人們常常抱怨不想去上班，可對于我的一個朋友來說，她現在是更愿意去工作。她女兒最近整天都吵著要買一部智能手機做生日禮物，但是她丈夫堅決不同意。她丈夫覺得女兒還太小，很多事情還負不起責任。我朋友同意我丈夫的觀點，可是也知道她女兒的很多朋友都用起了智能手機，所以不想讓女兒覺得自己被拉下了。她這被夾在中間的狀態，讓我想到一句習慣用語，那就是：caught in the middle.

Caught是catch的被動式，被抓住的意思；而middle, 中間。Caught in the middle, 被夾在中間，就是左右為難的意思。我朋友現在就處于左右為難的境地，she is caught in the middle regarding whether to buy her daughter a smart phone. 對于要不要給她女兒買智能手機這個問題，我朋友左右為難。不過她的處境跟下面的例子里的人比起來不足一提？他有什么困擾呢？ 我們來聽聽看:

例句-1：Ever since my mother came to live with us, life has been difficult. She and my wife don't get along. If one wants one thing, the other is complaining about it. It's a constant battle. And I don't like being caught in the middle. They should settle their differences without expecting me to get involved.

這段話是說：自從我媽媽開始來跟我們一起住之后，日子就不好過了。我媽媽跟我妻子真是合不來。其中一個人想要點什么，另一個人就會開始抱怨。這是個持續戰。我真是左右為難。他們應該自己解決他們之間的問題。

這可真夠為難的。婆媳關系一般都很難處理，而丈夫夾在中間，向著哪邊都不好。Her husband gets caught in the middle whenever there's a conflict between his mom and his wife. 一旦他的媽媽和妻子起了沖突，作為丈夫他真是左右為難。

******

工作中有個好老板是福氣。如果你的老板待人和氣而又鼓勵創新 ，你工作起來一定會干勁十足。可是下面這個例子里的人就不那么幸運了。他碰到了什么樣的問題呢？我們來聽聽看:

例句-2：My boss isn't making my job very easy. He assumes that I'll always be supportive of his decisions. The problem is that I think some of his ideas aren't good for the company. As a result, I find myself torn between wanting to be loyal and wanting to be honest. How can I overcome feeling caught in the middle?

這段話是說：由于我的老板，我的工作并不十分愉快。他認為我會支持贊成他所有的決定。問題是我認為他的有些想法對公司并不好。所有，我經常在忠誠和誠實之間左右為難。我怎么處理這種夾在中間的局面呢？

我也有過類似的經歷！原來大學的時候我曾經去做過家教，可是那個家里的爸爸說一套，而媽媽又有另一套，弄的我不知道怎么才好。The parents of the child I'm tutoring have opposite views of what I should teach. I'm totally caught in the middle.