人类是群体动物，无论在学习、工作还是生活中都离不开他人与集体。但是，与人相处的过程不一定都是同心同德的和谐乐章，总会出现步调不一的杂音。本期“美文共享”带来了三篇各有侧重的生活随笔、哲理小品以及小小寓言，别有一番况味，你看完之后是否有所感悟呢？
I was not the least popular kid in my school, but I was probably in the bottom third. Hoping to 1)elevate my social position a bit before high school, I begged my parents for permission to throw an eighth grade graduation party. To my 2)utter shock and delight, they said yes.
I quickly 3)drafted a list of 4)invitees, including only my two best friends and 15 or so of the most popular kids. But when I brought the list to my mother, she shook her head and explained, “No, you must invite the entire class or the party is off.” Was she out of her mind? She rarely entertained her own friends, and now she was 5)essentially forcing me to invite 50 or so young teens to our home?
Desperate for the party, I agreed to her terms. I spent an entire period of 6)recess tracking down my classmates to pass out invitations. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the last people I found was Maureen. Heavier and more 7)awkward than most, Maureen typically spent recesses 8)huddled in a corner, trying to avoid the gaze of the other kids.
Maureen watched with 9)apprehension as I approached her, no doubt fearing some 10)put-down or 11)teasing. I handed her the invitation and said, “I hope you can come, too!” I will never forget the look on her face as she took the invitation from me and offered a shy smile. At that moment, my mother’s requirement to include everyone suddenly made perfect sense.
Some 25 years later, my own daughter, Sophie, started 12)preschool in our neighborhood. At the parent meeting, we were informed of a rigid school rule:“Everyone is included.” For example, kids were not permitted to exclude other kids from their play, 13)cubbies could only be used to 14)distribute party invitations if the whole class was invited, and so forth.
Later, I overheard Sophie 15)imploring her younger sister to let her join a game of Barbies by explaining, “Everyone is included, Jessica!” This 16)poignant incident made me recall my own experience learning this 17)mantra, and made me reflect on how universally this 18)tenet applied to almost every area of my life.
The vivid memory of Maureen’s happiness at being included in my party helps to remind me of the value of this core belief and to apply it even when it may be difficult to do so. This is what I believe, and it guides me to this day: Everyone is included.
我并不是学校里最不受欢迎的孩子，但或许也能排上倒数第三。于是我央求父母让我办一场八年级毕业派对，希望能够在上高中前提升一下自己的社会地位。让我无比震惊和高兴的是，他们同意了。
我很快草拟了一份邀请名单，上面只有我最好的两个朋友，以及大约15个最受欢迎的孩子。但当我把名单拿给母亲看时，她摇了摇头说：“不行，你必须邀请全班同学参加，否则派对作废。”她疯了吗？她几乎不会款待自己的朋友，而现在她根本是逼我请五十来个年轻人到家里来？
我实在太想搞派对了，于是答应了她的条件。整个课间休息期间，我都在到处找同学分发邀请卡。在我最后才找到的人当中，莫琳是其中之一，这并不奇怪。她比大多数人都要胖，总是笨笨的，所以她在课间休息时一般都会缩在角落里，试图躲避其他孩子的目光。
当我走近莫琳时，她不安地看着我，一定是怕我奚落或者取笑她。我把邀请卡递给她，说道：“我希望你也能来！”她接过邀请卡，对我羞涩地笑了笑，我永远忘不了她的神情。那一刻，母亲那个“每个人都要请”的要求突然显得合情合理了。
将近25年以后，我的女儿索菲开始在社区里上幼儿园了。在家长会上，我们被告知一条严格的园规：“人人有份。”比如在玩耍时不能排挤其他孩子，只有在全班都受到邀请时，小房间才能被用来发放派对邀请，诸如此类。
后来，我无意中听到索菲恳求妹妹让她加入芭比娃娃游戏，她说：“杰西卡，人人有份呢！”这个令人印象深刻的小插曲让我想起自己是如何学会这道咒语的，仔细思量之下，我发现这条原则在人生的方方面面都很适用。
莫琳因为可以参加我的派对而无比快乐——这段鲜活的记忆让我记住这一核心信念的价值所在，即便在难以实现的情况下，我也会身体力行。这便是我的信念，时至今日，它依然指引着我前进：一个都不能少。
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