今天第一次到台北地方法院處理些事，隔壁的老太太不停地向櫃台年輕小哥問問題，越問越激動。大約過了十分鐘，她終於忍不住哭了起來。她說自己的錢被騙了，最近又遇上許多帳單待繳，眼看要過年了，卻身無分文，孩子也不在身邊。申請什麼文件她一頭霧水，資產又被對方轉到另一位太太名下，她手裡緊抓著一疊文件，無助地哭得越來越傷心……
我很想幫她做點什麼，但我什麼都做不了。無法安慰她那筆錢會回來，因為我清楚它不會回來；不忍心告訴她哭也沒用，畢竟我也曾經哭過，哭再大聲也沒用；也不可能全程陪她走完這段路，因為我們家三年來也在這條路上，最後還是徒勞無功。於是我選擇了冷漠，感覺是無能為力，甚至連一句安慰都說不出口，只能眼睜睜看著八十歲的老太太在法院服務處一邊激動一邊慟哭，身邊沒有人安慰她。我想，也許有些人想伸出援手，卻力不從心，於是什麼都沒做，也許有些只是怕惹上麻煩所以假裝沒看到。我想，如果我的外婆像她這樣，我真的會很心疼。不知道三個月後的過年，她又會怎麼度過？
有人說台灣最美的風景是人，在台北地院這個離總統府步行不到五分鐘的地方，人們看起來有一點…冷。
It’s my first time handling affairs at the Taipei District Court, earlier this afternoon. I found myself next to a grandma who kept bombarding the young clerk behind the counter with endless questions—her voice growing more desperate by the minute. After about ten minutes, she broke down in tears. She said she’d been scammed out of her savings. Now, with the New Year just around the corner and a mountain of bills due, she had nothing left. Her children were nowhere near, and every form was a maze in a language she didn’t understand. The scammer had shuffled her assets into someone else’s name, and she just stood there, clutching a stack of papers, becoming more and more distraught as she cried.
I would have done something for her, if I could. There was no way to promise her that her money would return; I knew it wouldn’t. I didn’t want to tell her that crying was pointless—because I, too, was once there, crying out of hopeless tears. I couldn’t walk this whole road with her, not when my own family spent three fruitless years taking the same journey. It’s a long way to go, so much longer than expected. So, out of helplessness, I simply looked away. Helplessness is a cold shadow—you don’t know whether to offer comfort or just bow out. All I could do was watch this eighty-year-old lady sobbing at the court service office while the world kept on spinning, no one stopping to notice. She cried desperately there, alone. Maybe there are plenty who wish they could help, but feel paralyzed. Maybe some just don’t want the trouble. And honestly, if she were my grandmother, my heart would break for her. I wonder, when the New Year clock strikes in three months, what her holiday will feel like.
It’s commonly said the beauty of the Island is people here. And yet, sometimes, humanity feels so chillingly indifferent. The Taipei District Court is less than a five-minute walk from Office of the President, but empathy can sometimes seems oceans away.
