美国国家公共电台 NPR Annoyed Baltimore Drivers Want City To Crack Down On 'Squeegee Kids'

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

In Baltimore, the city is embroiled¹ in a debate over its squeegee kids - young people who jump into street intersections³, squeegees in hand, to clean car windows for cash. Drivers have been complaining about their run-ins with them. And a video of Mayor Catherine Pugh scolding one squeegeer (ph) has made local headlines.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CATHERINE PUGH: Why are you not in school?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I was going to go, but I'm...

PUGH: Get off the corner. Go to school.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: NPR's Rebecca Ellis reports.

REBECCA ELLIS, BYLINE⁴: Tony Jackson and Jaylen Brown head to school each morning with a foot-long squeegee stuffed in their backpack. They always carry the Mallory. It's their favorite brand, featuring a sturdy handle and a thick, spongy top. It brings them big tips.

TONY JACKSON: We catch hundos (ph), twenties, fifties sometimes, fives and dollars.

ELLIS: The cousins pull the cash they make washing windshields with paychecks from McDonald's and Burger King. At 16 and 17 years old, they say they're saving up to move out of their parents' home downtown. Nine-year-old Tavon Parker has more modest goals. Over on Pratt and President, he's wrangling⁵ up enough to...

TAVON PARKER: Buy clothes and get something to eat and buy toys.

ELLIS: His mom, Tracy Scott, usually sits on the curb⁶ and watches over Tavon and his older brother. It's risky⁷ work. A 10-year-old was hit by a car at the same intersection² this October. Still, Scott says, there are worse ways for her sons to spend their evenings.

TRACY SCOTT: It keeps them out of trouble. A lot. A lot of trouble.

ELLIS: Jaylen, Tavon, Tony - they're all lured⁸ to squeegeeing by the same thing.

JACKSON: It's easy, quick, legal money.

ELLIS: The law says otherwise. But the city's statute⁹ against aggressive panhandling has long been loosely enforced on the kids. The mayor's office estimates about 100 squeegeers work the city streets. This year, though, the kids say the cops are cracking down. Fifteen minutes after Tony and Jaylen arrive on President Street, Officer Brian Loiero pulls up.

BRIAN LOIERO: You guys got an ID or anything out here? All right. It's illegal to panhandle in the middle of the street.

ELLIS: This is familiar territory. The week before, Tony says, Loiero handed him a written warning.

JACKSON: Running from police. Running from police. Running from police. I'm tired of running from police.

ELLIS: Illegal or not, Tony says he needs the cash.

JACKSON: We even asked a couple officers, would y'all rather us sell drugs or squeegee? They don't never answer our question.

ELLIS: Officer Loiero says squeegeeing is dangerous, as it distracts drivers. Retired¹⁰ attorney David Plymyer lives just outside the city. He encounters squeegeers each time he drives into downtown - an experience he classifies as mildly annoying.

DAVID PLYMYER: You're essentially¹¹ trapped inside that vehicle, you know, waiting for whatever is to occur next. This - it's really a sort of a low-intensity extortion operation.

ELLIS: Plymyer used to be a social worker in Baltimore. He knows most squeegeers live in poverty and said he could get behind the mayor's plan for a job training program to entice¹² kids off the corners. Yet he believes the city has been too lenient¹³. He praised the decision by a local nonprofit to hire monitors to oversee¹⁴ the kids downtown.

NICK MOSBY: It's disgustingly shortsighted.

ELLIS: State Delegate Nick Mosby is disturbed by the recent amp up in enforcement, which he sees stemming less from driver safety concerns than racial fears.

MOSBY: Just don't like the idea of strange, overwhelmingly predominately African-American young men coming up to their cars asking, can they provide a service at a red light?

ELLIS: He fears boys, like Tony and Jaylen, will be punished with a criminal record, while their white counterparts are spared.

MOSBY: Little Billy who opens up a lemonade stand doesn't necessarily get harassed¹⁵ by the police in Baltimore County.

ELLIS: Back on President Street, Officer Loiero lets Tony and Jaylen go with a verbal warning. He cautions them again...

LOIERO: All right. I hope I don't see you guys out here.

ELLIS: He gets back in the car. Once he leaves, I ask if they're done for the day.

JAYLEN BROWN: For right now.

JACKSON: For right now.

ELLIS: They've got some homework to do. Then, they say, they'll be back. Rebecca Ellis, NPR News, Baltimore.

1 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

3 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

6 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

7 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

8 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

9 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

10 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

13 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

14 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

15 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们