商務(wù)英語(yǔ)：辦公室人情的煩惱
The question
I am getting increasingly weary about having to sign birthday and leaving cards for colleagues. Other people write funny things and add kisses but I can never think of anything original to say， so I usually write "good luck" or "happy birthday" and do not include kisses. I also never know how much money to put in the envelope. For a birthday for a colleague I don't like much， I only put in ￡1 but then feel mean. Are there any rules to make this odd process easier?
對(duì)于自己不得不在同事的生日賀卡和離職紀(jì)念卡上寫留言，我越來(lái)越感到厭煩。其他人能寫出有趣的東西，并送上一個(gè)香吻唇印。但是我從來(lái)想不出任何原創(chuàng)的東西，所以通常只寫"祝好運(yùn)"或者"生日快樂(lè)"，而且不附上"香吻".我也從來(lái)不知道該在信封里放多少錢。如果是我不太喜歡的同事過(guò)生日，我只放1英鎊，但覺(jué)得自己很吝嗇。有沒(méi)有什么規(guī)則可以使這種古怪的事情變得簡(jiǎn)單些?
LUCY'S ANSWER
Yes， there are rules， but you seem to know them already. It has taken me decades of pen-sucking over these wretched cards to work out that it is easy. Your colleagues may make this into a contest of lame witticisms， but you can simply opt out.
是的，確實(shí)有規(guī)則，但你似乎已經(jīng)知道了。在寫賀卡這件令人討厭的事上，我咬了幾十年筆頭才得出結(jié)論：其實(shí)很簡(jiǎn)單。你的同事可能將它視為一場(chǎng)寫蹩腳俏皮話的比賽，但你完全可以選擇退出。
For a birthday card， here is what you say： Happy Birthday. Then you sign your name. You are right about kisses， they are not called for. These little crosses have multiplied on office cards as part of a trend to emotional incontinence. Before long "Luv ya loadz" may be seen on office cards， so it is good to know that you and I， at least， are holding out.
對(duì)于一張生日賀卡，你可以這么寫"生日快樂(lè)"，然后簽上你的名字。你對(duì)"香吻"的'看法是對(duì)的，這并無(wú)必要。作為情緒失控潮流之一，這些"香吻"正在辦公室卡片上成倍增加。不久，"Luv ya loadz"之類的俗文字可能出現(xiàn)在辦公室卡片上，因此，很高興知道至少有你和我在抵制此事。
Leaving cards are a bit harder， but there is a formula here， too. I have a repertoire of two comments： "I'll miss you，" and "good luck". If I'm feeling extravagant， I use both.
離職卡就有點(diǎn)難了，但也有一個(gè)公式。我預(yù)備了兩句話："我會(huì)想念你的"和"祝好運(yùn)".如果我當(dāng)時(shí)感情豐富，我就把兩句都用上。
Money is hardest. However， there is no need to fret over your meanness， as it seems to be the norm. At my office the money goes into a big envelope， and so you can't usually see how much people are putting in， though if you look at the number of people who have signed the card and the amount collected it always seems low. I'm pretty sure I once saw a man slip in ￡5 and then remove rather more than that in change.
給多少錢是最難的。但是，沒(méi)有必要為你的吝嗇而感到煩惱，因?yàn)檫@似乎是慣例。在我的辦公室，錢都裝進(jìn)一個(gè)大信封，這樣，你一般無(wú)法看到人們往里面放了多少錢，但如果你看看卡片上簽名人數(shù)和集到的錢，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)錢看上去總是太少。我發(fā)誓，我曾經(jīng)看到一個(gè)人裝進(jìn)了5英鎊，然后從信封里拿走了比那還多的零錢。
For birthdays I give nothing， as colleagues shouldn't expect to be showered with birthday gifts at work. With leaving collections it depends how much I like the person going. For someone I barely know and don't much like， I give a couple of quid. For someone I've worked with I give either ￡10 or ￡20， depending mainly on which notes are in my purse at the time.
至于生日，我什么也不給，因?yàn)橥虏辉撝竿麖墓ぷ鲉挝坏玫酱罅可斩Y物。離職禮物則取決于我對(duì)要走的這個(gè)人有多喜歡。對(duì)我?guī)缀醪辉趺凑J(rèn)識(shí)、也不太喜歡的人，我就給兩英鎊。對(duì)在一起合作的人，我要么給10英鎊、要么給20英鎊，主要得看當(dāng)時(shí)我錢包里有哪種面值的鈔票。
The most important rule is to stop worrying. There are so many collections at work that if you fret about them all you'll never get any work done.
最重要的規(guī)則是不要再發(fā)愁。工作單位里湊份子的事情太多了，如果你要發(fā)愁，就什么活兒也干不了了。
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