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.

我們給這個了不起的女人打工。從多個重要的方面看，她都是一個好老板。她很有同情心，但也很刻板。她確實讓我學會了該如何工作，如何為他人打工。你得守時，你要有責任感。如果出了什么問題，她會跟你交流，但我們都知道，如果你達不到她的要求，那她就會找別人代替你。天啊，那可是重要的一課。

Laurian Seeber， sportswear shop

勞琳·西伯，運動服裝店

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.

在高二升高三之間的那個暑假里，我是一家服裝店的運動服裝售貨員。當時我們有許多尺寸為10號的廉價襯衫，而16號的都已經賣完了。我老板剪去10號襯衫上的尺寸標簽，用來充當16號衣服。那些來買衣服的顧客不能去試穿這些廉價的襯衫，但16號身材的女人根本穿不了10號襯衫。所以，我走人了。我學會了一點：有些事情，就算你給我錢，我也不會做。

John Jackson， 1）concession stand at a golf course

約翰·杰克遜，高爾夫球場小賣部

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.”

一個金發(fā)碧眼的男孩沒給一名高爾夫球球員提供良好的服務，約翰卻被叫到經理辦公室，要為此事作出解釋?！耙驗槲乙彩墙鸢l(fā)碧眼，自然而然地就成了目標。我盡力解釋說，如果事情確實是前一天發(fā)生的，那不可能是我，因為我那天剛好休息。但一切解釋似乎都沒有用?！?/p>

盡管自己是清白的，約翰還是道了歉。二十年后的今天，他是一名經理，他如此說道：“不管什么時候，如果一個上司或員工向我報告什么與另一名員工有關的事件，我會先問清楚一些問題，而不是馬上下結論。這并不代表我對已經發(fā)生的事持懷疑態(tài)度，我只不過想確保在作出決定之前，所有事實都清楚明白。以前沒有人這樣對待我，但我覺得這起碼是我應該做的?！?img src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2018/07/08/qkimagesfkyefkye201307fkye20130706-1-l.jpg"/>

Laura Bush， swimming teacher

勞拉·布什，游泳教練

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.

我曾經打過一份當游泳教練的暑期工。當時是在得克薩斯州的米德蘭，非常有意思。我……我記得教小孩子學游泳，他們在水中會緊緊抓住教練，我要把他們托起，都快溺水了。但這也是我的第一份教學工作。這個經歷讓我明白自己確實想成為一名老師，它讓我對在大學里要學什么，以后想從事什么職業(yè)有了一個更明確的想法。

Joan Stearns， waitress at a 24-hour truck stop

瓊·斯特恩斯，24小時服務的卡車停靠點服務生

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.”

每個班次結束的時候，我的腳都是腫的，兩腿筋疲力盡，背部疼痛不已。周六是客人換批的時候，停靠點一整天都擠滿了人，等的人都排到門外了。經營這個?？奎c的人摳得很，連勺子都不買夠。卡車停靠點主要賣的是咖啡，我們只好給客人端上沒有勺子的咖啡，但這樣我們連小費都撈不著。當然，在卡車?？奎c的小費也不會有多少。

我一個班次收到小費最多的是八美元。那天我因為眼角膜受傷，上班時一只眼戴了眼罩。好幾個男性客人看到都取笑我，說：“怎么了，你被男朋友打了嗎？”我很生氣，居然有人覺得男人打女人是件正常的事，而且還把它當成笑話。我也不知道該怎么做，但我暗自對自己說：“下次說這話的人要倒霉的?！?/p>

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.

后來，有一個男人坐下來，看了我一眼，說：“怎么了，你被男朋友打了嗎？哈哈哈。”我說：“不是的，先生，我這只眼被摘除了?！蹦莻€人覺得太不好意思了，我能看出來。于是我又說：“先生，我剛才是在開玩笑，我的眼睛沒有真的被摘除?！钡矣X得他并不相信我后來的話，因為他給了我不菲的小費。

Damian Anastafio， boiler company

戴米恩·阿納斯塔菲奧，鍋爐公司

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歲的時候，在康州哈特福德的哈特福德鍋爐公司找了一份暑期工作。我早上六點就起來，與一個老老頭兒上了一輛卡車。他讓我來開，我可是從來都沒有開過卡車。然后，他給了我一把焊槍。我們的任務是拆卸地下室的一臺鍋爐。可是我從來都沒有用過焊槍，所以，我花了四十分鐘才把它打著。于是，我就一部分一部分地把鍋爐拆下來。兩個小時后，老頭兒下來了。當時，我已是汗流浹背，不過，我已經拆完了半個鍋爐了，也就是鍋爐的一邊。他看到之后，瘋了，“那是新鍋爐，你應該拆的只是舊鍋爐。”他對著我大喊大叫，我毀了一個價值一萬美元的鍋爐。

翻譯：丁一