陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他在上班路上遇到了美国同事Amy。
(Office ambience)
C：Hi, Amy. How are you?
A：I’m fine, thank you, and you?
C：我感觉很疲惫。昨天晚上我跟老板Mr. Brown一起请客户吃饭，很晚才到家。
A：Did everything go all right?
C：我觉得有个客户的举止很不得体。
A：What did he do?
C：我们一入座。他就把西装外衣脱下来，搭在椅子背儿上。当时饭店里确实有点热，可Mr. Brown没脱西装，所以我也就没脱。
A：That’s a good thing because unless your host, in this case, Mr. Brown, removes his jacket, you should not remove yours.
C：那个客户显然没有想到这一点。不过Amy, 我记得你告诉过我，应该尽量让客户觉得自在。
A：Yes, I did. That’s all part of good manners. Why do you ask?
C：因为过了一会儿，那个客户也发现，只有他一个人没穿上衣，所以觉得很尴尬。如果我是主人，我肯定会主动跟着他把西装脱下来。
A：I agree with you. Sometimes you need to do things that you wouldn’t ordinarily do to put other people at ease.
C：如果我是Mr. Brown, 看到客户脱西装，我肯定会说，“是挺热的，我也穿不住了”。
A：Absolutely. That would have made your client feel comfortable and given everyone permission to do the same.
******
中午陈豪和Amy一起吃饭。
A：Tell me what else happened at dinner. It sounds like a quite interesting night.
C：还有，汤上来的时候，刚才脱西装的那个客户一下子把领带甩到了肩膀上，可能是不想把领带弄脏。
A：That is definitely not acceptable under any circumstances. Most men have forgotten that ties were originally created to protect the shirt. Not only is it out of place to toss your tie over your shoulder at the table, it runs counter to its purpose.
C：原来男人戴领带，是为了保护衬衣不被弄脏。那我们能不能把餐巾掖在脖子下面呢？
A：Good heavens, no. Your napkin should be laid in your lap – never tucked in anywhere.
C： 哦，餐巾一定要搭在腿上。我以前见过不少人把餐巾掖在脖子下面，我昨天差点没那么做。
A：Thank goodness you did not.
C：Amy，你能不能总结一下刚才说的，跟客户吃饭的注意事项呢？
A：If you are wearing a coat or jacket to dinner, you don’t remove it, no matter how uncomfortable you are, unless your host takes his off first and asks if you’d like to do the same. And your tie stays in place throughout the meal and your napkin rests in your lap.