PBS高端访谈:女电线工人的人生（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: Throughout this pandemic, we have profiled many front-line workers whose jobs have been deemed essential. Tonight's Brief But Spectacular introduces us to Savoya Taylor. She works as a line worker for ComEd, which powers Chicago and much of Northern Illinois. Taylor is the company's first female overhead electrician, and she spoke to us about her work and her family.

SAVOYA TAYLOR, Line Worker: Just imagine this pandemic without electricity. Everybody was running out to the grocery stores. With no electricity, you have nowhere to store that grocery, no television, no cell phones. We are definitely called first responders in our position. So we're basically the first ones out there. I work on the North Side of Chicago, also part of the West Side. This was definitely not the career I was growing up on, saying, oh, I'm going to be an electrician. I'm the only lady. The guys treat me well. They treat me as if I'm one of their own. So, it's an amazing position to be in. Actually, my whole household, we're all essential workers. I have a daughter. She works for the company as well. She works for customer service. I have another daughter. She works at a restaurant. I also have a son at home. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in November, my 12-year-old son. There's days my son wants to just be right up under me. And I'm like, give me a second. Let me get out of these clothes, shower. And it's just hard when you got a young child at home that wants to love and hug all over his mother and his sisters and stuff, and we're just trying to keep a good distance just to keep him safe. To be out here working every day, and not knowing if I'm going to contract this illness or not, I definitely have to try to not bring it home to him. And it's days where his strength isn't up, and he had to do the chemo and everything. So, these type of diagnosis is hard on adults, so just imagine a 12-year-old boy that don't even understand, like, why me? He asked me that. Why me? And I didn't even have an answer. I just told him that things happen to people sometimes, but just continue to be strong and we will get through it. He inspired me so much. He has shown me that you just can't give up. I worked really hard to be here. And I'm opening up, trying to be positive for a lot more ladies to come behind me. And I'm also trying to train my youngest daughter to do what I'm doing and, teaching her how to climb. She wants to follow into my footsteps. So that really makes me proud. My name is Savoya Taylor. This is my Brief But Spectacular take on empowering my family and my community.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You go, Savoya Taylor. And we're thinking about you, your son, and your whole family. And you can find all of our Brief But Spectacular segments online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：在这场大流行中，我们描述了许多一线工人，他们的工作被认为是必不可少的。今晚“简短而精彩”节目向我们介绍了萨沃娅·泰勒。她是ComEd的一名电线工人。为芝加哥和伊利诺伊州北部的大部分地区供电。泰勒是公司第一位女性高空电工，她向我们讲述了她的工作和家庭。

萨沃娅·泰勒，线路工人：想象一下没有电的大流行。大家都跑到杂货店去了。没有电，你就没有地方存放杂货店，没有电视，没有手机。在我们的工作上，我们被称为第一反应者。所以我们基本上是第一批。我在芝加哥北区工作，也是西区的一部分。这不是我长大想从事的行业，说，哦，我要成为一名电工。我是唯一的女士。他们对我很好。他们对待我就像对待他们自己人一样。所以，这是一个了不起的工作。事实上，我们全家，都是必不可少的工人。我有一个女儿。她也在公司工作。她在客户服务部工作。我还有一个女儿。她在一家餐馆工作。我还有一个儿子在家。去年11月，我12岁的儿子被诊断出患有霍奇金淋巴瘤。有时候我儿子就想在我下面。我想，等一下。让我脱掉这些衣服，洗个澡。当你家里有个小孩的时候就很难了，他想爱和拥抱他母亲和他的姐妹们什么的，我们只是想保持一个很好的距离，只是为了保护他的安全。每天都在外面工作，却不知道我会不会染上这种病，我一定要尽量不让他知道。这几天他的体力没有恢复，他不得不做化疗和其他一切。这些疾病对于成年人都很难，想象一下，一个12岁的男孩甚至都不明白，他会说为什么是我？他问我的。为什么是我？我甚至没有答案。我只是告诉他，人有时会出事，但只要继续保持坚强，我们就能渡过难关。他给了我很多灵感。他告诉我你就是不能放弃。我真的很努力才来到这里。我要敞开心扉，努力让更多的女士支持我。我还试着训练我的小女儿做我现在做的事情，教她怎么爬。她想追随我的脚步。所以我真的很自豪。我叫萨沃娅·泰勒。这是我“简短而精彩”关于赋予我的家庭和社区权力的观点。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：你去吧，萨沃娅·泰勒。我们在想你，你的儿子，还有你全家。你可以在网上找到我们所有简短而精彩的片段PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.