寧做擦鞋匠，不做銀行家

07 寧做擦鞋匠，不做銀行家

是做倫敦金融城的白領還是街頭擦鞋匠？對于大多數(shù)人來說，這個問題的答案顯而易見。但這并不代表所有人的想法。誰能說擦鞋不是一份好工作？

FT專欄作家露西·凱拉韋拜訪了倫敦一位熱愛工作的擦鞋匠。他放棄了白領的夢想，成為了一名倫敦街頭的擦鞋匠，并樂在其中。擦鞋匠的工作有怎樣的魅力？

上周四，我有生以來第一次請人擦鞋。我坐在切普賽街圣瑪麗勒波教堂外面的一個凳子上，一位男子蹲在我腳邊，用奇?zhèn)バ?、擦鞋布和鞋刷忙碌起來?/p>

以前我從沒想過這么做。這在一定程度上是因為除非鞋子邋遢得丟人了，否則我是不會注意到鞋子有磨損的，而且那時我一般會自己擦鞋。更主要的原因是，我對于別人蹲在腳下為我服務還是有些介懷的。

上世紀80年代初，在華爾街工作的我看到很多西裝革履的男士坐在高椅上高傲地讀著《華爾街日報》，而身穿臟圍裙的擦鞋匠在他們腳下賣力工作。我這顆北倫敦的自由心靈真不愿意看到這一幕。

但上周，一位同事告訴我，剛剛給他擦鞋的人是他遇到的最心滿意足的工作者之一。對此好奇的我決定前去拜訪。

Earlier that week I had been at a formal dinner and sat next to a woman who held down a senior job in a large City bank.I asked her if she liked being a banker — and got an earful of disillusionment and misery.

當周早些時候，我出席過一次正式的餐會，在我旁邊就座的一位女性辭去了倫敦金融城一家大銀行的高級職位。我問她是否喜歡銀行家這份工作，結果我聽到的是很多的失望和不愉快。

Anyone planning on a career in financial services, she said, was quite mad.First, the weight of regulation was making life impossible.Then there was the politics, and the endless need to show off.Sexism was endemic.And bureaucracy and the culture of back covering were so entrenched that change was impossible.She had made enough money in her two decades in the job never to have to work again, and was feeling gleeful at having just handed in her notice.她說，任何一位計劃在金融服務業(yè)大展宏圖的人都非常瘋狂。首先，嚴格的監(jiān)管讓業(yè)務變得難上加難。接下來還有政治，還需要無休止地炫耀。性別歧視很普遍。官僚作風和掩蓋文化非常根深蒂固，改革幾乎是不可能的。工作了20年，她賺夠了錢，永遠不需要再工作了，剛剛很高興地遞交了辭呈。

At around the time she joined her bank, a young French graduate turned up at a church barely 100 yards from the glass and marble headquarters where she worked, and sought permission to shine shoes in its courtyard.For nearly 20 years he has turned up at 11.30am each day, put up a green umbrella, and applied himself to the shoe leather of the City lunch- break crowd.

大約在她加入她所在的銀行時，一位年輕的法國畢業(yè)生出現(xiàn)在一個教堂，距離她工作的玻璃和大理石外墻的公司總部僅有100碼，他希望獲得許可在教堂庭院里擦鞋。近20年來，他每天11:30出現(xiàn)，撐起一把綠傘，然后投入工作，為倫敦金融城午餐休息的員工擦鞋。

This work, you might have thought, would be as bad as it gets.Shoe shining is what children in Mumbai do when they have lost a father and need to do something to avoid starvation.It is even worse than going up a chimney — that doesn't require grovelling at the feet of another person.你可能會認為，這份工作再糟糕不過了。擦鞋一般是失去父親、需要養(yǎng)家糊口的孟買小孩們所做的工作。它甚至比掃煙囪還要低賤，后者不需要卑躬屈膝地匍匐在別人腳下。

But Marc tells another story.When he came to London in the early 1990s he was hoping to work in media.But as the company he interned for paid nothing, he financed that work with shoe shining.After a while he discovered that the media company was phoney; he found greater satisfaction with a can of polish and a brush.

但馬克(Marc)的想法卻恰恰相反。上世紀90年代初，他來到倫敦，希望在媒體工作。但他實習的公司不提供薪資，他依靠擦鞋維持了生計。不久他發(fā)現(xiàn)這家媒體公司是個騙子；而他在鞋油和鞋刷中找到了更大的滿足感。

As he rubbed and scrubbed at my black ankle boots, I asked precisely what it was about the job he liked so much.“I don't have to be clever,” he said.“I can be as dumb as I like.I'm not trying to impress anyone.”

