禮節(jié)美語:266 losing a job can be positive 2

　　Mickey剛失業(yè)，跟朋友Suzanne 一起吃飯，Suzanne 勸他說，這未必不是件好事。她說，

　　S: Back at my old job there were some days where I barely used my brain at all! I just did the same thing over and over again.

　　M: So what happened after you got fired? Did a new opportunity come your way?

　　S: Not exactly. It took me about a year to figure out that opportunities weren't going to come my way.... I learnt that you have to create your own opportunities.

　　M: So that's when you started your company.

　　S: Yeah! I always had an interest in gardening, so I thought to myself: There must be a lot of people who also have this interest and would like to have a garden but don't have the time to set one up.

　　Suzanne說，原來工作的時(shí)候，總是同樣的工作來回做，did the same thing over and over again. 完全不用動(dòng)大腦，失業(yè)后，她用一年的時(shí)間才發(fā)現(xiàn)，機(jī)會(huì)不會(huì)自己找上門來，opportunities weren't going to come my way, 還不如自己去創(chuàng)造機(jī)會(huì)。于是她決定自己開公司，幫助那些喜歡園藝但是沒有時(shí)間整理花園的人整理花園。

　　M: So now you go around making custom-designed gardens for homes and offices, right?

　　S: Yes! I never would've thought in a million years that my interest in gardening would turn into a career! If I hadn't gotten fired, I would've never found my calling!

　　M: That's cool....and it does offer me some hope. I guess I need to do some thinking about what I really want to do.

　　S: I'm not saying it's going to be easy.... I spent almost one year doing odd jobs and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Not having a stable income can be difficult.

　　因此，Suzanne 開了一家公司，專門為公司和家庭 custom-design 量身定做花園。她說，要不是被解雇，她死也不會(huì)想到自己的愛好竟然會(huì)成為職業(yè)，in a million years 是一種夸張的說法，就是無論如何也不會(huì)的意思。正是被解雇，才讓她最終找到了自己的 calling, calling is spelled c-a-l-l-i-n-g, calling, 一個(gè)人最適合的職業(yè)。Suzanne 說，不過，這個(gè)過程也很艱難，她足足打了一年零工才走出低谷，odd jobs 是零工的意思。Mickey 聽后深受啟發(fā)。

　　M: Yeah....right now I have some savings so I'll be good for about six months...but if I can't find something after that it's going to start getting tough.

　　S: Do you have a "dream" or something you've always wanted to do?

　　M: Well, I have always had the idea of opening a bicycle store. I'm talking about selling rare, vintage or special custom-made bicycles.

　　Mickey說，自己存款有限，撐半年還行，再久就扛不住了。Suzanne 問他有沒有什么夢想。Mickey 說，他一直想開一家自行車店，專賣那些不多見，古香古色，或是訂做的自行車。他在這里用的 vintage is spelled v-i-n t-a-g-e, vintage 意思是老式的，古典的。

　　S: Interesting! Cycling is quite a trend these days and if you can find bicycles that no one else has....it just might work!

　　M: I've always been interested in bicycles and I know a lot about them. I never thought I would have a chance to open a bike store.

　　S: Give it some thought! This could be your calling in life!!

　　M: I'll think about it! Thanks, Suzanne! Now let's eat!

　　Suzanne 說， Mickey 想開自行車店的夢想很有意思，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在很流行騎車，it's quite a trend. Suzanne 覺得 Mickey 可以認(rèn)真地琢磨琢磨， give it some thought 好好想想，沒準(zhǔn)真能行。Mickey 聽了很受鼓舞，說從來沒想到，自己這輩子真能有機(jī)會(huì)開一家自行車店，實(shí)現(xiàn)夢想。