評論
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"I need some food," she muttered in reply to my bright "Can I help you?"
“我需要點食物，”她小聲嘟噥，算是在回應(yīng)我那句響亮的“能為您效勞嗎?”
"Are you looking for corn, ma'am?"
“太太，您是在找玉米食品吧?”
"I need some food," she repeated. "Any kind."
“我需要點食物，”她重復(fù)了一句。“隨便什么。”
"Well, the com is ninety-five cents," I said in my most helpful voice. "Or, if you like, we have a special on bread today."
“嗯，這罐玉米九角五分，”我用一種最樂意效力的語氣說。“要不，如果您喜歡的話，來一份我們今天的特價面包。”
"I can't pay," she said.
“我沒錢支付，”她說。
For a second, I was tempted to say, "Take the com." But the employee rules flooded into my mind: Remain polite, but do not let customers get the best of you. Let them know that you are in control. For a moment, I even entertained the idea that this was some sort of test, and that this woman was someone from the head office, testing my loyalty. I responded dutifully, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't give away anything for free."
有那么一剎那，我真想說，“把玉米拿去吧。”但雇員守則卻涌入了我的腦海：保持禮貌，但不要讓顧客占你的便宜。要讓他們知道，店是在你經(jīng)管之下的。片刻間，我甚至心存這樣的念頭：這是對我的某種考驗吧；這個老太婆嘛，沒準(zhǔn)是公司總部派了測試我的忠誠的。我恪盡職守地回應(yīng)道：“很抱歉，太太，這兒的任何物品我都不能免費贈送的。”
The old woman's face collapsed a bit more, if that were possible, and her hands trembled as she put the can back on the shelf. She shuffled past me toward the door, her tom and dirty clothing barely covering her bent back.
老婦人的臉?biāo)坪醺鶅?nèi)萎陷了些（如果還有往內(nèi)萎縮余地的話），她把罐裝玉米放回貨架時，雙手在不住哆嗦。她拖著腳，經(jīng)過我身邊，一路朝店門那兒走去，那一身破爛、骯臟的衣衫，勉強將她那彎曲的背部遮蓋住。
Moments after she left, I rushed out the door with the can of com, but she was nowhere in sight. For the rest of my shift, the image of the woman haunted me. I had been young, healthy, and smug. She had been old, sick, and desperate. Wishing with all my heart that I had acted like a human being rather than a robot, I was saddened to realize how fragile a hold we have on our better instincts.
她剛離開一會兒功夫，我趕緊拿起那罐玉米沖出店門，但是已不見其人蹤影。在余下的那段上班時間里，老婦人的形象始終縈繞在我心頭。我年輕，身強力壯，沾沾自喜。她年邁，體弱多病，心情絕望。我真心希望我當(dāng)時能表現(xiàn)得像個活人而不是“機器人”，但意識到我們保持自身良好本性的力量是多么的脆弱，又令我感到悲哀。
