【精英翻譯】的部落格

LA’s people walker is beating loneliness, one step at a time 洛杉磯的遛人師戰勝寂寞，一步一腳印

精英翻譯社轉自: http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=1204695&day=2018-05-30

◎魏國金

Chuck McCarthy’s walking service provides fresh air, exercise and companionship for $30 an hour － but peeing on trees is an absolute no-no.

查克．麥卡錫的散步服務以每小時30美元的價格，提供新鮮空氣、運動與同伴情誼—不過在樹旁撒尿可絕對不行。

The Los Angeles-based entrepreneur works with humans, not animals, and is striking a blow for health and social inclusion as the founder of the city’s first people-walking business.

這位洛杉磯企業家作為該市第一個遛人公司的創辦人，是與人類配合工作，而非動物，並捍衛健康與社會包容。

"I was thinking about becoming a dog walker. But I’ve never had a dog in the city," McCarthy said. "I was also seeing a lot of personal trainer ads. And so I said to my girlfriend, ’Maybe I’ll just become a people walker.’"

「我考慮成為一名遛狗師。但我未曾在這座城市養過狗。」麥卡錫說。「我也看到許多私人教練的廣告。因此我對女友說『或許我就成為遛人師』。」

McCarthy was joking but the more he thought about it, the more he realized there was a need for the kind of comradeship he could provide.

麥卡錫在說笑，但當他越加思考，就越了解有對他能提供的那種同伴之誼的需求。

The People Walker started as a one-man operation two years ago. But demand was so high that McCarthy now has a roster of 35 walkers, and a website where people can choose routes and walking partners.

「遛人師」2年前以1人運作方式開始營運。但需求之高，致使麥卡錫現在值勤表上有35名陪走者，人們可在網站上選擇路線與步行夥伴。

It’s not that people have fewer friends, say experts, but rather that the "gig economy" has produced a generation of freelancers with none of the routines or social bonds that traditionally connected workers.

不是因為人們的朋友變少，專家說，而是「零工經濟」已產生一個自由工作者世代，相關工作沒有傳統上聯繫工作者的例行公事或社會連結。