How Long Could You Go Without Complaining?
Baseball fans are gearing up for the World Series, but we all know what's the real national pastime: complaining. Could you go without griping about anything for a day? For a week?
A couple of editors at Slate's Double X women's site are trying to go a whole month without complaining. Both Jessica Grose, managing editor, and Hanna Rosin, founding editor, say on the site that they've grown concerned about over-relying on complaints in getting through their juggles (Ms. Grose is newly engaged, Ms. Rosin married with three young children). Over the course of their efforts, the two realize how much of their interactions with friends and colleagues are based on the common currency of complaining.
Ms. Grose recounts a recent pleasant drive during which she realized she was enjoying a good moment in her life and had nothing to complain about which led to 'a twinge of panic' at the very fact of having nothing to complain about. 'This shining moment of whine-free living made me realize how much kvetching I do on a daily basis. If I am honest with myself, I would estimate that about 70% of the things that come out of my mouth are gripes. Good-natured, often, but still nonessential and sometimes obnoxious to others.'
So Ms. Grose decides to 'try to stop complaining entirely about small things and quit excessively complaining about the bigger ones,' for a month. She enlists her boss, Ms. Rosin, in the effort to reach a state of more 'mindful complaining,' as Ms. Rosin terms it.
Ms. Rosin relates her own tale of addiction to complaints: After she griped about keeping up with her children's complex schedule of after-school activities, her husband made up a weekly schedule and posted it on the fridge. 'I nearly killed him. Honestly, it was our most dramatic marital fight to date. Why was I angry with him? It took me a few days to figure it out. Because by helping to solve the problem, he had robbed me of my God-given right to complain.'
I certainly join Ms. Grose and Ms. Rosin in spending a fair amount of time complaining, especially at work. (As we've written about before,
at some workplaces, people end up spending more time kvetching about work than actually working.) Most of our gripes there these days center on our new publishing system, which remains a bit buggy after five months of use. But there's some modest enjoyment in commiserating about an experience we're all going through together, and for the most part I'm fortunate not to have truly awful work woes to complain about my
co-workers are talented and conscientious, and the section we produce is something we can be proud of.
I have few serious complaints at home, either. We have the usual little squalls, but my wife and I often remark how much we enjoy our children, our friends and each other. I try to look on the bright side most of the time, so I feel like whatever complaining I do isn't a debilitating problem in need of aggressive correction.
How about for you? What are the sources of your biggest complaints? Do you think you complain too much at home or at work, and could you see making a concerted effort over some period of time to cut back? Do you think you could go on a complaint fast?
你能做到不抱怨吗？
棒球迷们正在翘首以待即将到来的世界职业棒球大赛(World Series)，但我们大家都清楚美国真正的全国性休闲方式是什么：发牢骚。你能不能一整天都不发一句牢骚？整整一周呢？
