An old man' family could no longer afford to take care of him. So they decided that a nursing for the aged would be appropriate. Surely he rejected it , but was convinced1 soon.
On his first day at home, he spent most of his time laying in bed reflecting on life, feeling lonely. A while later, an orderly2 stopped by to see him. "How are you doing today?" She said, "First day I see". The old man nodded. In no time the two began talking up a storm. As the conversation began to drag on, the orderly noticed a plate full of peanuts sitting on top of the table next to the bed, and helped herself to a handful. As the chat continued, the orderly kept eating more helpings of the peanuts.
She looked at her watch and noticed that nearly 2 hours had passed and said, "My goodness, the time has gone by quickly. I have to tend to other people here too." "That's okay." Said the old man, "I feel so much better being able to talk to someone." Looking into the plate the orderly said, "I feel awful! I ate almost all of your peanuts! " The old man responded, "That's okay. Ever since I got these false teeth, all I could do was to suck3 the chocolate off them anyhow."
Notes:
1. convince 說服
2. orderly 鐘點(diǎn)工,勤務(wù)兵
3. suck 吸,吮
有個老頭的家人由于沒時間整天陪他,決定請鐘點(diǎn)陪護(hù)來陪伴他。老人當(dāng)然表示反對,但很快又被說服了。
當(dāng)他第一天獨(dú)自在家時,他大部分時間都躺在床上回想過去,感覺很是孤獨(dú)。過了一會兒,一個鐘點(diǎn)陪護(hù)上門來照看他了。“今天過得怎樣?”她對老頭說,“看來你是第一次一人在家啊?!崩项^點(diǎn)頭稱是。沒多久,這兩個人就打開了話匣子。當(dāng)兩人聊得熱火朝天時,鐘點(diǎn)陪護(hù)注意到靠近床的桌子上放著一個裝滿花生仁的碟子,于是毫不客氣就抓了一把吃起來。當(dāng)兩人繼續(xù)談話時,這個鐘點(diǎn)陪護(hù)不停地抓著碟子里的花生仁放進(jìn)嘴里。
鐘點(diǎn)陪護(hù)看看表,發(fā)現(xiàn)不知不覺已經(jīng)過去近兩個小時了,說:“天哪,時間過得太快了,我得去照看這附近的其他人了?!薄昂冒伞?,老頭說,“能和人聊聊我感覺好多了?!辩婞c(diǎn)陪護(hù)看看碟子,說道:“不好意思!我?guī)缀醢涯愕幕ㄉ式o吃光了!”老頭答道:“沒事!自從裝了假牙,我能做的也就是把花生仁上的巧克力給舔干凈!”
Useful link:
在美國,老人請鐘點(diǎn)陪護(hù)的陪護(hù)費(fèi)用一般由保險公司支付,沒錢買保險的窮人由聯(lián)邦政府醫(yī)療保險支付,有些可申請所在州的州政府醫(yī)療保險支付。