在美國打工

The Christmas season has once again come to an end. Stores once full of shoppers are now relatively empty with only the occasional trickle of bargain finders， such as myself， looking for an after-holiday deal. Yesterday， while I was walking down the street of the shopping center， a popular chocolate shop came into view. My friend Sandy had been working there since the summer and I was hoping to see her. As I drew nearer， hands full of shopping bags and heart full of joy， I noticed a familiar figure jumping up and down washing the windows of the shop. Laughing to myself， I ran across the street to greet my friend.

This past summer， both Sandy and I reached the age of sixteen. In the United States， the law allows high school students of this age to have a paying job. Oh， how we had waited for that day! To think， we could finally have our own income， an aspect of our life that was beyond the control of our parents. So much freedom and room to breath! It doesn't matter if a person is the President's daughter or Bill Gate's son，most teenagers usually decide to find a job when they reach the minimum age. To us， this is a one giant step towards freedom and independence.From what I have heard， working experience is also something colleges like to see in a student.No one wants a student who only knows how to study. Before the actual application， we first had to receive the permission of our counselors and parents by getting them to sign working permits.Then， Sandy and I filled out application after application. Book stores， cafes， coffee shops，supermarkets etc. but none of those places wanted us. Finally， at the end of a long and weary day，Sandy got accepted to a chocolate sho? and I to a tutoring center. After stacks of boring paperwork and hours of training， we finally started working.It didn't take long for me to realize that working just wasn't as fun as I had originally thought. In the real world， punctuality and consistency were biggies. You couldn't decide to take a day off out of the blue and then waltz back the next day without a problem. But， the day I received my first paycheck and opened my first bank account made up for all the lost hours that could have been spent at the movies or surfing the web. Haha， I thought to myself， I'm on top of the world! For the first time ever， I was able to use my own money to buy Christmas presents for my friends and teachers.Now what could be more rewarding than that?

Sandy's lifelong dream is to go to business school and eventually own her own business. So，her job at the chocolate shop has really given her some valuable experience. Because she works there， Sandy gets a thirty-five percent discount on all the chocolate and as a result her business was sky-high this Christmas. Many people in our school， including myself and my mom， all asked her to buy chocolate. She carried out each order with such alacrity and care that would have made any store manager proud. Instead of trying to make a profit from it all though， she only allowed us to pay her the exact cost and not a cent more for her troubles. The satisfaction of her customers in itself was enough of a reward for her. At first my mom said， \"Sandy， at this rate，you won't make any money!\" But after seeing Sandy's reliability， her honesty， and unreserved devotion toward her customers， my mom changed her prediction and said， \"If Sandy keeps at her business， one day， she will become extremely successful.\"

一年一度的圣誕節(jié)來了又去了。節(jié)前熱鬧的商店里現(xiàn)在變得冷冷清清的，偶爾見到幾個尋找減價商品的人。昨天，當(dāng)我心滿意足地提著減價商品走過購物中心時，一家著名的巧克力店映入眼簾，嗯，我的好朋友珊蒂自暑假起，就在這家店打工，真希望能遇到她。走近小店，突然看見一個熟悉的身影，正在上上下下地擦櫥窗，我開心地笑起來，一邊喊著珊蒂的名字一邊快步地穿過了馬路。

去年暑假，我和珊蒂都滿十六歲了。根據(jù)美國法律，可以開始打工掙錢。我們早就盼著這一天了!一方面能自己掙錢，另一方面，我們能擁有更多的自由，真令人興奮。在美國，不管你是總統(tǒng)的女兒，還是比爾·蓋茨的兒子，絕大多數(shù)孩子，在滿了十六歲后都會開始打工，這是我們跨入社會，走向成熟，學(xué)會獨立自主的重要一步，據(jù)說大學(xué)在錄取時，也很重視這點，他們可不要只會學(xué)習(xí)的“書呆子”。打工前，我們先填了一張表，然后學(xué)校的輔導(dǎo)員和父母要簽字同意。暑假一開始，我和珊蒂就到處找工作，遞申請。面包房、咖啡店、超市、書店……在碰了無數(shù)次壁之后，珊蒂被這家巧克力店錄取，我則去了一家課外補習(xí)中心。在經(jīng)過一系列繁瑣的填表、培訓(xùn)、學(xué)習(xí)規(guī)章制度后，我們開始工作了。很快，我就發(fā)現(xiàn)工作并不像想象中的那么輕松，守時和言行一致是非常重要的。必須按時上下班，不能隨便請假。不過當(dāng)我們第一次拿到支票，開了自己的銀行賬號后，這些付出都不算什么了。哈哈!當(dāng)時，我簡直就覺得自己是世上最幸福的人了。不瞞你說，今年圣誕節(jié)，我第一次用自己的錢，給朋友和老師買了禮物，心里別提多自豪了。

珊蒂的夢想是在大學(xué)讀businessschool，畢業(yè)后做生意，她的工作給了她有用的經(jīng)歷和經(jīng)驗。由于她是雇員，買巧克力可享受35％的折扣。今年圣誕節(jié)期間，她可謂生意興隆，我們學(xué)校的許多人，包括我，我媽媽都托她買巧克力。珊蒂盡職盡責(zé)，每次都按大家的要求買好巧克力，還給我們帶回分裝的小袋子，然后，只收取打折后的價格，絕不多要一分錢的利潤，她覺得能為大家服務(wù)，心里就很快樂了。一開始，我媽媽說， “珊蒂，你這樣怎么做生意呢?”但珊蒂不管，仍然秉著熱心、誠實、負(fù)責(zé)的精神幫大家買。后來，媽媽感嘆地說， “珊蒂堅持以這樣的誠意來做生意，將來肯定會成功?！?/p>

(指導(dǎo)老師；Mrs．Lin 林余乃寧)