋。
At the final store, I dashed straight to the Hoka rack and scanned it frantically. “I found them!” Mom shouted. I sprinted over to her. It was the last pair on the shelf—and the exact size we needed! We grabbed them and raced to the checkout. The shopkeeper was surprised we were paying £200 in cash for a pair of shoes. On the way home, I urged Mom to drive faster because we had only 30 minutes to hide the shoes before Dad got home from work.
当我们把车停好后，我飞快地跳下车，冲上楼，把鞋子藏在了床底下。然后我下楼，瘫倒在妈妈的怀里。没想到我们为了一双鞋经历了这么多曲折！
As we pulled into the driveway, I jumped out, unlocked the door, ran upstairs, and hid the shoes under the bed. Then I came downstairs and collapsed into Mom’s arms. Who knew buying a pair of shoes could be such an ordeal?
当我爸爸打开盒子，看到这双全新的跑鞋时，他惊呼着：”多谢你们！ “然后他居然把鞋子收起来，走去厨房做午饭，再也没提这双鞋子。
When Dad opened the box and saw his brand-new running shoes, he exclaimed, “Thank you so much!” Then he put the shoes away and headed to the kitchen to start making lunch.
难怪没人庆祝父亲节。
No wonder nobody celebrates Father’s Day.
编者按：
作者杜靖，13岁，出生于新加坡，从小用中文与母亲交流，先辈从福建漂洋过海，代代传承中华语言文化。两年前全家移居英国，在英国南安普顿中文学校继续学习中文。他希望将来能去中国参加夏令营。
此文转自”侨号”的”福见中华”，该栏目为中英双语，深受华裔青少年喜爱，认为是很好的中华文化双语读物。