陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作,他从复印机房出来,正好遇到美国同事Amy.

(Office ambience)

A:Hi Chen Hao. How are you today?

C:出于礼貌,我也许应该说I am fine. 但实际上我正在气头上呢。

A:What’s wrong?

C:马上要开会,我来复印一些资料,结果复印纸一张都没了,也不知道谁用完的,也不续上。

A:That happens all too often, and it is aggravating – especially when you are short on time, which I guess you are.

C:不仅如此,复印室里乱七八糟,剪刀、订书机,什么都找不到,地上还到处都是纸。

A:This might be a good subject to bring up at our next team meeting. It’s hard to work together successfully if we aren’t considerate of one another.

C:要说在办公室里只顾自己不顾别人的事情,我能说出一箩筐。

A:I bet we all could, but I would like to see you propose what actions people could take to create harmony and facilitate a good working environment.

C:你说的没错,光抱怨没用,得提出些积极的建议。我得赶紧去把这些资料印了,马上要开会了。一会儿午饭时见。

******

陈豪中午跟Amy一起吃饭。

A:So Chen Hao tell me what other issues are on your mind.

C:我觉得办公室里有些人做事从来不考虑别人。在我前面最后一个用复印机的人肯定是因为办公室里纸都用光了,所以才没有把纸加满。

A:It shouldn’t matter how urgent your project is, the considerate thing is to let someone know about the problem even if you don’t have the time or ability to solve it.

C:对呀,没时间起码可以通知办公室主管,找别人把纸加上。还有啊,用完了剪刀和订书机,应该马上放回原处。

A:You are right. It’s everyone’s job to clean up after themselves and put things back where they belong.

C:另外还有,不管是谁用完复印机,都应该将复印机的设置复原。这样能省别人很多麻烦。

这点要求不过份吧?

A:Not at all. You are learning by experience the steps you can take to make your co-workers’ jobs easier and more productive. Everyone benefits when we work together.

C:那你说,下次办公室开会,我们都要提出哪些建议呢?

A:We should ask to have time on the agenda for discussing copy room issues. The three most important would be (1) refill the paper tray when you finish a job; (2) if there is no more paper, let the appropriate person know; and (3) put things back where they belong.