I’m not ashamed. I like my job. I mean， it isn’t my life’s passion， but somehow I manage to have fun with it. I enjoy meeting new people， and sometimes I am fortunate enough to learn something interesting about someone. It may be my nature that draws me to this kind of job. I work at Izzy’s Pizza Bar and 1)Buffet.

Today an elderly couple came in just after 3 pm. The first thing they said was， “Where is Nan?” Nan normally opens Monday through Thursday and gets off at 4， but today she asked me to come in an hour early. I agreed since Nan is my mother.

You could say this couple was fairly disappointed to learn that Nan would not be in today， since they enjoyed the 2)gabfest with her during the restaurant 3)down time. But when I explained I was her daughter， they were thrilled to meet me. It seemed my mom had bragged about me to all her regular customers. They asked me about school and my sister. We had a nice conversation， comparable to a girl speaking with her grandparents. These are the type of people who give me pleasure in doing my job.

Later that night， I 4)waited on two men. It took some effort to get them to be friendly. I explained I was waitressing over the summer to make some extra cash for school. I also said I was grateful that my mom had trained me， since she was also my coworker. I was new to serving and the restaurant business， but her tips and training have helped me tremendously. They were 5)taken aback at the idea of me and my mother working at the same restaurant. I was a bit confused because I had always received a surprised but positive response from everyone I had told.

Once all the customers had finished eating， I began my closing duties. All alone in the lobby， I worked， using the time to reflect on my day， or rather， life. I rushed around getting everything done， thinking about those two men. Why did they 6)get under my skin? I couldn’t even count the number of times I had talked about my mom at work， but this time was different. This time I was different.

Not very long ago， my mom was a single parent raising two daughters. Although I am now legally an adult， I still haven’t figured out who I really am. I often think of where I came from and wonder where life will take me. I feel blessed to have a mother who believes in me with all of her being. What kept her going all those mornings when she was totally exhausted from working three jobs was her belief that things would get better and that good things would come to those who work hard.

I believe that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. I could have let those men make me feel ashamed， but I didn’t. Why should I be ashamed? I feel overwhelming pride.

Tonight I realized that your job doesn’t have to define who you are as a person. My mother treats people with respect， regardless of their occupation. I meet about a hundred people in a day of work and few leave a lasting impression. Today I met four people who redefined my outlook and left me a step closer to finding my identity. Past， present， and future， I will strive to always have pride in the person I was， am， and aspire to be.

我不覺得丟臉。我喜歡自己的工作。我的意思是，這份工作雖然不是我一生最愛的工作，但是我努力從中獲得樂趣。我喜歡結(jié)識(shí)新朋友，有時(shí)候我還有幸聽到別人的趣事。我之所以從事這份工作，可能是天性使然。我是在“伊斯比薩自助餐廳”做服務(wù)員。

今天剛過三點(diǎn)鐘，一對(duì)老年夫婦就進(jìn)來了。他們一開口就問：“南在哪兒?。俊蹦贤ǔＶ芤坏街芩墓ぷ?，下午四點(diǎn)下班，但是今天她叫我提前一個(gè)小時(shí)來接她的班。我同意了，因?yàn)槟鲜俏业膵寢尅?/p>

在得知南已經(jīng)下班時(shí)，他們顯然非常失望，因?yàn)樗麄兿矚g和她在客人不多的時(shí)候閑聊。但是當(dāng)我向他們解釋，我是南的女兒之后，他們顯得很興奮?？磥?，我媽媽拿我跟自己的每個(gè)常客吹了不少牛。他們問我學(xué)校生活和姐姐的事情。我和他們還挺聊得來的，就像個(gè)小女孩跟爺爺奶奶聊天那樣。就是這類人給我在工作中帶來快樂。

那天稍晚之后，我招待了兩位男士。要他們變得友善，煞是費(fèi)勁。我解釋說，為了賺外快貼補(bǔ)學(xué)費(fèi)，我整個(gè)夏天都在這里做服務(wù)員。我也提到，我媽媽是我的同事，所以真要感謝她教我如何招待客人。我是新手，對(duì)招待工作和這個(gè)餐廳的運(yùn)作一無所知，但是她的指點(diǎn)和教導(dǎo)使我受益匪淺。他們知道我和我媽媽都在同一家餐廳工作的時(shí)候，很是吃驚。我也有點(diǎn)困惑，因?yàn)槊看挝腋嬖V客人這個(gè)事實(shí)后，他們都會(huì)很吃驚，但是都會(huì)報(bào)以肯定的回應(yīng)。

所有的客人都離開之后，我著手收拾關(guān)門。獨(dú)自在大堂里，我一邊做，一邊利用這點(diǎn)時(shí)間回顧今天的工作，或者說尋思人生。我一邊跑來跑去把所有東西處理妥當(dāng)，一邊想著今天的這兩個(gè)男人。為什么他們會(huì)惹惱我？數(shù)不清有多少次我在工作時(shí)提到過我媽媽，但是這次與以往不同。這次我也變了。

不久前，我媽媽還是一名獨(dú)力撫養(yǎng)兩個(gè)女兒的單身母親。雖然從法律上來說，我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成年，但我還沒想明白自己到底是誰。我常常在想，自己從哪里來，生活要帶我到哪里去？我很慶幸能有一位如此信任我的母親。那時(shí)候，雖然同時(shí)做三份工作使她疲憊不堪，但是每天早上她都堅(jiān)持去上班，因?yàn)樗龍?jiān)信一切都會(huì)好起來，而且好運(yùn)會(huì)降臨在辛勤工作的人身上。

我相信，沒能把你打倒的事物只會(huì)讓你更加堅(jiān)強(qiáng)。本來那些人會(huì)讓我覺得丟臉，但是我不覺得。我為什么要覺得丟臉呢？我覺得非常驕傲。

今晚，我明白到，你的工作并不能定義你是怎樣的人。不管是從事什么工作的人，媽媽都以禮相待。在一天的工作里，我要接觸上百個(gè)人，他們當(dāng)中很少人能給我留下持久深刻的印象。然而，今天我遇到的四個(gè)人重構(gòu)了我的世界觀，使我進(jìn)一步了解自己。無論過去，現(xiàn)在，還是未來，我都會(huì)一直努力為過去、現(xiàn)在和將來的自己而自豪。