Attitude Makes the Difference

By Yang Li

One day, I had to go to a place more than 20 kilometers away for business, so I called a taxi with a smartphone app. The driver was a young man. As soon as I got in his car, I found him sullen-faced. He seemed very reluctant to make this trip.

Sure enough, when I was looking for something to chat about, he said with a poker face that it was not a good deal to take this order because the total fare was merely 40 yuan, and after deducting the commission from the platform company, there would be just some 30 yuan left, and the commute home could leave him empty-handed. If the taxi ran on natural gas, it would barely be enough, but if it used gasoline, it couldn't be costefficient.

On hearing this, I closed my lips and my heart tightened. I had been in a good mood, seeing the sun shining outside the window. I had wanted to finish my business trip in a good mood, but now my cheer was gone. Yes, it was not much to drive more than 20 kilometers back and forth for 30 yuan, but the price hadn't been fixed by me, and he had been willing to take the order. Now he complained, as if I owed him something. Sitting in the taxi, I was in trepidation, wondering whether I should give him a subsidy of 10 yuan.

The taxi finally arrived at its destination. For the first time, the young man asked me in a pleading tone to give him five stars online. I didn't have the heart to refuse him, so I did everything I could.

When I finished my business, I took a taxi back. This time, I was picked up by a driver about 50 years old. As soon as I got on, the driver enumerated all kinds of delicacies and interesting things where I lived in a kind and easygoing manner, which immediately broke the ice between us.

I learned that the old driver once worked in a large stateowned enterprise. In the past few years, when the enterprise was slumping, he received more than 100,000 yuan as compensation and left. I said he'd suffered a loss, but he said he hadn't because he'd received the money, had bought a taxi to drive for Didi, China's largest ride-hailing platform, and is now living more comfortably than before. Besides, it is quite normal for enterprises to ebb and flow. In 1985 when his father earned more than 200 yuan a month in the factory, he was extremely envied by those in the neighborhood. Later, he took over his father's post to enter the factory, where he spent nearly 20 years of good life. Nowadays, priority will be given to advanced technology in enterprises which emphasize production capacity. Those who fall behind the times will be eliminated. Luckily, in a few years he would be able to retire on a pension, and he would live a carefree and happy life.

The past life experiences, told so optimistically by the old driver, suddenly dawned on me. Yes, we are bound to go through ups and downs in our life, but the different moods we have at each stage determine the quality of our lives.

At this moment, I couldn't help asking whether it paid when he only earned about 30 yuan a trip. The driver smiled at me, saying that it was much better than stopping. As long as he kept moving, things would be fine. In addition, there could possibly be passengers on his way back, so he would likely reap something.

When we arrived and the driver drove away, I delivered a heartfelt five-star rating online to him. The same distance and different life experiences compose the different understandings and tolerances of the world, which distinctively demonstrate our mental horizons.

(From Leshan Daily, January 13, 2019. Translation: Qing Run)

心境有別

文/楊力

那天我到20多公里外一個地方辦事，用手機軟件打了一輛車。司機是個小伙子，我一坐上車就見他黑著臉，似乎極不情愿跑這一趟。果不其然，當我尋找話題聊天時，小伙子面無表情地說，接這一單太不劃算，車費總共才40多元，去掉平臺公司的抽成，只剩30多元，回程還要跑空車，如果車燒氣還勉強，燒油就虧大了。

我一聽，趕緊把到嘴邊的話收了回去，內心也倏地緊了一下。我本來心情還不錯，車窗外陽光正好，我也想懷著這份美好的心情去把事情辦完，但現在全被破壞了。不錯，30多元跑20多公里的來回確實不多，可價格不是我定的，接單也是他自愿的，現在反過來抱怨，就像我欠了他什么。這一路坐得我是誠惶誠恐，一直在思量是不是給他補貼10元。

車子終于到目的地了，小伙子第一次用請求的語氣對我說，希望為他點贊，打五顆星的好評。我不忍拒絕，對這個自認為虧了錢的小伙子的要求一一照辦。

我辦完事，照例要打車回去。這次來接我的是個50歲左右的老師傅，一坐上車，老師傅就如數家珍地列舉我居住地種種好吃的、好玩的，十分親切隨和，一下就拉近了我們之間的距離。

再一問，老師傅曾在一家大型企業工作，前幾年企業不景氣，他拿了10多萬元補償款就退了出來。我說他虧了，他卻說不虧啊，他拿了這筆錢，買了車跑“滴滴”，日子比原來過得還自在。再說，企業有起有落很正常，1985年，他父親的工資加獎金一個月有200多元，羨煞多少拿死工資的人。后來他頂班進廠，也過了近20年的輝煌日子。到了今天，拼產能的企業更要講科學，不適應時代的東西自然被淘汰。再過幾年他就可以拿退休工資了，日子平平順順。

很多人當成苦難的經歷被老師傅如此樂觀地講述，讓坐在車里的我豁然開朗。是的，人生勢必會經歷大大小小的起起落落，但是每個階段用什么樣的心境去面對，結果截然不同。

想到這兒我不禁多嘴，說跑一趟只掙30多元會不會虧。老師傅笑著說，只要車子在動，就總比停著好，再說打車回那邊的客人也不少，虧不了。

到達后，老師傅開車離開時，我的手指自然而然停留在五星好評那兒。同樣的一段距離，不同的人生閱歷，表現出的是對世事不同的理解和包容度，這就是心境的距離。

（摘自《樂山日報》2019年1月13日）