1400万人知道我失去了梦想的工作

一年前，我的生活一切都变了。随着知名电视节目《深夜秀》的主持人大卫•莱特曼退休，一代传奇就此谢幕，而我梦想中的工作也随之结束了。这也是我有生以来干得最久的一份工作（远远地排在第二名的是管理一家热狗快餐连锁店）。我在这里认识了我的妻子——南茜•阿戈斯蒂尼，她也在这里工作。大卫在节目中公布了我和南茜的婚讯。我的两个女儿简和艾比出生后，他还在节目里分享了她们的照片。可以说，这个节目已经成了我的第二个家。虽然我在这里已经干了20多年，但比起一些已经和大卫合作了30多年的员工，我还算是个新来的。

你该怎样与这群像家人一样共事了超过22年的同事告别呢？我们一起喝了很多酒。在每周四的节目录制期间，我们一些人聚在办公室里，你开一瓶，我开一罐，试图忘记大家马上就要分离的事实。随着结束的时间越来越近，参加聚会的人也越来越多。我们欢笑着，回忆着。同时我们也在想，为什么这么多年来，我们没多在办公室里喝几回酒（千禧一代一定要吸取这个教训了！）

One year ago everything changed for me. David Letterman was retiring. A legend was leaving. My dream job was ending. Easily the longest job I ever held (managing a fast food hot dog joint running a distant 2nd). I met my wife, Nancy Agostini, working there, Dave announced our wedding on air and shared pictures of our daughters, Jane and Abby, when they were born. The show had become our extended family. But even with 20 years under my belt, I was considered the new guy compared to some longtime staffers who had logged 30+ years with Dave.

How do you say goodbye to the people that had become family over 22 years? We drank. A lot. A few of us would gather in an office between Thursday show tapings, crack open a can of this or a bottle of that and try to ignore the fact that this would all be going away soon. As the end grew closer, the party got bigger. We laughed and reminisced, but mostly, we wondered why we hadn’t done more office drinking over the years (pay attention millenials!).

从1993年开播的《深夜秀》自此落下了帷幕。录制现场外聚集了大量粉丝，百老汇门前停满了新闻采访车，艾德苏利文剧院内也汇聚了大批名人。最后一集《深夜秀》的筹备工作非常辛苦，但重回聚光灯下的感觉很好。最后这期节目是一场大杂烩。比尔•默里、史蒂夫•马丁、蒂娜•菲、基斯•洛克、曼宁兄弟中的一员、喷火战机乐队，以及30多年来的经典片段，都在导演芭芭拉•盖恩斯操刀的一段蒙太奇里精彩地呈现出来。这期节目就这样结束了。在节目结束几个小时后，剧场里是这个样子的：

The run of the Late Show ended as it began in 1993. Hordes of fans out on the street, news trucks parked on Broadway, and a parade of celebrities inside the Ed Sullivan Theater. The buildup to the end was overwhelming, but it felt good to be back in the spotlight. The last show was a blur. Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Chris Rock, a Manning brother, Foo Fighters, and over 30 years of memories packed into one amazing, career-defining montage by Barbara Gaines.

Then, just like that, it was gone. A few hours after the last show, the place looked like this:

CBS电视台给了我们两天时间打包走人。

CBS gave us two days to pack up our offices and get out.

可以说这是一次“硬着陆”。但这段旅程是美好的。不尽人意的事难免会发生，没人抱怨。

一年过去了，很多事也时过境迁（比如大卫留了胡子）。同事们都在其他节目里找到了新工作，我们的老房子也迎来了新住客。不幸的是，在这一年中，有几位朋友已经离我们而去了。我们这些人仍然保持着联系，时不时三三两两地聚会。事实证明，我们根本没有必要说再见，因为我们的聚会只是从办公室挪到了社交媒体上。

那些人将永远是我的家人，那幢建筑将永远给我家的感觉。我从那个地方学到了一切。在那里工作是一件非常具有挑战性的事。但在失去了那份工作一年后，我意识到，它已经让我做好了迎接任何事的准备——除了大卫的那把胡子。

感谢大卫。 （财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

It was a rough landing. But it was a great ride and shit happens. No complaints.

One year removed from the last show and much has changed (see: Dave’s beard). People have moved on to new jobs on other shows, a new family moved into our old house, and unfortunately, we lost a couple people along the way. We all still keep in touch and mini reunions pop up here and there. Turns out we never had to say goodbye, the party just moved from the office to social media.

Those people will always be family and that building will always feel like home. I learned everything from that place. Working there was challenging, but a year later I realize that it prepared me for anything. Except Dave’s beard.

#ThanksDave