Like most of my fellow actors in New York I was "between jobs" and making ends meet as a lunch waiter in a small high quality Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. I was a lousy waiter. I enjoyed the customers and didn't mind the work, but my ADD kept me from coordinating all the details a good waiter needs to coordinate.
就像那些在紐約的演員一樣，我也曾大把時間賦閑在家（失業中），于是我在格林威治村一家小而高檔的意大利餐廳做著午餐服務員維生。可我是一個糟糕的服務員，我享受和顧客們待在一起，在工作上總是有所疏忽，我的注意力缺失癥總讓我無法去完成一個合格的服務員該去注意并協調的那些所有的工作上的細節。
I was doing my best and scraping by on a few kind tips before they had the good sense to terminate my employment, but on my final shift something interesting happened. I was waiting on an attractive African American couple, a man and a lady who seemed to be on a "first date." Perhaps it was his intense attention to her and her slight controlled discomfort that made me believe so.
我盡力做著這份工，也能靠些許善意的小費勉強維生，當然，在老板決定開除我之前。就在我最后一次當班那天，一件有趣的事發生了。我正服侍著一對非裔美國人，這位男士和女士似乎是第一次約會，也許是他對她的在意和她些許自制著的不安讓我這樣覺得。
When it came time to order, he made certain that her order was exactly, precisely what she wanted. Then for himself he ordered a glass of water and some lemon slices...and asked for more bread. OK...no problem; I'm a starving actor, maybe he is too.
到了點餐的時候，他確保了那位女士精確無差地點到了自己想吃的菜，然后他給自己點了一杯水和幾片檸檬…然后要了一些面包。好吧……沒問題。我是一個挨餓的演員，也許他也是。

The lemonade he made for himself and bread was free and he was buying a meal for the lady, that was alright with me. I had to admire his boldness and sympathized with his situation. But as the lunch hour began to wane, and I saw him stacking coins on the table I began to get a little perturbed. He was counting out the exact change for the lunch and it wasn't likely to include a tip.
他給自己點的檸檬水和面包都是餐廳免費提供的，而與此同時，他卻給這位女士要的付費餐點。對我來說這也沒問題。我也十分欽佩他的勇氣，也同情他的處境。午餐吃到快結束的時候，我看見他把硬幣掏出來疊放在桌上，這讓我稍微有些不安起來。他數著支付午餐費的零錢，看上去不太可能包括小費了。
As his "date" stood to go to the restroom I walked up to the table to collect the coins. This man then turned his attention to me and saw the look on my face. He said, "What's the problem, all the money is there." "It's customary to include a tip," I said through a slight smirk as I counted the coins into my hand.
就在他的“約會對象”站起來去洗手間的工夫，我到桌前收起這些硬幣。男人這時才注意到我，也看到了我臉上的表情。他說：“有問題嗎？所有該付的錢都在這里了。”“按習慣是要給小費的。”我一邊假笑著一邊把硬幣數到我的手上。
Without blinking he replied, "I have a tip for you; shake my hand." I looked at him as though I didn't want trouble and began to dismiss him as though I didn't need his "tip" whatever he intended by it. I turned to head back to the register but he followed me and holding his hand out said again; "Shake my hand."
眼都沒眨，他回答道：“我有一份給你的小費，來握住我的手。”我看著他，如同我不愿給自己找麻煩，并不打算理會他，就好像無論他如何想要給我都不需要他的“tip”一樣。我轉身去到簽到臺，他跟在我身后，伸出他的手又說了一遍：“和我握手。”
Reasoning briefly, I decided to just go along with it. I puffed through my nose, and grabbed his hand for a quick shake. To my surprise, he pulled his hand away and said, "That's not a handshake." He had my attention.
簡單地思索了一下，我決定順其自然吧，我吸了吸鼻子，抓過他的手迅速握了一下。令人驚訝是，他抽回了自己的手，說到：“這不是握手。”這句話，讓我忽然對他另眼相看。
In my momentary silence, he spoke again; "You want your tip, hold out your hand." Can you believe I really didn't want to? But his gaze was not threatening, his lady friend had returned to witness this tiny event, and I simply obeyed.
在我短暫的沉默中，他又說到：“你想要你的小費，那就伸出你的手。”你能相信我真的不想伸手嗎？但他的凝視毫無威脅，他的那位女士朋友也回來了正看著這一切，我就順從了。
"Now this is a handshake," he said as his hand reached for mine. "You see, the webs of our thumbs meet, that's how we know we're touching one another...then we look right into each other's eyes and allow our hands to embrace...not too hard to prove we're macho, just like this, you see?"
“這，才是一個真正的握手。”說著，他的手握住了我的手。“你看，我們的大拇指扣住了對方，這樣我們才知道我們觸到了彼此……然后，我們看去對方的眼睛，再讓我們的手掌擁抱在一起。不必太用力似乎要證明我們很有男人力量，就像這樣，你看？”
A slight smile had come over his face as he noticed; I had gotten the connection! This was the best tip I ever got as a waiter; and one of the best in my life.
一絲不易察覺的笑容掠過他的臉，而此時，我真切地感受到了這種真誠的人與人之間的聯結。這是我的服務員生涯中收到的最好的小費，也是人生中最好的一筆。