Sarah向原來的同事 Amanda 訴苦，說剛換了新工作，就趕上三個人過生日，都要湊份子，感覺心理很不平衡。Amanda 勸她說，

A: If I were you, I would just bite the bullet and hand over the money. First impressions are important and it's not worth getting a reputation for being a Scrooge. Think about it this way: when your birthday comes around, you'll have at least one card and cake to look forward to.

S: A Scrooge is someone who is stingy with his money even though he has plenty, right? I wouldn't want my colleagues to think I am refusing to contribute to the pool even though I can, but this would put me way over my weekly budget.

Amanda建議Sarah硬著頭皮湊份子， Bite the bullet 意思是硬著頭皮接受自己不愿意做的事情。她說，first impressions are important, 第一印象很重要，不能為了這點錢給別人留下“守財奴”的印象。 It's not worth getting a reputation for being a Scrooge. Scrooge is spelled s-c-r-o-o-g-e, scrooge 意思是討厭的守財奴。Sarah 說自己不是不肯出錢，contribute to the pool, 這里的pool, p-o-o-l, pool 指的是大家湊的錢，可如果出錢，一星期的預算就會超出很多。

A: What about a compromise? Maybe you could sit down privately with the person in charge of collecting the money and explain that coming from a smaller department you've never had to deal with so many birthdays at once. Offer to give her five dollars for each birthday instead, and promise that you will make your famous brownies for the celebration.

S: That sounds like a good plan. I hope they understand where I'm coming from and don't hold it against me.

Amanda建議Sarah去找負責收錢的同事商量，try to make a compromise. 看能不能找到一個居中的妥協方案，把份子錢從十塊減少到五塊，但同時保證烤自己拿手的蛋糕，來慶祝同事的生日。Sarah覺得這個辦法不錯，希望同事能 understand where I'm coming from. 意思是能明白和理解我的本意，don't hold it against me 不要記恨我。

A: I'm sure they will understand. Lots of people have been in the same position before. And, maybe once you get to know them better, ten dollars won't seem like such a big deal anymore.

S: Thanks so much for your advice, I feel a lot better about the situation.

A: You're welcome. Let's make sure we keep in touch, Sarah!

S: Sure, I'll talk to you again soon and let you know how it goes. Enjoy your lunch!

Amanda 叫Sarah放心，一定有很多人遇到過這種情形，lots of people have been in the same position before. 她還說，等Sarah和同事們熟了以后，湊十塊錢的份子錢可能也就沒什么大不了的了。