在科技迅猛發展的今天，爸媽常常抱怨我們只知道擺弄手機，他們想要跟上時代前進的步伐，卻不得法門，只能以小游戲為樂?？墒牵謩菰诓恢挥X中反轉了。爸媽竟也會沉迷小游戲，甚至會忽視自己最珍愛的孩子。這一切是怎么發生的？我們又該怎樣面對？

By Koh Jia Jun

思含 選 閆春蕾 注

We all admit that modern technology has taken over our lives, for good of course. Us, being young people, rejoice at the breakneck speed technology can move at. But there are a group of people who cannot keep up— my parents.

Well, not just my parents. It is the group of people who are caught up between traditional and modern society, sort of like the middle child in technological advancement—not exactly old and resist change, but are trying very hard to become modernized, ending up being stuck in the middle. They range in the age of 40 to 60 (it’s a rough estimate ) and holds the latest iPhone or Samsung phone, which were probably the only two brands they know. They are still wandering in the Candy Crush phase and the occasional sister-games produced by King.com. And more often than I like to admit, they buy an iPad just because

1. They can afford to, and

2. To play the same games on a larger screen

— nothing else.

They are almost like the teenagers five years ago, always on their phone with a mindless game or navigating through Facebook. Maybe it is just my country, I’m not sure, but it’s prevalent . And I saw something today that made me extremely sad.

It was a heartbreaking scene. On the train(or tube , subway, metro, whatever you call it), a mother was focused on playing a Candy Crush-like game with her daughter sitting beside her. The little girl, about five years old, was talking to her mother, about her day, chanting the next stop’s name cheerily, commenting on her mother’s long nails—obviously desperate attempts to get her mother’s attention.

The mother? All she did was nod and subconsciously mumble the occasional “Mm hm” and with her eyes glued to the screen, brows creased in intense concentration on how to use her remaining swipes to clear the level. I watched the girl gave a final attempt to at least get her mom to look at her, and to no avail, then she sighed and resigned defeat, falling silent.

It broke my heart, and got me wondering—what kind of game can make you forget you have the most beautiful thing in the world, a being you created, the person you love with all your heart? What it means when you can’t and won’t even look into her eyes and even bother to listen to her. You might have many balls to juggle as an adult; but to her, you are likely her only ball.

This is not just an isolated example, I’ve seen too many during my public commute to know that this is a very depressing and prevalent sight. I might not be a parent myself, and probably still have a long way before becoming one, but I know what I saw wasn’t right.

The scene was so familiar years ago when it happened, when parents lament how their children were so affixed to their mobile devices that they gave up giving any shit about them. Look how the tables have turned when the slavery now gets passed to them. I’m uncertain whether to laugh or to cry.

But all I can do now is hope that this storm passes.

Vocabulary

1. slave: 奴隸。

2. take over: 接管，占據。

3. rejoice: 高興，歡喜；at the breakneck speed: 極快地，（尤指）以危險的高速。

4. 這群人夾在傳統社會和現代社會之間，就像科技進步的中間兒，他們并非古板，抗拒變化，而是非常努力地想要跟上現代化的步伐，結果卻被困在中間進退兩難。middle child: 中間兒或三個孩子中的第二個孩子。由于對自己的角色沒有老大和幼子這樣清楚的定位，會感到被冷落或者變得孤僻。此處用來形容被夾在傳統和現代社會之間的人們的迷茫和無助。

5. rough estimate: 粗略統計。

6. wander: 徘徊，游蕩；Candy Crush: 糖果傳奇，一款消除類小游戲；sister game: 姊妹游戲，類似的游戲。

7. mindless: 無需動腦的；navigate: 航行于。

8. prevalent: 流行的，普遍的，廣傳的。

9. heartbreaking: 令人心碎的。

10. tube: （倫敦）地鐵。

11. 那個小女孩，大約五歲，一直在和她的媽媽說話，講她這一天的生活，歡快地報出下一站的站名，評論她媽媽的長指甲，很明顯極力想得到媽媽的關注。chant: 反復地唱（或說）。

12. subconsciously: 潛意識地；mumble: 咕噥，含糊地說；glue to: 緊盯?。籧rease: （使）起折痕，（使）起皺；swipe: 猛擊。

13. 我看著小女孩最后一次嘗試至少讓媽媽看自己一眼，卻無濟于事，于是她嘆了口氣，放棄并沉默了。attempt: 嘗試，努力；to no avail: 無效，徒勞；sigh: 嘆息；resign: 聽任，順從；defeat: 挫敗，失敗。

14. 作為成年人，你可能需要處理很多事情，可是，你卻是她生活的唯一。have many balls to juggle: 有許多事情要忙。

15. commute: 通勤，乘車上下班。

16. lament: 哀悼，悲嘆；affix to: 粘上，固定于，此處指癡迷于……。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：丹妮）