倍立美語 BarryFunEnglish

Lesson304  The double life of Alfred Bloggs

These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than clerks who work in offices. People who work in offices are frequently [1]referred to as 'white collar workers' [2]for the simple reason that they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work. [3]Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to [4]sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white collar workers. This can give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation.

 When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job. He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he left home dressed in a smart black suit. He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman. Before returning home at night, he took a shower and changed back into his suit.  Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret. Alf's wife has never discovered that she married a dustman and [5]she never will, for Alf has just found another job. He will soon be working in an office as a junior clerk. He will be earning only [6]half as much as he [7]used to, but he feels that his rise in status [8]is well worth the loss of money. From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will [9]call him 'Mr. Bloggs', not 'Alf'.

Alfred Bloggs的雙重人格生活

    如今，從事體力(手工)工作的人一般獲得遠比在辦公室工作的辦事員更多的收入。在辦公室工作的人之所以常常(履次/頻繁地)被稱作「白領(衣領)工作者」，單純因為(為了這理由說)他們通常穿硬領襯衫打領帶去上班。許多人常常情願放棄(犧牲)較高的薪水以換取成為白領工人的殊榮，此乃人之常情(人性/人類的天性)。這會引起奇怪的現象(情況)，如同為Ellesmere股份有限公司工作當清潔工的Alfred Bloggs就是一個案例。

    當Alf結婚時，他太難為情(尷尬的)，以致沒有對他的妻子說有關他職業的任何事情。他只告訴她說為該公司工作。每天早晨，他穿著一套時髦的黑色西裝離家上班。然後換衣穿上工作服，度過緊接下來的八個小時當清潔工。晚上回家前，他洗個淋浴，換衣穿回他的西裝。Alf這樣做超過兩年之久，他的清潔工同事也為他保守秘密。Alf的妻子一直沒發現她嫁給了一個清潔工，而且她永遠也不會發現，因為Alf剛剛找到另一個工作。他不久就要在辦公室裡工作，當個資淺的職員。他將來賺的錢只有他過去(所賺)的一半，不過他覺得，他在身份地位方面的提升頗值得損失點錢。從此，他將整天穿著西裝，別人將稱呼他為「Bloggs先生」，而不是「Alf」。