清理电脑的时候，发现了这个文件。
一篇英语课作业（口语稿子），主题是关于"silent restaurant"的。说是作业，其实就是把我看到的某个社会观察节目的内容整理了一下，后面加了点自己的感想。毫无逻辑，想到什么写什么的那种。
陕西榆林有家很安静的餐厅，80%的服务员是聋哑人。Although they can neither hear nor speak, they try to live a happy life. 他们听不见也说不出，但都在很努力地活着。节目组把一家咖啡厅的服务员都换成了聋哑人，邀请顾客向他们学习手语。
Although there are few customers in the cafe, all of them are enthusiastic about learning sign language. The waitress who are thoughtful will use a tablet to communicate when necessary. More and more people join the ranks of sign language learning and communication. Harmony and joy filled the whole cafe.
这个设定本身就很微妙。我们总觉得"服务"嘛，就是得说话得热情得满面笑容——虽然这种刻板印象细想起来挺可笑的。但他们用tablet交流，认真地比划着每一个动作。反倒是顾客们学得挺开心。
印象最深的是一位长头发的女士。She write down what she want to learn, and gestures every motion as carefully as a child. 她把想学的内容写下来，然后每一个动作都认真得像小朋友学写字。她在对服务员比"你很棒"——用这种方式表达赞美和尊重。
Silence does not bring them trouble, but gives them the opportunity to learn to understand the world they have never experienced, and finally integrate into it.
沉默没有带来麻烦，反而给了大家一个机会，去理解一个从未接触过的世界。
Sign language communication is not as troublesome or boring as expected. Communication means I will learn your language first and then try to communicate with you.
这句话是节目中出现的。听起来像废话，但仔细想想好像确实是这么回事。沟通的第一步不是我准备好要说什么，而是我愿意去学你的语言。
想起一部电影，彭于晏主演的《听说》。
Hear Me (Ting Shuo) is a very interesting movie. The younger sister Chen Yihan is the bread-earner, works hard to protect her older sister Chen Yanxi pursuing her dream of entering the Deaflympics soon to be held in their home town. Chen Yihan met a boy Peng Yuyan who develops an interest in her. Interestingly, both of them are communicating with sign language, thereby mistaken for hearing impaired.
姐姐是听障，目标是参加残奥会，妹妹是健全人，靠卖面包供姐姐练习游泳。两个人用手语交流，被误以为是健全人。剧情不复杂，对话很少，大部分都是手语。
The film touches on themes of discrimination, sense of value and what sacrifice could mean and bring. It may have not been that deep for extended exploration but it is enough to anchor the audience to also ponder about how we treat the deaf (or any other disabled person), how we talk about them, perceive them and talk to them.
电影探讨了歧视、价值感和牺牲。算不算深刻不好说，但至少能让观众想一想：我们是怎么看待听障人士的？怎么和他们说话的？
疫情来了之后，听障人士的处境变得更难了。
In the Covid-19 pandemic, new challenges for deaf-mute have emerged. In an article published in Nature Career Column, October 6th, 2020, Olivier Pourret and Elodie Saillet, a married pair of associate professors, pointed out the problem that most face masks make it impossible for people to lip-read. Masks have added a layer of inaccessibility by preventing this mode of understanding among deaf people.
口罩成了最大的障碍。大多数口罩让人无法唇读——这本来是听障人士理解他人的重要方式。一层薄薄的口罩，硬生生地隔开了一个世界。
Further more, during lockdown, learning has moved to the online mode. On Oct 9th, 2020, the contributing Editor of Disability Compliance for Higher Education, Halley Sutton said accessibility-related lawsuits against colleges increase during COVID-19 in his post. Digital accessibility lawsuits by students with disabilities against colleges or universities increased 17 times during the latter half of 2020 due to challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release put forth by AudioEye, a digital accessibility software company. Everyone has an equal right to education, whether in a pandemic or not.
又是一句正确的废话。但"权利"这个词太抽象了，具体到每个听障学生要面对的，是网课没有字幕、是直播没有手语翻译、是所有课程都假设你能听到。
写到这里突然有点恍惚。这篇作业当初是怎么写的已经完全记不清了。只记得当时Deadline前一晚熬夜赶出来的，水平嘛，也就是及格线上下的样子。
社会观察节目后来肯定是再也没看过的。但那位长头发的女士，那个用手语说"你很棒"的场景，偶尔还会想起来。
可能这就是"痕迹"的意义吧。不一定是什么深刻的东西，但某个时刻的感受、某个想法，被记录下来了。若干年后翻到，会想起"啊，原来我那时候是这样的"。
嗐呀。