當他擦我的黑色及踝靴時，我直接問他為什么這么喜歡這份工作?！拔也恍枰斆鳎彼卮?，“我可以盡情當個笨人。我不用費力打動別人。”

This is an excellent point.I spend half my life trying to impress people — and it's exhausting.The only thing worse than pretending to be clever yourself is working with people who are pretending even more effectively than you are.Which is what my dinner mate was up against.這番道理妙極了。我的上半輩子都在努力打動別人，這讓人筋疲力盡。唯一比裝聰明更糟的事情是與那些裝聰明裝得更像的人共事。這就是餐會上那位女士所經歷的。

The next good thing about the work, he said, was the satisfaction in the job itself.You take a pair of dull shoes and eight minutes later they are sparkling.I can relate to this too.One of the great things about being a journalist — as opposed to being a banker — is the satisfaction that comes from producing work that is finite and that you can see.

他表示，這份工作的第二個優(yōu)點在于工作本身所帶來的滿足感。一開始擺在你面前的是一雙黯淡無光的鞋子，8分鐘后，它們就變得光亮如新。我對此深有體會。身為記者（而非銀行家）的一大優(yōu)點是創(chuàng)作作品所帶來的滿足感，這種作品是有形、看得見的。

Third, and possibly most important of all, is that shoe shining, in marked contrast to banking, gives its customers pleasure.As I walked off with my boots gleaming, I felt better, smarter, more in control.Making someone else feel good is always a reliable source of happiness.That is why hairdressers and beauticians are higher up the list of happy professions than management consultants and corporate lawyers.With the shoe shine the pleasure is instant and right under your nose.

第三，或許也是最重要的一點，是擦鞋會給顧客帶來愉悅，這與銀行業(yè)形成鮮明對比。當我蹬著光亮如新的靴子離開時，我感覺自己心情更好、形象更光鮮而且更加自如。讓別人感覺良好永遠是快樂的一個可靠來源。正因如此，美發(fā)師和美容師這類職業(yè)要比管理咨詢顧問和公司律師更快樂。擦鞋所帶來的愉悅是即刻的，而且就在眼前。

Fourth, the chat is nice.According to Marc most people in the City are starved of decent conversation, and longing to tell their shoe shine man all sorts of interesting — and sometimes scurrilous — things.

第四，聊天讓人愉快。馬克說，倫敦金融城的多數(shù)人都渴望像樣的談話，他們迫不及待地要告訴擦鞋匠各種各樣有趣（有時是齷齪）的事情。

Finally, he chooses his own hours.So he shines shoes at lunchtime when trade is brisk, and works as a translator the rest of the time.There is no management, no politics.

最后，他可以自由選擇工作時間。因此他在生意興隆的午餐時分擦鞋，其余時間則在做翻譯。這里不存在管理，也沒有政治。

There is only one thing that is better about being a banker than shining shoes and that is the money.Marc charges ￡4.50 for a shine, which means he gets about ￡30 an hour.

與擦鞋相比，當銀行家唯一的優(yōu)勢在于收入。馬克每擦一次鞋收費4.50英鎊，這意味著他的時薪是30英鎊左右。

He hasn't made enough money to retire.But that is OK because he doesn't really want to.他

還沒有賺夠錢退休。但這無所謂，因為他實際上也不想退休。

詞匯總結

earful ['??f?l]

n.令人吃驚的回答；怨言；聽膩了的消息

I asked her if she liked being a banker — and got an earful of disillusionment and misery.

我問她是否喜歡銀行家這份工作，結果我聽到的是很多的失望和不愉快。

endemic [en'dem?k]

adj.地方性的；風土的

n.流行的弊病

Sexism was endemic.

性別歧視很普遍。

entrenched [?n'tren(t)?t; en-]

adj.根深蒂固的；確立的，不容易改的

And bureaucracy and the culture of back covering were so entrenched that change was impossible.

官僚作風和掩蓋文化非常根深蒂固，改革幾乎是不可能的。

phoney ['f??n?]

n.騙子；假貨

adj.假的；偽造的

After a while he discovered that the media company was phoney; he found greater satisfaction with a can of polish and a brush.

不久他發(fā)現(xiàn)這家媒體公司是個騙子；而他在鞋油和鞋刷中找到了更大的滿足感。

brisk [br?sk]

adj.敏銳的，活潑的，輕快的；凜冽的

So he shines shoes at lunchtime when trade is brisk, and works as a translator the rest of the time.

因此他在生意興隆的午餐時分擦鞋，其余時間則在做翻譯。