近几年，大公司不断裁员，小公司生存艰难，失业的人越来越多。
很多人有工作的时候都想躺平、提前退休，但是当真的失业时，他们又开始假装上班了。
对于他们来说，比失业更难的是告诉家人自己失业了。
假装上班最直接的原因是来自家人的压力。
如果你还没结婚，那需要隐瞒的对象主要是父母。
对于父母来说，本来平常的事情可能会让他们胡思乱想、寝食难安。
而如果你已经结婚了，那需要隐瞒的对象可能还要加上自己的爱人、孩子，甚至爱人的父母。
除此之外，还要应付亲戚、邻居等人。
总之，如果你把失业的痛苦分享出去，只会得到更多的痛苦。
所以很多人选择了隐瞒失业的事实，假装上班。
假装上班不仅考验心态，还考验演技。
如果是独自在外生活，就需要应对电话或视频。
如果是跟家人一起住，隐瞒的难度就更高了。
不但需要长时间撒谎，还需要扮演自己上班时早出晚归的生活状态。
这些假装上班的人们一般会出现在公共图书馆、付费自习室、咖啡馆、快餐店、公园等地方，安静地度过一整天。
有车的人会每天开车出门，找个地方停车，然后在车上玩手机或者睡觉，到了下班时间再按时回家。
虽然看起来很绝望，但是他们大部分都还是会积极解决问题。
有的人重新求职，有的人准备考试，有的人换行业，有的人换城市…
…
无论如何，总会结束假装上班的日子，重新开始。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vc2VjdXJlL2xlYXJuY2hpbmVzZS81MTQzLm1wMw&filename=Pretend-to-go-to-work.mp3&signature=4be2fb9743bb7e10d5658df33c344c60229d28747de1812192018b65838ba7ad
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 近 | jìn | near / close to |
| 几 | jǐ | several / a few |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest |
| 公司 | gōng sī | company; firm; corporation |
| 不断 | bù duàn | unceasing / uninterrupted / continuous / constant |
| 裁员 | cái yuán | to cut staff / to lay off employees |
| 小 | xiǎo | small / tiny / few |
| 生存 | shēng cún | to exist / to survive |
| 艰难 | jiān nán | difficult / hard / challenging |
| 失业 | shī yè | to lose one's job |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 越来越 | yuè lái yuè | more and more |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of |
| 很多 | hěn duō | many; a lot of |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | job / work / task |
| 时候 | shí hou | time / length of time / moment / period |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 想 | xiǎng | to desire; to want (to) |
| 躺 | tǎng | to recline / to lie down |
| 平 | píng | flat / level / equal / calm / peaceful |
| 提前 | tí qián | to shift to an earlier date / to do sth ahead of time |
| 退休 | tuì xiū | to retire (from the workforce); to go into retirement |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 当 | dāng | when / during / ought / should / just at (a time or place) / on the spot / just at |
| 真的 | zhēn de | really; truly; indeed |
| 时 | shí | when |
| 他们 | tā men | they; them |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin / to start |
| 假装 | jiǎ zhuāng | to feign / to pretend |
| 上班 | shàng bān | to go to work / to be on duty / to start work / to go to the office |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 对于 | duì yú | regarding; as far as (sth) is concerned; with regard to |
| 来说 | lái shuō | for; from the point of view of; in the case of |
| 比 | bǐ | (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun} / (in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese) |
| 更 | gèng | more / even more / further / still / still more |
| 难 | nán | difficult (to...) / difficult |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 告诉 | gào su | to tell; to inform; to let know |
| 家人 | jiā rén | family member |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 最 | zuì | (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est |
| 直接 | zhí jiē | direct / immediate / straightforward |
| 原因 | yuán yīn | cause / origin / root cause / reason |
| 来自 | lái zì | to come from (a place) |
| 压力 | yā lì | pressure |
| 如果 | rú guǒ | if; in case; in the event that |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 还 | hái | still, still in progress, yet |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 结婚 | jié hūn | to marry; to get married |
| 那 | nà | (specifier) that; the; those / (pronoun) that (referring to persons, things or situations) |
| 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require |
| 隐瞒 | yǐn mán | to conceal / to hide (a taboo subject) / to cover up the truth |
| 对象 | duì xiàng | target; object / partner; boyfriend; girlfriend |
| 主要 | zhǔ yào | main; principal; major; primary |
| 父母 | fù mǔ | father and mother; parents |
| 本来 | běn lái | originally / at first / of course |
| 平常 | píng cháng | ordinary / common |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business |
| 可能 | kě néng | might (happen) / maybe / perhaps |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 让 | ràng | to permit / to let sb do sth / to have sb do sth / to make sb (feel sad etc) |
| 胡思乱想 | hú sī luàn xiǎng | to indulge in flights of fancy (idiom) / to let one's imagination run wild |
| 寝食难安 | qǐn shí nán ān | lit. cannot rest or eat in peace (idiom) / fig. extremely worried and troubled |
| 而 | ér | but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates contrast) |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 要 | yào | will; shall; about to / need to; should / if |
| 加上 | jiā shàng | to put in / to add / to add on / to add into |
| 爱人 | ài ren | spouse / lover |
| 孩子 | hái zi | child |
| 甚至 | shèn zhì | even; so much so that |
| 除此之外 | chú cǐ zhī wài | apart from this / in addition to this |
| 应付 | yìng fu | to deal with; to cope |
| 亲戚 | qīn qi | a relative |
| 邻居 | lín jū | neighbor |
| 等 | děng | and so on; etc.; et al. / (used to end an enumeration) |
| 总之 | zǒng zhī | in a word / in short / in brief |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 痛苦 | tòng kǔ | pain / suffering |
| 分享 | fēn xiǎng | to share (let others have some of sth good) |
| 出去 | chū qù | to go out |
| 只 | zhǐ | only; merely; just |
| 得到 | dé dào | to get; to obtain; to receive |
| 更多 | gèng duō | more; greater in amount, degree, or number |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore / as a result / so |
