成功先从打零工做起

从小到大兼职和打零工的经历，是我所受教育中至关重要的一部分。这些工作具有某种坐在教室里根本体会不到的真实感。它们帮助我学到了职业道德的重要性、学会了独立，也使我认识到，现实世界中的许多工作场所有多么艰苦。

The part-time and temporary jobs I had while growing up were a vital part of my education. There was an authenticity about them that sitting in a classroom entirely lacked. They helped to teach me the importance of a work ethic, independence, and just how tough many real workplaces are.

我担心，21世纪的青少年中有这类经历的人太少了，因此他们无法那么全面地发展自我。
I worry that too few 21st-century teenagers get this type of experience – and that they are less well-rounded as a consequence.

我记得，上世纪70年代末的一个复活节，我在结束了第一天的工作后坐在浴缸里。当时，我在一个小型制造车间打工，任务是从早到晚地翻转车床上的金属杆。上班第一天的下午5点，我的手已经起了水泡、磨掉了皮。

I can recall sitting in the bath after my first day's work one Easter holiday in the late 1970s. The job was in a small engineering workshop. My task was to turn metal rods on a lathe all day. By 5pm on my first day my hands were blistered and raw.

虽然我读的是公立学校，但我的成长环境非常舒适，从来就没做过像样的体力活。开始打工那周的周末，我领到了一个带玻璃纸窗口的信封，里面装着作为薪水的现金，约有40英镑。凭自己的努力赚到那些钱，为我带来了巨大的满足感。我感觉自己几乎是个有钱人了，而且也已长大成人。
Although I went to a state school, I enjoyed a comfortable upbringing and had never experienced a proper labouring job. But at the end of the week I got my pay in cash in a brown envelope with a cellophane window. It was about £40. Earning all that through my own efforts was hugely satisfying. It made me feel almost rich, and grown up.

以前每个圣诞节，我都会担任村子里的临时邮递员，帮忙发送每到那个时候就会如雪片般寄来的包裹和贺卡。由于那时还没有互联网和手机，因此作为保持联络的一种途径，英国皇家邮政(Royal Mail)要比今天重要得多。你必须很早就开始工作，但一般到了午饭前后就能把当天的任务完成。
Every Christmas I used to work as a temporary postman in my village, helping to deliver the seasonal avalanche of parcels and greeting cards. This was before the internet and mobile phones, so the Royal Mail was a much more important way to keep in touch than it is now. You had to start very early, but you generally finished your round by lunchtime.

最糟糕的情况是下雨。碰上雨天，你还是得完成任务，即使那需要花上四个小时。干到最后你会浑身湿透，你的邮件也好不到哪儿去。记得有一天，我真想把许多邮件一扔了之，但随后我又提醒自己，那么做是一种严重的犯罪。
The worst aspect was rain. If it was wet, you still had to finish the task, even if it took four hours. You ended up soaked, and your post wasn't much better. I remember being tempted to chuck a lot of post away on one day, but was reminded that doing so was a very serious offence.

每次开车路过曼哈顿第八大道上气势不凡的邮政总局，我都会想起冒雨辛苦工作的邮递员。邮政总局门前题有这样一段鼓舞人心的文字：“无论雨雪炎热，还是漫漫黑夜，都阻挡不了这些信使迅速完成指定投递任务的脚步。”
I think of postmen struggling in the rain every time I drive by the splendid Eighth Avenue general post office in Manhattan, and see the evocative inscription, which reads: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

我做过的另一份暑期短工是在一家制药厂制造润滑啫哩。在当时那个年纪，我对人们为何使用这种产品只是一知半解。员工们的胸无大志令我感到震惊。没有人把所从事的工作看作事业：那不过是谋生手段而已。他们脏话不离口——女性员工也不例外——而且大多数人讨厌自己的工作。不过，我还是很喜欢以他们为伴。
Another summer job was working in a pharmaceutical factory making lubricant jelly. At that age I was only vaguely aware why people used it. I was shocked at the lack of ambition among the staff. None of them saw what they did as a career: it was simply a way to earn a living. They swore all the time – including the women – and most of them hated their jobs. Nevertheless, I enjoyed their company.

但我认识到，找到一份从周一到周五都能乐在其中的工作，是充实生活的关键要素。痴迷地寻找一种令我期待——而非惧怕——周一早晨的谋生之道，成了我的一项使命。
But I realised that finding something to do that you love from Monday to Friday was a vital ingredient to a fulfilling life. It became a mission of mine to pursue obsessively a livelihood where I could look forward to Monday morning rather than dread it.

在大学医学系念一年级时，我利用假期在伦敦圣玛丽医院(St Mary's Hospital)为一位声名显赫的教授工作。他当时正在研究心血管疾病与长期服用避孕药之间的关系。我担任实验室助理，而我的老板有点像个暴君。我的主要任务是分析人体排泄物。那份工作令我打消了从医的念头，甚至连给人打工的念头也没了。
As a first-year undergraduate studying medicine, I worked at St Mary's Hospital in London for an eminent professor during the vacation. He was studying the connection between cardiovascular disease and extended use of the contraceptive pill. I was a lab assistant and my boss was something of a tyrant. My main role was to analyse human excrement. It helped put me off medicine as a vocation, and indeed working for other people.

大学期间，我为一家流动迪斯科舞厅担任DJ，在从学生聚会到婚礼等各种场合打碟。有了自信之后，我为自己添置了转盘(Turntable)，陶醉于努力工作、玩音乐、结识女孩子和赚钱的组合之中。我意识到，作企业家才是我要找的答案：你可以掌握自己的命运，并因付出努力而得到回报。我与几个同伴一起，在当地的一家夜总会经营每周一次的舞场。这桩生意从一开始就实现了盈利。我发现，做生意能给人充分自由，还能激发创造力。更多信息请访问：http://www.engbus.cn/
While I was at university I worked as a DJ for a mobile discotheque, spinning the discs at everything from student gigs to weddings. Once I gained confidence, I acquired my own turntables and loved the combination of working hard, playing music, meeting girls and earning money. I realised that being an entrepreneur was the answer – you could control your own destiny and you received the rewards for your efforts. With partners I ran weekly dances at a local nightclub. It made money from the start, and I saw that running a business could give you enormous freedom and creative stimulation.

对我而言，假期短工和校外兼职令我学到了人生经验，获得了学校正统教育永远无法赋予的洞察力。我很想知道，本专栏读者的孩子中，有多少人在上学期间还在带薪工作？人数恐怕不够多吧。
For me, holiday and student jobs provided lessons in life and an insight that academic, formal education could never match. I wonder how many children of the readers of this column will have paying jobs while studying? Not enough, I fear.