John Morris — so old his father was born just after the American civil war — has seen plenty of US history. Yet this American abroad feels that last month, aged 99, watching TV all night in Paris, he witnessed the worst political event of his lifetime. “I was with my granddaughter, she was in tears,” he says. “It was not as hard for me. I’ve been through other tragedies, usually somebody’s death. But I think Trump’s election makes it easier for me to contemplate an early death. In my case, you can’t exactly call it early but, at any rate, I’m glad I’m going to be through!”
約翰•莫里斯(John Morris)活了一大把年紀了——他的父親出生在美國內戰剛結束的時候——也見證了大段的美國歷史。然而這位身在異鄉的美國人覺得，今年11月他算是目睹了他畢生所見的最糟糕的政治事件，當時99歲的他在巴黎觀看了整晚的電視。「我的孫女和我在一起，她淚流滿面，」他說，「我不像她那麼難過。我經歷過其他悲劇，通常是有人離世。但是我想川普當選讓我更容易去思考早點死這件事。在我身上說早不太準確，但無論如何，我很慶幸我快走了！」