| 选择 | xuǎn zé | to select; to pick |
| 事实 | shì shí | fact |
| 不仅 | bù jǐn | not just; not limited to / (as a correlative conjunction) not only (..., but also ...) |
| 考验 | kǎo yàn | to test / to put to the test |
| 心态 | xīn tài | attitude (of the heart) / state of one's psyche / way of thinking / mentality |
| 演技 | yǎn jì | acting / performing skills |
| 独自 | dú zì | alone |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 外 | wài | outside / external |
| 生活 | shēng huó | to live |
| 就 | jiù | in that case; then |
| 应对 | yìng duì | to handle; to deal with |
| 电话 | diàn huà | telephone / phone call |
| 或 | huò | or |
| 视频 | shì pín | video |
| 跟 | gēn | with / compared with / to / towards |
| 一起 | yī qǐ | together; in company (with) |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay |
| 难度 | nán dù | degree of difficulty |
| 高 | gāo | high / tall / above average / loud |
| 不但 | bù dàn | not only (... but also ...) |
| 长 | cháng | long |
| 时间 | shí jiān | time |
| 撒谎 | sā huǎng | to tell lies |
| 扮演 | bàn yǎn | to play the role of / to act |
| 早出晚归 | zǎo chū wǎn guī | to leave early and return late (idiom) |
| 状态 | zhuàng tài | condition; state; state of affairs |
| 这些 | zhè xiē | these |
| 人们 | rén men | people |
| 一般 | yī bān | generally / in general |
| 出现 | chū xiàn | to appear / to arise / to emerge / to show up |
| 公共 | gōng gòng | public; common; communal |
| 图书馆 | tú shū guǎn | library |
| 付费 | fù fèi | to pay / to cover the costs |
| 自习室 | zì xí shì | a study room; a quiet room for self-study, often in a library or paid study space |
| 咖啡馆 | kā fēi guǎn | café; coffee shop |
| 快餐店 | kuài cān diàn | fast food shop |
| 公园 | gōng yuán | park (for public recreation) |
| 地方 | dì fang | place; location; area; space; territory / aspect; part |
| 安静 | ān jìng | quiet / peaceful / calm |
| 地 | de | -ly / structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 度过 | dù guò | to pass / to spend (time) / to survive / to get through |
| 一 | yī | entire; whole; all; throughout |
| 整 | zhěng | (bound form) whole; complete; entire; (before a measure word) whole; (before or after number + measure word) exactly / (bound form) in good order; tidy; neat |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 车 | chē | car / vehicle / machine |
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 开 | kāi | (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start / to turn on; to put in operation; to operate; to run |
| 出 | chū | to go out; to come out / to arise; to occur / to produce; to yield / to go beyond; to exceed |
| 门 | mén | gate / door / gateway / doorway / opening / valve / switch / way to do something / knack / family / house / (religious) sect / school (of thought) / class / category / phylum or division (taxonomy) / (suffix) -gate (i.e. scandal; derived from Watergate) |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find / to look for / to call on sb / to find / to seek |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 停 | tíng | to park (a car) |
| 然后 | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards |
| 上 | shàng | (noun suffix) on; above |
| 玩 | wán | to play / to have fun / to trifle with / to keep sth for entertainment |
| 手机 | shǒu jī | cell phone; mobile phone |
| 或者 | huò zhě | or |
| 睡觉 | shuì jiào | to go to bed / to sleep |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive / to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point) / (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point) |
| 下班 | xià bān | to finish work; to get off work |
| 再 | zài | then (after sth, and not until then) |
| 按时 | àn shí | on time / before deadline / on schedule |
| 回 | huí | to go back / to turn around / to answer / to return |
| 家 | jiā | home / family / (polite) my (sister, uncle etc) |
| 虽然 | suī rán | although; even though |
| 看 | kàn | to see; to look at / to read / to watch / to visit; to call on / to consider; to regard as / to look after / to treat (a patient or illness) / to depend on / to feel (that) / (after a verb) to give it a try / to watch out for |
| 起来 | qǐ lái | indicating the beginning and continuation of an action or a state / indicating an upward movement / indicating completion / expressing preliminary judgment |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 绝望 | jué wàng | desperate |
| 大部分 | dà bù fen | the greater part; the majority; most |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before) |
| 积极 | jī jí | active / energetic / vigorous / positive (outlook) / proactive |
| 解决 | jiě jué | to solve; to resolve; to settle (a problem) |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question / problem / issue / topic |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...) / some (exist) |
| 重新 | chóng xīn | again; once more; re- |
| 求职 | qiú zhí | to seek employment |
| 准备 | zhǔn bèi | to prepare / to intend / to be about to |
| 考试 | kǎo shì | exam |
| 换 | huàn | to exchange / to change / to substitute / to switch / to convert (currency) |
| 行业 | háng yè | trade; profession; industry; business |
| 城市 | chéng shì | city; town |
| 无论如何 | wú lùn rú hé | (idiom) whatever the case; in any event; no matter what; by all possible means |
| 总 | zǒng | anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later |
| 结束 | jié shù | to finish / to end / to conclude / to close |
| 日子 | rì zi | days of one's life |