暑期工不得不说的话

Melissa Block

We worked for this amazing woman. She was just a great boss in all the important ways. She was very compassionate， but she was pretty formal. She really taught me how to work and how to work for someone. Youre on time. You had responsibilities. And if there was a problem， she would speak to you about it， but there was an idea that if it wasnt working out， she would find someone else. And， boy， theres a lesson.

我们给这个了不起的女人打工。从多个重要的方面看，她都是一个好老板。她很有同情心，但也很刻板。她确实让我学会了该如何工作，如何为他人打工。你得守时，你要有责任感。如果出了什么问题，她会跟你交流，但我们都知道，如果你达不到她的要求，那她就会找别人代替你。天啊，那可是重要的一课。

Laurian Seeber， sportswear shop

劳琳·西伯，运动服装店

On the summer between my junior and senior years of high school， I was selling sportswear in a dress shop. We had too many size 10 dollar blouses and had run out of size 16s. My boss cut out the size markers of the 10s and put them on the 16 pile. People werent allowed into the dressing rooms to try on dollar blouses and no size 16 woman could fit into a size 10 blouse， so I quit. I learned I could be asked to do things you could not pay me to do.

在高二升高三之间的那个暑假里，我是一家服装店的运动服装售货员。当时我们有许多尺寸为10号的廉价衬衫，而16号的都已经卖完了。我老板剪去10号衬衫上的尺寸标签，用来充当16号衣服。那些来买衣服的顾客不能去试穿这些廉价的衬衫，但16号身材的女人根本穿不了10号衬衫。所以，我走人了。我学会了一点：有些事情，就算你给我钱，我也不会做。

John Jackson， 1）concession stand at a golf course

约翰·杰克逊，高尔夫球场小卖部

He was called into his managers office to account for bad service given to one of the golfers by some blond kid. Jackson writes this： “Given that I have blond hair， I had to be the guilty party. As I tried to explain， if the incident did occur the day before， it couldnt have been me because I had that day off and that didnt seem to matter.”

Jackson apologized despite his innocence. And 20 years later， Jackson is now a manager and he says this： “Whenever a boss or employee reports an incident involving a coworker， I start asking questions instead of jumping to conclusions. Its not that I doubt what happened， I just want to make sure the facts are known before a decision is made. That 2）courtesy wasnt extended to me， but I figure its the least I can do.”

一个金发碧眼的男孩没给一名高尔夫球球员提供良好的服务，约翰却被叫到经理办公室，要为此事作出解释。“因为我也是金发碧眼，自然而然地就成了目标。我尽力解释说，如果事情确实是前一天发生的，那不可能是我，因为我那天刚好休息。但一切解释似乎都没有用。”

尽管自己是清白的，约翰还是道了歉。二十年后的今天，他是一名经理，他如此说道：“不管什么时候，如果一个上司或员工向我报告什么与另一名员工有关的事件，我会先问清楚一些问题，而不是马上下结论。这并不代表我对已经发生的事持怀疑态度，我只不过想确保在作出决定之前，所有事实都清楚明白。以前没有人这样对待我，但我觉得这起码是我应该做的。”

Laura Bush， swimming teacher

劳拉·布什，游泳教练

I had a summer job as a swimming teacher. It was a lot of fun in Midland， Texas， and I…I can remember swimming， teaching the little kids to swim， where they would all grab the swimming teacher， and I would be the one who was almost drowning as I was holding them up. But， it was one of the very first teaching jobs I had and…and it just showed me that I really did want to be a teacher， and so it gave me more of an idea of…of what I wanted to study in college and then what I wanted to do later.