女性网站Slate's Double X的几个编辑正在尝试整整一个月都不抱怨。主编杰西卡.格罗斯(Jessica Grose)和创始人兼编辑汉娜.罗森(Hanna Rosin)在网站上说，她们越来越担心自己需要过度依赖诉苦的发泄方式才能度过难关。（杰西卡最近刚刚订婚，汉娜则是有三个小孩的已婚妈妈。）在体味人生酸甜苦辣的过程中，她们俩都意识到，自己与朋友同事之间的很多沟通都是以发牢骚为主的。
杰西卡回忆起最近一次愉快的驾车旅途，她发现那是自己人生中一段美好的时光，根本没什么可抱怨的─对于这一事实，她居然感觉到“一阵恐慌”。她说:这种无可抱怨的美好时光让我意识到，自己平时的生活都是在牢骚满腹中度过的。凭心而论，我估计自己嘴里说出来的话有70%左右都是在发牢骚。这种抱怨往往没有恶意，但还是属于可有可无，有时还会让别人感到厌烦。”
因此，杰西卡决定在一个月内，“试着完全停止对琐事的抱怨，并对更重要一
些的事情也尽量不去大发牢骚。”她把自己的老板汉娜也拉进来，以汉娜的话来说，这是为了“互相监督”。
汉娜也谈到自己发牢骚上瘾的故事：她抱怨自己很难跟得上几个孩子错综复杂的校外兴趣活动安排，于是她丈夫做了一张每周活动日程表，贴在冰箱门上。“为这事儿，我差点宰了他。说实话，这是我们结婚来吵得最凶的一次。可我为什么这么生气？过好几天后我才想明白：因为他帮我解决了问题，但同时也剥夺了我天经地义的发牢骚的权利。”
和杰西卡与汉娜一样，我也经常发牢骚，特别是上班的时候。（我以前也在文章里写到过，在有些办公场所，人们抱怨工作的时间比真正工作的时间还要多。）最近，我们对工作的抱怨大多数都集中在新开发的编辑系统上，因为经过五个月的使用后，系统似乎还有些小问题。不过，在对一种共同经历发牢骚时，确实有一种隐约的快感；而我算是幸运的，因为基本上没有真正意义上的工作难题需要抱怨─我的同事们既有才华，人又好，我们共同开发出来的内容板块也令大家感到自豪。
我在家也很少真正抱怨什么。我和妻子有时也拌几句嘴，但经常的话题是谈孩子和朋友们的趣事，以及对彼此的喜爱。大多数时候，我都试着乐观处事，因此并不觉得自己偶尔发牢骚是一个急需改正的坏毛病。
你的情况如何？抱怨最多的事情是什么？你觉得自己在家或上班时抱怨过多吗？能不能在一段时间内有意识地控制自己少发牢骚？能不能把少发牢骚这个“封口令”进行到底？
没了网络的80后还能活吗？
A survey of 16 to 24 year olds has found that 75% of them feel they \"couldn't live\" without the internet.
一项针对英国16至24岁年轻人的调查发现，75%的年轻人认为他们“没有网络活不下去。”
The report, published by online charity YouthNet, also found that four out of five young people used the web to look for advice.
这份由网络慈善团体YouthNet所作的调查显示，有4/5的青年人将网络作为一种寻求咨询的途径。
About one third added that they felt no need to talk to a person face to face about their problems because of the resources available online.
还有1/3的青年人认为，根本没必要和他人进行面对面的交流，因为任何需要的信息都可以通过网络来获取。
Despite high-profile examples of internet security breaches, such as the recent incident of phishing email scams, 76% of the survey group thought the internet was a safe place \"as long as you know what you're doing\".
尽管互联网安全隐患重重，比如最近发生的多起网络钓鱼邮件和垃圾邮件，但76%的受访者都认为，只要自己心里有数，网络还是安全的。
\"Probably the middle-aged are the most vulnerable,\" said Open University psychologist Graham Jones.
英国开放大学的心理学家葛莱姆·琼斯认为，或许中年人更容易在网上上当受骗。
\"I think children, teenagers and people under their mid-20s have grown up with technology and they understand it deeply,\" he said.
他说：“因为孩子、青少年以及20来岁的年轻人是伴随着科技成长的一代，他们接受新事物的能力更强。”
Mr Jones thinks it is the parents who need to become more sophisticated.
琼斯认为，父母们应该更多地去了解网络。
\"One of the biggest problems for children is not that they are vulnerable but that their parents don't know what they're doing,\" he said.
“孩子们最大的问题之一不是他们易在网上上当受骗，而是他们的父母不了解孩子的所作所为。”
\"It's important that parents have full understanding of the internet and its risks--younger people need parental direction,\" he said.
“全方位地了解网络及其风险对于家长来说至关重要。年轻人需要家长的指导和引导。”
Its author, Professor Michael Hulme of Lancaster University, names this age group \"digital natives\" as they have grown up in an environment rich with computer and mobile technology.
调查报告的作者、兰卡斯特大学的迈克尔·赫米教授认为，电脑和手机等电子设备已经充斥了当今社会生活的方方面面，在这种环境中长大的年轻人可以称得上是“数码一代”。
\"For young people the internet is part of the fabric of their world and does not exist in isolation from the physical world,\" he said.
他说，对于年轻人来说，互联网与他们的日常生活息息相关、不可分割。
Youthnet runs websites offering advice, information and volunteering opportunities to young people.
Youthnet网站致力于向年轻人提供建议、资讯和志愿者的工作机会。
\"The need for a safer, trusted [online] place has never been greater,\" said Fiona Dawes, Youthnet's chief executive.
Youthnet网站的首席执行官菲奥娜·当斯说，年轻人需要一个更安全、更可信赖的网络，而且这种需求变得越来越迫切。
\"Youthnet will be taking the insights of this report to heart as we plan the future of our services.\"
“Youthnet 网站在规划未来服务的时候，是会认真考虑这份调查报告中年轻一代的需求的。”
