That night, I recounted these troubles to my husband, Dave.
那天晚上,我向丈夫戴夫大倒苦水。
He pointed out that Yahoo, where he worked at the time, had designated parking for expectant mothers at the front of each building.
当时还在雅虎公司工作的戴夫告诉我,雅虎在每座办公楼前都为公司的准妈妈们专门预留了停车位。
The next day, I marched in—or more like waddled in—to see Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in their office,
第二天,我摆起了示威的架势(其实就像是鸭子那样摇摇摆摆),走进了谷歌的两位创始人拉里·佩奇和谢尔盖·布林的办公室。
which was really just a large room with toys and gadgets strewn all over the floor.
只见地板上到处散落着玩具、小零碎和衣服。
I found Sergey in a yoga position in the corner and announced that we needed pregnancy parking, preferably sooner rather than later.
在房间的角落里,谢尔盖正努力地保持着一个瑜伽姿势。我大声地向他们声明:公司需要孕妇停车位,而且越快越好!
He looked up at me and agreed immediately, noting that he had never thought about it before.
他抬起头看看我,立刻就同意了,还说他以前从来没有考虑到这一点。
To this day, I'm embarrassed that I didn't realize that pregnant women needed reserved parking until I experienced my own aching feet.
直到今天,我仍然觉得难为情,因为只有在亲历了孕期双脚的肿痛后,我才意识到公司需要为孕妇预留停车位。
As one of Google's most senior women, didn't I have a special responsibility to think of this?
作为谷歌的女性高管之一,我难道不是更有责任去考虑这个问题吗?
But like Sergey, it had never occurred to me.
但是,和谢尔盖一样,我压根儿就没想到过这些。
The other pregnant women must have suffered in silence, not wanting to ask for special treatment.
公司里其他的准妈妈们对于这种情况,肯定都是在默默忍受,却从没想过要求特殊待遇;
Or maybe they lacked the confidence or seniority to demand that the problem be fixed.
或者说,也许她们缺乏自信或自认为没有资历去要求解决这个问题。
Having one pregnant woman at the top—even one who looked like a whale—made the difference.
然而,如果高层管理人员中有一个孕妇(哪怕看起来像头巨鲸),情况就会有所不同。
Today in the United States and the developed world, women are better off than ever.
在今天的美国和发达国家,女性的境况是有史以来最好的。
We stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us, women who had to fight for the rights that we now take for granted.
我们站在从前女性的肩膀上,理所当然地享受着她们曾为之奋斗的一切。