Mickey刚失业,跟朋友Suzanne 一起吃饭,Suzanne 劝他说,这未必不是件好事。她说,
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说,原来工作的时候,总是同样的工作来回做,did the same thing over and over again. 完全不用动大脑,失业后,她用一年的时间才发现,机会不会自己找上门来,opportunities weren’t going to come my way, 还不如自己去创造机会。于是她决定自己开公司,帮助那些喜欢园艺但是没有时间整理花园的人整理花园。
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 开了一家公司,专门为公司和家庭 custom-design 量身定做花园。她说,要不是被解雇,她死也不会想到自己的爱好竟然会成为职业,in a million years 是一种夸张的说法,就是无论如何也不会的意思。正是被解雇,才让她最终找到了自己的 calling, calling is spelled c-a-l-l-i-n-g, calling, 一个人最适合的职业。Suzanne 说,不过,这个过程也很艰难,她足足打了一年零工才走出低谷,odd jobs 是零工的意思。Mickey 听后深受启发。
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说,自己存款有限,撑半年还行,再久就扛不住了。Suzanne 问他有没有什么梦想。Mickey 说,他一直想开一家自行车店,专卖那些不多见,古香古色,或是订做的自行车。他在这里用的 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 说, Mickey 想开自行车店的梦想很有意思,因为现在很流行骑车,it’s quite a trend. Suzanne 觉得 Mickey 可以认真地琢磨琢磨, give it some thought 好好想想,没准真能行。Mickey 听了很受鼓舞,说从来没想到,自己这辈子真能有机会开一家自行车店,实现梦想。