陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他在走廊上遇到美国同事Amy。
(Office ambience)
A:Good Morning Chen Hao. How are you?
C:I am fine, 不过,我正找你呢。 我有点急事要请教你!
A:What’s going on?
C:老板昨天晚上打电话,通知我说,总部有一个高级主管今天要到北京来,让我早上去机场接机,然后下午陪她去天津考察。
A:That sounds like a good opportunity for you. I wonder what you did to be selected.
C:我也不知道老板为什么让我去。不过啊,我宁可他挑的是别人。
A:Why?
C:我是一行人等中职务最低的一个,也不知道应该做些什么事情。
A:I suggest that you clarify this with… I’m sorry, what is this woman’s name?
C:Ms. Rose.
A:Ask Ms. Rose, when you meet, what you can do to be helpful to her?
C:那你觉得她可能需要我做些什么呢?
A:When a junior executive is traveling with a senior executive, the junior person generally attends to the logistical details.
C:什么是 Logistical 方面的细节啊?
A:Logistical refers to the organizational details of the trip.
C:噢,Logistical就是后勤保障的意思。
A:Your help may be required when you check in and out of the hotel, tipping, seeing that luggage is handled correctly and taking care of any special needs of the executive team.
C:什么?饭店、小费、行李,这些都是我的事?不好不好,来不及了。我得赶紧去接Ms. Rose. 我去天津之前再来请教你!
A:Anytime.
******
陈豪中午去找Amy.
A:What did you find out?
C:你说的一点没错。所有杂事都归我管,包括行程、时间、账单、小费等等。
A:It’s your job to see that things run smoothly. Ms. Rose does not have to take her mind off business to handle any little annoyances.
C:是啊,简单说,就是这样。
A:I guess you are “good to go,” as Americans like to say.
C:我还有个问题,你可别笑话我!我从来没坐过豪华轿车。你说,在这种情况下,我应该坐在哪个位子呢?
A:The first thing to do when the limo arrives is to ask Ms. Rose, “Where do you want me to sit?”
C:如果她说随便呢?
A:Then as the junior executive, you take the least desirable seat. That all depends on how many people are traveling with you.
C:同行的至少会有五名高级主管。
A:You could well end up in the jump seat or worse, in the middle of the back seat.
C:啊?看来跟上司一起出去,真不是什么好差事。
A:Think of it as an opportunity. You could end up being the senior person one day.