一個(gè)“橡皮族”的誕生日志

“橡皮族”是何種人群?借用一個(gè)最普遍的定義，他們就是如橡皮一般，“沒有神經(jīng)、沒有痛感、沒有效率、沒有反應(yīng)，不接受任何新生事物和意見，不在意批評(píng)表揚(yáng)”的人。如同之前“中年危機(jī)”這個(gè)詞的流行讓我們關(guān)注中年群體的真正需求一樣，“橡皮族”也迅速成為熱門新詞，在成為失卻熱情、處境尷尬的職場人士代名詞的同時(shí)，也令我們審視和反思自己的職業(yè)發(fā)展規(guī)劃和心態(tài)。

Sandra: Ugh. Shoot me now.

Stephanie: One of those days， huh?

Sandra: More like one of those years.

Stephanie: Come on， where is that team spirit Mr. Jacobs is always talking about?

Sandra: The only spirit I have is the bottle of whiskey waiting for me when I get home at the end of the day. I’ve been here for ten years. I don’t know why I keep

doing this.

Stephanie: Yeah， ten years is a long time. Have you considered branching out? Looking at other

career options?

Sandra: Oh， please! Who is going to hire an ①over the hill fogy like me? Besides， I don’t have time to be handing out resumes and going to job interviews. I’ve got it easy here. In a few years I’ll get my retirement package and ②I’ll be sitting pretty.

Stephanie: You’re right. ③Job hunting sure takes it out

of you.

Sandra: Oh， great! The system is down again. I’m going to talk to IT about this. At least that’ll knock half an hour off my day (Sandra exits.)

Tommy: ④Is Sandra making mountains out of molehills again?

Stephanie: I think so. What’s with that?

Tommy: ⑤That is a grade A example of what we call a disengaged employee.

Stephanie: Disengaged? Like they have no passion or motivation for their job anymore?

Tommy: Exactly. I read an article that said employees like Sandra cost the US economy up to $350 billion a year.

Stephanie: How can that be?

Tommy: Simply because they are completely unproductive. They really should go live on a farm somewhere. Better for us and for them.

Stephanie: Well， I’m getting back to work while I still have my passion. I don’t want to end up like that.

桑德拉:啊，殺了我吧!

史蒂芬妮:又到了怠工情緒高漲的日子啦，對(duì)吧?

桑德拉:簡直年年如是。

史蒂芬妮:別這樣嘛，雅各布斯先生經(jīng)常強(qiáng)調(diào)的團(tuán)隊(duì)精神到哪里去了?

桑德拉:現(xiàn)在唯一能讓我振奮一點(diǎn)的，就是晚上回家之后還有一瓶威士忌在召喚著我。我在這家公司都呆了10年了。我都不明白我干嘛還要繼續(xù)做下去。

史蒂芬妮:是啊，10年算是一段挺長的時(shí)間了。你考慮過向外發(fā)展嗎?找一找其他的職業(yè)發(fā)展契機(jī)?

桑德拉:哦，得了吧!有誰會(huì)雇請(qǐng)像我這樣過了氣的老古董?再說，我也沒時(shí)間投遞簡歷、參加面試什么的。我對(duì)這里的一切運(yùn)作都已經(jīng)了如指掌。再過幾年我就可以領(lǐng)著退休金，舒舒服服地過日子了。

史蒂芬妮:你說得對(duì)。找工作的確讓人筋疲力盡。

桑德拉:哦，真是妙極了!系統(tǒng)又崩潰了。我得去跟IT部門的人反映下這個(gè)問題。這起碼可以消磨我半個(gè)小時(shí)的工作時(shí)間。(桑德拉出去了。)

湯米:桑德拉又小題大做、喋喋不休了?

史蒂芬妮:我想是吧。她究竟怎么了?

湯米:這就是一個(gè)所謂 “橡皮族”的最佳范本。

史蒂芬妮:橡皮族?是說他們對(duì)工作失去了熱情和野心嗎?

湯米:沒錯(cuò)。我讀過一篇報(bào)道，說像桑德拉這樣的員工每年給美國經(jīng)濟(jì)造成的損失高達(dá)3500億美元。

史蒂芬妮:這怎么可能?

湯米:很簡單，就因?yàn)樗麄兏緞?chuàng)造不了效益。他們真應(yīng)該去農(nóng)場之類的地方生活。這對(duì)我們、對(duì)他們都是好事。

史蒂芬妮:呃，我要趁著還有激情趕緊去工作了。我可不想到頭來變成那個(gè)

樣子。

小測試:以下列出的“橡皮族”的特征，有幾項(xiàng)符合你的狀態(tài)呢?如果答案中有超過5個(gè)鉤鉤，那大家就得檢討一下自己了，因?yàn)槟憔褪敲逼鋵?shí)的“橡皮族”。

□ 有一定的行業(yè)經(jīng)驗(yàn)，工作時(shí)間兩年以上

□ 對(duì)工作沒有熱情，得過且過

□ 認(rèn)為工作與理想無法并存，甚至忘卻了理想

□ 拖到最后時(shí)刻才完成工作

□ 斤斤計(jì)較，不是自己的工作堅(jiān)決不做

□ 堅(jiān)決不加班

□ 獨(dú)來獨(dú)往，不喜歡團(tuán)隊(duì)合作

□ 追求平庸，反正“槍打出頭鳥”

Smart Sentences

① over the hill 過氣的

over the hill: past one’s prime(過了頂峰，在衰退期)。例如:

Nick is among those to be laid off as he is considered over the hill

by management.

因?yàn)楣芾韺佑X得尼克已經(jīng)過了巔峰期，所以他被列入了裁員的名單中。

② I’ll be sitting pretty. (我就能)舒舒服服地過日子了。

sitting pretty: to be in a good， safe and comfortable position(處于有利的狀態(tài)，如意)。例如:

With an easy but high-paying job and a loving husband， Nancy is now sitting pretty.

有一份輕松但收入不菲的工作和一個(gè)體貼的丈夫，南?，F(xiàn)在的生活很如意。

③ Job hunting sure takes it out of you. 找工作的確讓人筋疲力盡。

sth. takes it out of sb.: sth. requires a lot of energy or effort and makes sb. exhausted(使某人筋疲力盡)。例如:

Having a school-age child really takes it out of you.

家里有一個(gè)上學(xué)的孩子確實(shí)讓人心力交瘁。

④ Is Sandra making mountains out of molehills again? 桑德拉又小題大做、喋喋不休了?

make a mountain out of a molehill: make an unimportant fact seem like serious one(小題大做)。例如:

Making mountains out of molehills is the mere interest of some reporters.

有些記者只對(duì)小題大做感興趣。

⑤That is a grade A example of what we call a disengaged employee. 這就是一個(gè)所謂 “橡皮族”的最佳范本。

a grade A example of sth.: a perfect example of sth.(最佳例子)。例如:

My father is a grade A example of an energetic retired person.

我老爸是退休人員精力充沛的一個(gè)絕佳例子。