导读:如果有位乞丐向你讨钱,你会把自己的信用卡给他,让他自己刷吗?
A Manhattan homeless man had an emotional reunion yesterday with the kindhearted ad executive who lent him her American Express Platinum Card outside a SoHo restaurant, in what became a shining act of generosity, trust and honesty.
昨天,曼哈顿一位流浪汉与热心的广告公司女高管非常激动的重聚了。她曾在一个SOHO餐厅外将自己的一张白金卡借给了这位流浪汉,这成为了一件慷慨、信任和诚信的闪亮行为。
“I didn’t have to thank him. I trusted him all along,” said Merrie Harris, 45, as she hugged Jay Valentine, 32, outside La Esquina on Kenmare Street.
45岁的哈里斯说,“我不用特别感谢他,因为从一开始我就相信他。”在肯玛街La Esquina外,她给了32岁的瓦伦丁一个拥抱。
Harris lent her card to Valentine there Monday after he asked her for change. Most people who witnessed the act of extreme generosity doubted he would ever come back. But a short time later, he returned with the card, stunning many and earning Valentine the title of Most Honest Homeless Man in the City.
星期一,瓦伦丁在这儿乞讨时,哈里斯把自己的信用卡借给了他。很多人都见证了这个非常慷慨大方的行为,并对他还卡持怀疑态度。不过,不一会儿,他就将卡还回来了,使很多人大跌眼镜,瓦伦丁还由此获得了该市“最诚实流浪汉”的称号。
“What he did was no surprise to me,” Harris said yesterday. “People keep telling me, ‘Why would you talk to him and trust him?’ But are we only supposed to trust people we know? What would Bernie Madoff’s friends be saying?”
昨天,哈里斯表示,“他的所作所为其实并未令我吃惊。人们一直在问我,‘为何你要和他交谈,还相信他?’但是我们真的只能相信认识的人吗?伯纳德.麦道夫的朋友们会怎么说?”
Valentine told The Post that he was surprised to be handed the card, but he never thought to take advantage of Harris’ generosity.
瓦伦丁告诉《纽约邮报》,哈里斯将卡借给他时,他非常吃惊,不过他从未想过要利用哈里斯的慷慨。
“I wasn’t tempted at all,” said the 32-year-old Brooklyn native. “She trusted me, and I didn’t want to violate that trust. I would never do that.”
这位32岁的布鲁克林本地人说,“我并没有为此心动。她相信我,我不能破坏了这份信任。我决不会那样做。”
Valentine said he has been homeless for a few years, since he lost his job at a real-estate company that had allowed him to sleep in the office. He said he now spends his nights in an Internet cafe whose staff allows him to sleep on their chairs. He said he was hungry and low on cash on Monday when he saw Harris standing with friends outside the restaurant.
瓦伦丁说,自从他丢了在一家房地产公司的工作(那时公司允许他睡在办公室)后,他已经无家可归有些年了。他说现在他每晚在一家网吧的椅子上睡觉。星期一他在这个餐厅外遇到哈里斯时,正饥饿难耐又没钱。
“I asked her for change and told her I wasn’t working,” he said.
他说,“我找她要点零钱,告诉她我失业了。”
“She said she only had a card. She said, ‘Can I trust you?’ I said, ‘I’m honest, yes.’
“她说她身上只有一张卡。她问能不能相信我?我说可以,我很诚实。”
“I went and bought a few things and came back and gave her her credit card back, and everybody was surprised.
“我出去买了一些东西就回来了,将信用卡还给了她。每个人都很诧异。”
“I said thanks for trusting me. I guess she had a good sense of judgment. She knew I was trustworthy.”
“我说谢谢你的信任。我想她一定很会识人。她知道我是值得信赖的。”
Valentine said he bought deodorant, body wash, a pack of Nat Sherman cigarettes and Vitamin water. It all cost about $25, he said.
瓦伦丁说他买了一些除臭剂,洗漱用品,一包烟和维生素水,大约花了25美元。
“She was really lucky it was me she ran into” and not someone who would have stolen the card, Valentine said. “I was really in need. I only had a couple of dollars on me.”
瓦伦丁说,“她真的很幸运,她遇到的是我,而不是一些其他的会拿走这张卡不还的人。这真的是雪中送炭,我当时身上只有几美元。”
“It sets a good example that people in need — like I am or worse — can and should be trusted,” he said. “Everybody in the restaurant was surprised. They probably thought I would run off with the card.”
他说,“这说明那些真正需要帮助的人——像我这样或者更糟——可以信任并且应当被信任。餐厅里所有人都非常吃惊。他们可能都以为我会携卡而去吧。”