【新唐人2013年09月25日訊】 (美国之音電)
- 禮節美語-265 losing job can be positive 1
Suzanne 約朋友 Mickey 一起吃午飯。
Suzanne: Mickey! Good to see you! It’s been too long!
Mickey: Hi, Suzanne! you’re right, it has been too long.
S: Did you find something on the menu that interests you? Sorry I’m late for our lunch. Traffic was horrific.
M: Yeah….I think I’ll have the chicken Caesar salad.
S: That sounds pretty good…. hey, is everything okay? — You seem kind of down.
M: I got laid off last Friday.
S: Oh….I’m so sorry to hear that.
Suzanne 跟 Mickey 很久沒見面，發現 Mickey 心事重重，情緒不高，seem kind of down. Down 在這裡是形容詞，意思是情緒低落。原來，Mickey 上星期五被炒了魷魚，He got laid off. 也可以說，He was let go. 丟了工作，難怪心情沮喪，我們來聽聽這是為甚麼。
M: They said it had nothing to do with my performance. They just need to try and save on costs. So they’re axing a bunch of jobs.
S: Ouch! Losing a job is such a nasty experience.
M: Yep….it sure is. I guess I have been a bit depressed.
S: I remember when I got fired from my job as a senior manager with a Web design company. I felt awful for weeks. But you know something? Getting fired turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
Mickey 被解僱是因為公司要削減開支，所以 they axed a bunch of jobs. Ax is spelled, a-x, 或者 a-x-e, 做為動詞，是砍的意思。他丟了工作，心情十分抑鬱，depressed. Suzanne 安慰他說，自己也曾有過類似經歷，好幾個星期緩不過來，但是最後證明，getting fired turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. 被開除是她這輩子最幸運的事。怎麼可能，我們繼續聽。
M: And why was that?
S: It gave me a jolt that I really needed. I was just coasting along in my position day in and day out, never really thinking about my life or my career.
M: So getting fired helped you reflect on these things?
S: Absolutely! I started asking myself what I really wanted to do.
M: That makes sense. Our daily routines can turn into habits. I’ve been working at this company for almost 8 years and I have kind of been running on autopilot.
Suzanne 說，失業 gave me a jolt. Jolt is spelled j-o-l-t, jolt 在這裡是震動的意思。Suzanne 說，有工作的時候，她從來都是 coast along day in and day out. Coast along 做為詞組，意思是不用花一點努力隨波逐流， day in and day out 意思是日復一日，年復一年。過著這樣的生活，怎麼還會想著如何進取呢？被解僱後，她才開始思考這些問題，to reflect on things 意思是反思。Mickey 深有同感，說自己在原來的公司已經干了將近八年了，I have been running on autopilot. Autopilot 自動駕駛，工作已經成了一種習慣，順手就干了，就好像是 run on autopilot. 現在沒有工作了，Mickey 下一步有甚麼打算呢？我們下次繼續聽。
