◎ Bob Greene

Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those trains that take travelers from the main terminal to their boarding gates. Free, sterile and impersonal, the trains run back and forth all day long. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter.

At the front of the first car—looking out the window at the track that lay ahead—were a man and his son.

We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors wee closing again. “Here we go! Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of sheerdelight.

I know we’re supposed to avoid making racial distinctions these days, so I hope no one will mind if I mention that most people on the train were white, dressed for business trips or vacations—and that the father and son were black, dressed in clothes that were just about as inexpensive as you can buy.

“Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he’s walking to his plane.” The son craned his neck to look.

As I got off, I remembered some thing I’d wanted to buy in the terminal. I was early for my flight, so I decided to go back.

I did—and just as I was about to reboard the train for my gate, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn’t been heading for a flight, but had just bee riding the shuttle.

“I want to ride some more!”

“More?” the father said, mock-exasperated but clearly pleased. “You’re not tired?”

“This is fun!” his son said.

“All right.” the father replied, and when a door opened we all got on.

There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and the children turn out rotten. There are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong. Rich and poor, black and white, so much goes wrong so often.

“Where are all these people going, Daddy?” the son asked.

“All over the world.” came the reply. The other people in the air port wee leaving for distant destinations or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, sharing each other’s company.

So many troubles in this country—crime, the murderous soullessness that seems to be taking over the lives of many young people, the lowering of educational standards, the increase in vile obscenities in public, the disappearance of simple civility. So many questions about what to do. Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.

The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.

The train picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again, and the answer is so simple.

一天早晨去亚特兰大机场，我看见一辆列车载着旅客从航空集散站抵达登记处。这类免费列车每天单调无味地往返其间，没人觉得有趣。但这个周六，我却听到了笑声。

在头节车厢的最前面，坐着一个男人和他的儿子。他们正透过窗户观赏着一直往前延伸的铁道。

我们停下来等候旅客下车。之后，车门再次关闭。“我们走吧。拉紧我！”父亲说。那个男孩大约5岁的模样，一路上都喜不自禁。

车上坐的多半是衣冠楚楚，或公差或度假的白人，只有这对黑人父子穿着朴素简单。我知道如今我们不该种族歧视，所以我希望我这样描述没人会介意。

“快看！”父亲对儿子说，“看见那位飞行员了吗？我敢肯定是去开飞机的。”儿子伸长脖子看。

下了车后，我突然想起一些事，我还得在航空集散站买点东西。离起飞时间还早，于是我决定再乘车回去。

正准备上车的时候，我看到那对父子也来了。我意识到他们不是来乘飞机的，而是特意来坐区间列车的。

“我还想再坐一会儿！”

“再坐一会儿！”父亲嗔怪地模仿着儿子的语调，“你还不累？”

“这太好玩了！”儿子说。

“好吧。”父亲回答说。车门开了，我们都上了车。

很多父母有能力送孩子去欧洲，去迪斯尼乐园，可孩子还是堕落了。很多父母住豪华别墅，孩子有车有游泳池，可孩子还是学坏了。富人和穷人，黑人和白人，那么多人都轻易学坏了。

“爸爸，这些人去哪？”儿子问。

“世界各地。”父亲回答。机场来来往往的人流，或准备远行，或刚刚归来。这对父子却在乘坐区间列车，享受着父子间的亲情与陪伴，分享着彼此的兴奋。

我们正面临各种各样的问题：犯罪，越来越多的年轻人变得冷漠无情，教育水平下降，公共场合卑劣淫秽上升，起码的礼貌丧失，等等。我们有那么多的问题要处理。而在这里，这位父亲却很在意花上一天陪伴儿子，并在这样一个星期六的早上，想出这个计划。

其实答案很简单：父母愿意花时间，愿意关注，愿意尽心尽职。这不用花一分钱，却是世间无价之宝。

火车加速了。父亲指着窗外说着什么，儿子又笑了。是的，答案就是这么简单。