小小老板炼成记

2016-04-08

新东方英语·中学版 2016年4期

做自己的老板，给自己打工，即便只是当个“卖甜玉米的小女孩”，这种感觉会是怎样的呢？且听下文中的这位小老板为你一一道来。

Growing up in a subdivision1）， I classified myself as a "city girl". I had very little knowledge about farming and rural areas， but all of that changed six years ago when we moved to a farm. Surrounded by cows and cornfields， I felt out of my element2）. I was not accustomed to hundreds of acres of farmland separating me from my closest neighbor； however， I did enjoy the beauty and peace of the countryside.

I had lived on the farm for about three years， and had helped with odd jobs like feeding cows. When I was old enough to get a real summer job， my father said I could choose between two options—getting a job at our local Dairy Queen3） or selling produce that I grew on our farm. While I came up with a short list of pros4） for working at the fast food restaurant， I found more advantages to selling produce. Shorter work weeks， more free time， flexible hours and the potential to make more money appealed to me. Yet I realized the numerous disadvantages to selling produce： responsibility for the success or failure of the operation， manual labor， early mornings and long days. Anyway， ultimately， I decided to start my own farming business.

My father and I began planning in March. Together we chose three varieties of seeds， prepared the land and planted the first batch of sweet corn at the end of April. Throughout the spring， my father continued to plant sweet corn every two weeks as I rode in the tractor with him.

Great care was taken over my growing cornstalks5）. As the corn began to tassel6）， we applied nitrogen7） fertilizer and sprayed pesticide to prevent worms. I watched the stalks grow taller， and as time passed， I dreamed about the money I would soon make. We planned to harvest and sell the corn at our local farmer's market with paid help from my friends. It sounded easy and looked good on paper8）， but it worked out a little differently.

Nonstop rain stunted9） the first batch of corn and delayed the harvest by a week or so. When my sweet corn was finally ready to pick， I found that a pack of raccoons10） had raided11） the field at night， ruining about half of it. How could this happen？ Raccoons were supposed to be cute. We picked what was still good and prepared for market.

This was it—my first day at market！ I was excited to see my hard work finally pay off. I loaded my materials into the pickup truck12） and arrived early at the farmer's market to find a good spot for my tent and set up before the market opened. There were many customers and several other vendors. Probably because I was young and new， potential customers would look at me and smile， then head straight to my competition， Mrs. Cates， who had sold corn and other produce for years and had an established following13）. At the end of the first day， about half of my corn was left， so I donated it to a local homeless shelter and went home disappointed.

Soon I noticed that Mrs. Cates and her crew did not arrive at the farmer's market until about 11 a.m. So I decided to show up an hour earlier. This meant that we had to start picking corn at 6 a.m.， no easy task with teenage workers. But the effort paid off； I was selling half of my corn before Mrs. Cates arrived and most of it by the end of the day. Things were looking better. Not great， but better.

Although the farmer's market was only open three days a week， the corn needed to be picked and sold daily because it would not keep. On days the farmer's market was not open， I developed a marketing plan that included personalized e-mails to family and friends. I also went to local businesses to sell corn and distribute business cards. Customers began calling， and I took orders over the phone. Before I knew it， I had a loyal following. I stayed busy by making weekly and sometimes daily deliveries to these businesses while maintaining my produce stand at the farmer's market. Then something wonderful happened.

Mrs. Cates announced that she would be out of sweet corn for the next two weeks. For me， this was like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow . I knew that this was my opportunity to shine at the farmer's market， and I took advantage of it. I sold the majority of my sweet corn during this time， making more money than I ever had—as much as $400 a day. By the time my competition returned to the market with corn， the season was nearly over.

I was satisfied with my success and have continued to sell produce grown on our farm for the past two summers. Each summer， I have been more successful than the year before. I am proud to be known around town as "the young girl selling sweet corn". I feel a sense of accomplishment when I see people bypass my competition and buy produce from me.

Although many days I would rather have slept in or hung out with friends， I would not trade this experience for anything. My farming operation taught me how to work with people and gave me determination to never give up. I know these are lessons that will help me throughout life.

在住宅小区里长大的我一度将自己归为“城市女孩”之列，对农活和乡村地区知之甚少，但这一切都在六年前我们搬去一个农场之后发生了改变。我置身一头头奶牛和一片片玉米田之中，感到与这里格格不入。我与最近的邻居之间也隔着数百英亩（编注：1英亩约合4047平方米）的农田，对此我很不适应。不过，我倒是的确很享受乡村的美丽与安宁。

我在这个农场里生活了三年左右的时光，也帮忙干了一些诸如喂奶牛这样的杂活儿。等到我长大了，可以找份真正的暑期工作时，爸爸说我有两个选择：要么在我们当地的冰雪皇后店里打工，要么去卖我在自家农场种出的农产品。虽然我列出了一张在快餐店工作有什么好处的简短清单，我还是发现卖农产品的好处更多：每周工作时长更短、有更多的空闲、工作时间有弹性，还有可能赚到更多的钱。这些都吸引着我。不过，我也意识到卖农产品有诸多不好的地方：对经营成败要承担责任、要从事体力劳动、早上要早起、白天要干很长时间的活儿。不过最终，我还是决定要开启我自己的农场生意。