我曾经打过一份当游泳教练的暑期工。当时是在得克萨斯州的米德兰，非常有意思。我……我记得教小孩子学游泳，他们在水中会紧紧抓住教练，我要把他们托起，都快溺水了。但这也是我的第一份教学工作。这个经历让我明白自己确实想成为一名老师，它让我对在大学里要学什么，以后想从事什么职业有了一个更明确的想法。

Joan Stearns， waitress at a 24-hour truck stop

琼·斯特恩斯，24小时服务的卡车停靠点服务生

At the end of a shift my feet were swollen， my legs were 3）shot and my back was in a mess of aching muscles. On Saturdays， the day when the resorts changed residents， the truck stop was packed all day with a line out the door. The people who ran the truck stop were so cheap， they wouldnt buy enough spoons. So， often we were forced to serve coffee， which is the mainstay of a truck stop， without a spoon and there went any tip. And tips at a truck stop are not great anyway.

The most tips I ever made in one shift was $8， and that was the day I went to work wearing an eyepatch because I had a scratched 4）cornea. Several male customers looked at me， laughed and said， “Whats the matter， your boyfriend hit you？” I was 5）incensed that anyone would think it was OK， much less hilarious for a man to hit a woman. And I didnt know what Id do， but I said， “The next person who makes such a comment is going to get it.”

每个班次结束的时候，我的脚都是肿的，两腿筋疲力尽，背部疼痛不已。周六是客人换批的时候，停靠点一整天都挤满了人，等的人都排到门外了。经营这个停靠点的人抠得很，连勺子都不买够。卡车停靠点主要卖的是咖啡，我们只好给客人端上没有勺子的咖啡，但这样我们连小费都捞不着。当然，在卡车停靠点的小费也不会有多少。

我一个班次收到小费最多的是八美元。那天我因为眼角膜受伤，上班时一只眼戴了眼罩。好几个男性客人看到都取笑我，说：“怎么了，你被男朋友打了吗？”我很生气，居然有人觉得男人打女人是件正常的事，而且还把它当成笑话。我也不知道该怎么做，但我暗自对自己说：“下次说这话的人要倒霉的。”

Then a man sat down， took one look at me and said， “Whats the matter， your boyfriend hit you？ Ha， ha， ha.” And I said， “No sir， I had my eye removed.” This man felt terrible. I could see. And I said， “Sir， I was just joking， I really didnt have my eye removed.” But I dont think he believed me cause he left me a big tip.

后来，有一个男人坐下来，看了我一眼，说：“怎么了，你被男朋友打了吗？哈哈哈。”我说：“不是的，先生，我这只眼被摘除了。”那个人觉得太不好意思了，我能看出来。于是我又说：“先生，我刚才是在开玩笑，我的眼睛没有真的被摘除。”但我觉得他并不相信我后来的话，因为他给了我不菲的小费。

Damian Anastafio， boiler company

戴米恩·阿纳斯塔菲奥，锅炉公司

When I was 17， summer job， got a job with the Hartford Boiler Company in Hartford， Connecticut. I got up at 6 A.M.， got a truck with some 110-year-old guy. He made me drive the truck—Id never driven a truck before， and he handed me a 6）torch. So wed take apart the boiler in the basement. I never ran a torch before. It took me like 40 minutes to get it started. I started taking it apart piece by piece. He came down about two hours later. I was covered in sweat and Id taken off about half—one side of the boiler， and he flipped. He was like， “Thats the new boiler. You were only supposed to take apart the old boiler.”He started yelling at me and I totally ruined like a $10，000 boiler.

我在17岁的时候，在康州哈特福德的哈特福德锅炉公司找了一份暑期工作。我早上六点就起来，与一个老老头儿上了一辆卡车。他让我来开，我可是从来都没有开过卡车。然后，他给了我一把焊枪。我们的任务是拆卸地下室的一台锅炉。可是我从来都没有用过焊枪，所以，我花了四十分钟才把它打着。于是，我就一部分一部分地把锅炉拆下来。两个小时后，老头儿下来了。当时，我已是汗流浃背，不过，我已经拆完了半个锅炉了，也就是锅炉的一边。他看到之后，疯了，“那是新锅炉，你应该拆的只是旧锅炉。”他对着我大喊大叫，我毁了一个价值一万美元的锅炉。

翻译：丁一