世上有一羣安撫醉鬼的天使
In the club trade, they are called PIs — it stands for “possibly intoxicated”. It’s a nice way of saying someone has drunk too much, and there is a list of things to look out for: falling over, falling asleep, crying or showing other signs of distress.
The staff don’t want anyone in the club who is overly drunk but they also don’t want to chuck them out on the street. So they bring them to a quiet area that acts as a holding bay and that’s where I come in. I’m part of a team of Christian volunteers called Club Angels, who work inside nightclubs and bars to assist those who are in a state. Sometimes we just provide a listening ear.
工作人員都不願意看到酒吧裏有人喝得爛醉如泥，但他們也不想把這些酒鬼扔到大街上去。於是他們把這些人帶到一個安靜的類似於控制間的地方，那也是我發揮作用的地方。我是基督教志願者團隊“天使俱樂部”(Club Angels)中的一員，我們在夜店和酒吧裏工作，幫助那些出狀況的人。有時，我們只是傾聽而已。A-level results night was mayhem. All I did was take sick buckets from people’s hands, empty them into the loo and give them back again. I’m not fazed by the sick, I’m being useful. And who else would do it if we didn’t? It’s not actually that bad to deal with: normally the clubbers haven’t eaten, they’ve just been drinking cocktails or Jägerbombs.
一級戰備狀態的夜晚是一片混亂。我不斷地把人們手裏的嘔吐桶接過來、倒在廁所裏然後再遞迴給他們。我不怕那些嘔吐物，我是在幫忙。如果我們不去做，還有誰會做？事實上，處理這個並沒那麼糟糕：通常來說，泡吧的人都沒有吃飯，他們只是一直在喝雞尾酒或者野格炸彈(Jägerbomb)。
We always have baby wipes, alcohol gel, rubber gloves and hairbands to tie people’s hair back. We also carry sugary sweets and tissues. I focus on the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Croydon. People see stories in newspapers of drunk young people in city centres and they think, how debauched — they are drunk for the sake of it. But often it will be because those young people are dealing with problems, the same reason why older adults drink.
我們總會帶着嬰兒溼巾、酒精凝膠、橡膠手套以及可以把頭髮固定到腦後的髮帶。我們還會帶些糖果和紙巾。我主要在位於克羅伊登(Croydon)的“老虎”(Tiger Tiger)夜店工作。人們在報紙上看到關於市中心那些喝得酩酊大醉的年輕人的報道，想到的是：多麼墮落——他們是爲了喝醉而喝醉。但是，這通常是因爲這些年輕人遇到了問題，與年長些的成年人喝酒的原因如出一轍。Meeting someone in a club when they are intoxicated is strange because they open up more than they usually would. Sometimes I sit and listen to someone and I think, I’m not surprised you’ve had a lot to drink. I would have a lot to drink if that happened to me.
在酒吧裏與喝醉的人見面感覺怪怪的，因爲他們比平時更願意傾吐心事。有時侯，我坐下來聽着某個人說話，然後我會想，難怪你喝了這麼多。這事兒要是攤到我頭上，我也得喝多。One girl had just had a job interview and the guy interviewing her had come on to her. He said, “If you come back to mine, you can have the job.” The same girl was a full-time carer for her brother, who was very sick. Another person had had a recent abortion, another’s dad had been diagnosed with cancer. They are dealing with heavy problems so they are out drinking to relieve some of that pressure.
有個女孩剛剛參加完一次面試，面試官竟然輕薄她。他說：“如果你默許的話，你就能得到這份工作。”這個女孩還要全天候照顧患有重病的哥哥。另外一個人最近剛流產，還有一個人的父親被診斷出癌症。他們都在應對難以克服的困難，因此出來喝酒釋放壓力。By day I’m a Pilates and yoga instructor, and I’ve also done some stand-up comedy. But I first heard about Club Angels at church. A speaker came to talk about it and she said, “This is an initiative we are setting up in London, would anyone like to volunteer?” I thought, that’s something I could do. I could identify with those people who have had too much to drink and need helping out.
白天，我是一名普拉提(Pilates)和瑜伽教練，還會表演一些棟篤笑。不過，我在教會裏第一次聽說了“天使俱樂部”。一名演講者來到教會發表了有關它的演講，她說：“我們打算在倫敦開展這項計劃，有人願意當志願者嗎？”我當時想，不錯啊，我可以做。我對那些喝得太多、需要幫助的人們有同情心。My church, Central London Vineyard, is not like others. It’s a group that meets at night in a bar in Soho. It’s not a big building with singing, stuff that people are turned off by. It’s just real people like me.
我所屬的教會——倫敦中央葡萄園(Central London Vineyard)，和其他教會不一樣。教友都是晚上在蘇荷區(Soho)一家酒吧見面，沒有那些讓人興趣索然的演唱和宏大的建築，只有一些像我一樣的活生生的人。People are a bit suspicious of someone doing something for nothing. But Club Angels are not preaching, and we don’t try to convert people. We’ve got printed on our T-shirts, “PS We’re Christians, ask us if you want to know more.” And that’s it.
人們會對某些人不圖回報地做一些事產生些許懷疑。但天使俱樂部不佈道，我們也不試圖說服別人皈依。我們的T恤上印着一行字：“PS We’re Christians, ask us if you want to know more（順便提一句，我們是基督徒，如果你想了解更多，我們有問必答）”。僅此而已。At the start of a shift we pray for the night, the staff, for joy and happiness for the clubbers and for everyone to have a great night. We finish at 3am. If there was lots of drama and tears and stories that night, I’m often still buzzing and stay up for a bit when I get home. I’m a night owl, and the work suits people who still have mindful energy late at night.
每次開始工作前，我們都會爲那個夜晚、爲那些工作人員祈禱，爲泡吧的人幸福快樂祈禱，爲每個人都能度過一個愉快的夜晚祈禱。我們凌晨3點結束工作。如果當天晚上非常鬧騰、有太多淚水和故事，那麼我回到家後通常仍然腦子嗡嗡的，會多再過一會再睡。我是個夜貓子，這份工作適合那類深夜仍然精力充沛的人。I also go out clubbing and drinking — but I don’t drink when I’m on duty. I’m never tempted because it’s not about me. I need to be on my best form. But it’s important that all of us have drunk alcohol and been in clubs so we can relate. I’m definitely not coming at it from a squeaky-clean perspective.
我也會出去泡吧、喝酒——但我不在當值時喝酒。我也從來沒有禁不住誘惑的時候，因爲當值時不喝酒不是爲了我自己。我需要保持最好的狀態。但是我們都會喝酒也常出入酒吧，這很重要，因爲這樣我們才能感同身受。我絕對不會以聖人的角度來看待喝醉的人。
