Common Courtesies in the Office 辦公室常見禮節

陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作，他的美國同事Amy好像顯得不太高興。

(Office ambience)

CH：Hi Amy, how are you?

A：I'm fine.

C：聽上去你好像不太高興？出什么事了嗎？

A：As a matter of fact there is. I consider you a good friend as well as colleague. You know I have tried to help you as much as I can since you came to work at ABC.

C：是啊。這幾個月來，你確實幫了我很多忙，我特別感激。

A：Unfortunately we have a problem right now. As we say in the United States, "I have a bone to pick with you".

C："A bone to pick with me?" 這是什么意思啊？

A：It means that I have a complaint about something that involves you.

C：我什么地方得罪你了嗎？

A：Forgive me—I may be wrong, but I think you used my office while I was away last week.

C：沒錯，你出差的時候。我以為你不會介意呢。

A：I would not have minded if you had asked me first.

C：你走后我才想起來的。正好有個項目快到期了，我需要個安靜的地方工作，所以就借用了你的寶地。

A：I understand, but you need to be aware that you shouldn't make yourself at home in someone else's office without first asking permission.

C：對不起，可你是怎么知道的呢？

A：We will have to continue this later. I have a meeting in five minutes.

當天下午陳豪和Amy又碰面了。

A：Chen Hao, you deserve to know what bothered me about your using my office without asking me first. You were not very considerate in some of the things you did.

C：你能說具體點兒嗎？

A：It appears that you ate your lunch in my office.

C：你怎么知道的？

A：There were crumbs all over my desk.

C：那是我不對，應該打掃干凈。

A：And how do you explain the missing paper clips? I was down to my last few, and when I came back, there weren't any left.

C：對不起，最后幾個回形針用了。

A：And that means that you went through my desk to find them.

C：可大家不都這樣嗎？我以為可以這樣做呢。

A：Well, it's not. Even with good friends. Just because people are not at their desk, doesn't mean that you can make your self at home when they are not there.

C：你說得沒錯。不過我確實不是有意得罪你。

A：I accept your apology. In the future remember to ask permission before you use a coworker's desk, office equipment or supplies. When you do receive permission, leave everything as you found it.

C：我以后知道了，謝謝你告訴我。