爸爸和我从3月就开始计划。我们一起选择了三类种子，准备好田地，然后在4月末种下了第一批甜玉米。整个春天，爸爸每隔两周就会再种一批甜玉米，我则会坐在他驾驶的拖拉机里。

我那些逐渐长大的玉米得到了悉心的照料。到玉米开始抽穗的时候，我们给它施氮肥，为防蠕虫还喷撒了农药。我眼瞅着玉米秆越长越高，随着时间的流逝，我梦想着自己很快就能赚到的钱。我们打算进行收割，并在我朋友们的有偿帮助下去当地的农贸集市卖玉米。这听上去挺简单，单从字面上看也不错，但真正落实起来却有点不一样了。

接连不断的雨水阻碍了第一批甜玉米的生长，使收割的时间推迟了一周左右。等到我的甜玉米终于可以采摘时，我却发现一伙浣熊在夜里洗劫了玉米地，几乎把一半的玉米都给糟蹋了。怎么会发生这种事呢？浣熊本该是很可爱的啊。我们只好摘下还完好的玉米，准备拿到集市上去卖。

就这样到了我去集市卖玉米的第一天！看到自己的辛勤劳作终于要取得成果，我激动无比。我把所需的东西全都装进小卡车里，早早来到农贸集市好给我的帐篷找个好位置，并赶在集市开张前把它给支好了。那里有许多顾客，还有其他几个摊贩。大概是因为我年纪比较小，又是新来的，那些潜在的顾客都会看着我笑一笑，然后径直走向我的竞争者凯茨夫人那里。她已经在这儿卖了好多年的玉米和其他农产品了，拥有一批老顾客。第一天结束时我还剩下大约一半的玉米，便将它们捐赠给当地无家可归者的收容所，满心失望地回家了。

我很快就发现，凯茨夫人和她的伙计们要到上午11点左右才会到达农贸集市，于是我便决定提早一小时来。而这就意味着我们必须早上6点就开始摘玉米——这对十几岁的“童工”们来说可不是什么轻松的活儿啊。不过，我们的努力得到了回报：在凯茨夫人到达之前，我已经卖掉了一半的玉米，而到这天结束时，我的大部分玉米都卖掉了。情况看起来在变好，虽然不是特别好，不过却有好转。

虽然农贸集市一周只开三天，可玉米却没法保存，需要每天去采摘、去售卖。在农贸集市不开放的日子里，我制订了一个销售计划，其中包括给家人和朋友发私人邮件。我还去当地的一些企业销售玉米、发名片。顾客开始打来电话，我通过电话接起了订单。还没等我意识到这一点，我就已经有了一批忠实的顾客。我一直忙着每周——有时是每天——给这些企业送货，同时还继续在农贸集市上卖我的农产品。然后，一件特别棒的事儿发生了。

凯茨夫人说在接下来的两周里她没有甜玉米可卖了。对我来说，这简直就像是在彩虹的尽头发现了那罐金子。我知道这是我在农贸集市大放光彩的机会，我充分利用了这个机会。在这段时间里我卖掉了绝大多数的甜玉米，赚到了比以往任何一次都要多的钱——每天都有400美元之多。等到我的竞争者带着玉米重返集市时，玉米几乎都快过季了。

我对自己取得的成就很满意，在刚刚过去的两个暑假里，我继续卖着我们农场种植的农产品。每年夏天，我都比上一年做得更好。我非常骄傲自己成为小镇上出了名的“卖甜玉米的小女孩”。当看到人们绕过我的竞争者来买我的农产品时，我充满了成就感。

虽然有很多天我都宁愿睡大觉或是和朋友四处闲逛，但我不会拿任何东西来交换这段经历。我的农场生意教会了我如何与他人合作，并让我拥有了永不放弃的决心。我知道这些将会是令我终身受益的经验。

1. subdivision [?s?bd??v??n] n. <美> （在划分出的小块土地上建造的）住宅小区

2. out of one's element：处于不相宜的环境；不得其所

3. Dairy Queen：冰雪皇后，全球冰淇淋及快餐连锁企业，1940年诞生于美国。

4. pro [pr??] n. 赞成的观点

5. cornstalk [?k??nst??k] n. 玉米秆；麦秆

6. tassel [?t?sl] vi. <美> （玉蜀黍等）抽穗

7. nitrogen [?na?tr?d??n] n. 【化】氮

8. on paper：仅照字面看；理论上

9. stunt [st?nt] vt. 阻碍……的正常发育（或生长）

10. raccoon [r??ku?n] n. 浣熊