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Suze Orman 一 The Waitress
蘇茜歐曼——女服務員
In 1973, when I was 22, three friends and I piled into a Ford Econoline van in my Hometown of Chicago and started out across America. We ended up in Berkeley, Calif., where I got a job cutting down eucalyptus5 trees with a chain saw for $3.50 an hour.
1973年，我22歲的時候，我和3個朋友在我的家鄉芝加哥市,擠進一輛福特伊克 諾萊貨車里，開始了橫穿美國之旅。我們的旅程是在加州的伯克利市結束的，我在 那里得到了一份工作——用鏈鋸伐桉樹’報酬是每小時3.5美元。
But my first real long -term job was at a local diner called the Buttercup Bakery. I worked there for seven years and learned so many lessons, especially from a fellow waitress.
然而，我的第一份真正的長期工作，是在一家名叫金鳳花面包房的餐館里。我 在那里工作了 7年,學到了許多東西，尤其是從一位女服務員身上。
Helen was in her 60s and had red hair and incredible self-respect, something I was sorely lacking. I looked up to Helen because she was doing what she loved ——serving people ——and nobody did it better. She made everyone smile and feel good, customers and co-workers alike.
海倫已經60多歲了，她有著一頭紅發和令人難以置信的自尊心，而那正是我極 為缺乏的。我尊敬海倫，因為她熱愛她的工作——為他人服劣——并且沒有人比她 做得更好。她使每個人都笑逐顏開，感覺良好,無論對顧客還是同事，她都一視同
I also learned how important it is to take pride in life’s little accomplishments. When I helped out in the kitchen, nothing made me feel better than putting two eggs on the grill, flipping them over easy, and serving them just the way the customer wanted.
我也學會了以生活中微不足道的成就為傲,是一件多么重要的事。當我在廚房 里幫忙的時候，沒有什么能比打兩個雞蛋在煎爐上、兩面翻轉、按顧客的要求送上 去，更令我感覺良好的了。
Being a waitress changed my life. One of my regular customers was Fred Hasbrook, an electronics salesman. He always ate a ham -and -Monterey -Jack omelet, and when I saw him walking toward the diner, I tried to have it on his table as soon as he sat down.
女服務員工作改變了我的一生。我的一個老主顧名叫弗雷德?海斯布魯克，是 一位電子器件銷售員。他總是吃一種火腿夾干酪蛋卷;每當我看到他向餐館走來的 時候,我就盡量做到他剛一坐下，我就把蛋卷端到他的桌子上。
Thanks to the newfound confidence I picked up from Helen, 1 dreamed of having my own restaurant. But when I called my parents to ask for a loan, they said, “We just don’t have the money.”
由于在海倫那里獲得的新發現的信心，我開始夢想擁有屬于自己的餐廳;但當 我給父母打電話借錢時’他們卻說:“我們沒有錢。”
The next day, Fred saw me and asked, “what’s wrong, sunshine? you’re not smiling today.” I shared my dream with him and said, “Fred, I know I can do more if somebody would just have faith in me.”
第二天，弗雷德看到我，并問我:“怎么了，我的陽光?你今天沒有笑容。”我把我的夢告訴了他，并對他說：“弗雷德，我知道，只要有人對我有信心，我能做更多的事。”
He walked over to some of the other diner regulars and the next day handed me checks totaling $50,000 — along with a note that I have to this day. It reads, “The only collateral on this loan is my trust in your honesty as a person. Good people with a dream should have the opportunity to make that dream come true.”
弗雷德向其他一些餐館的常客走去;第二天，他給了我幾張總額5萬美元的支 票，以及一張我至今仍珍藏著的便箋。便箋上寫著：“這筆借款唯一的擔保，就是我 對你誠實做人的信任。有夢想的好人應該擁有美夢成真的機會。”
I took the checks to Merrill Lynch — the first time I had ever entered a brokerage house — where the money was invested for me. I continued working at the Buttercup, making plans for the restaurant I would open. My investments soured, though, and I lost the money.
我拿著這幾張支票去了美林證券公司一那是我第一次走進一家代理公 司——我用那筆錢進行了投資。我一邊繼續在金鳳花餐館工作,一邊為我將要開辦 的餐廳進行著計劃。然而,我的投資失敗了，我失去了那筆錢。
I found myself thinking about what it would be like to be a stockbroker. After great deliberation I decided to apply for a job at Merrill Lynch. Even though I had no experience, I was hired and ended up becoming a pretty good broker. Eventually I paid back Fred and my customers the $50,000, plus 14—percent annual interest. Five years later, I was able to open my own firm.
我開始考慮成為一名股票經紀人會怎么樣。深思熟慮之后，我決定去美林證券 公司求職。雖然我沒有任何經驗，但我還是被錄用了，并最終成為了一名出色的經 紀人。終于,我以14%的年息還清了弗雷德和我那些餐館顧客的5萬美元。5年之后， 我開辦了自己的公司。
I got a thank-you note from Fred, which will be imprinted on my heart forever. He had been sick and wrote that my check had helped cover his mounting medical bills. His letter read, “That loan may have been one of the best investments that I will ever make. Who else could have invested in a counter ‘girl, with a million -dollar personality and watch that investment mature into a very successful career woman. How few investors have that opportunity?”
弗雷德給我寫了一封感謝信，這封信將永遠烙印在我的心上。他一直都有病在 身;他說我的支票幫他支付了日益增多的醫藥費。他在信中寫道那筆借款可能是 我的一次最佳的投資。沒有人會給一個有著價值百萬美元人品的餐館女孩兒投資, 并且能夠看著這個女孩成長為一名非常成功的職業女性。有幾個‘投資者’有這樣 的機會呢？”
