長幼有序 Pecking order
圖／老唐
中國人特別重視輩分倫常，坐車要讓座給老弱婦孺；要發表言論時，也應該要讓長者先說，也就是我們常說的「長幼有序」。英文裡也有類似的說法，不過有趣的是他們卻是用鳥禽類來形容，原因在於大部份的鳥禽世界中，體型較為壯碩者（長者），可是有權先飽餐一頓的，要是哪些小隻的不識相，敢先啄食（peck）的話，可是會被大鳥狠狠地啄得滿頭包呢。也因此，啄食的順序（pecking order）就可以相當傳神地用來代表「長幼有序」囉！
River：I think some people at the company are quite hostile to me.
River：我覺得公司有些人對我很有敵意。
Cindy：What made you say so?
Cindy：你怎會這樣說呢？
River：Sometimes, when I greet them in the morning, they didn’ t even bother to respond. And yesterday when I was doing my presentation, a lot of the senior staff weren’ t even listening at all.
River：有時候我早上跟他們打招呼，他們連回都不回一句。還有昨天，我在作簡報時，很多資深同事根本沒在聽我講。
Cindy：Quite frankly, I noticed that, too. I seem to be the only one at the office asking you out for lunch together.
Cindy：老實說，我也注意到了。我好像是辦公室裡唯一會邀你一起去吃午餐的人。
River：I’ m totally puzzled. Did I do something wrong?
River：我真是完全摸不著頭緒。我做錯什麼了嗎？
Cindy：Based on my understanding, it all started from your welcoming party.
Cindy：據我了解，一切都是從你的迎新舞會開始的。
River：But I didn’ t do anything wrong. I was so excited when coming on board, I asked all my team mates to sing with me in the beginning.
River：可是我沒做錯什麼啊。我剛進公司的時候，還很興奮的邀請所有組員一起上台唱歌呢。
Cindy：That’ s exactly what you did wrong. There’ s a pecking order at the company. You should have invited your supervisor and all the other senior people first.
Cindy：就是這樣你才做錯了啊。在公司裡長幼有序可是非常分明的。你應該要先邀請你的主管還有其他資深員工才對。
River：My God. Simply because I didn’ t do that? From now on, I’ d better watch each step I move.
River：天啊。就因為我沒那樣做嗎？從現在開始，我最好步步為營為妙。
（本單元固定每週三、四見刊）
中國人特別重視輩分倫常，坐車要讓座給老弱婦孺；要發表言論時，也應該要讓長者先說，也就是我們常說的「長幼有序」。英文裡也有類似的說法，不過有趣的是他們卻是用鳥禽類來形容，原因在於大部份的鳥禽世界中，體型較為壯碩者（長者），可是有權先飽餐一頓的，要是哪些小隻的不識相，敢先啄食（peck）的話，可是會被大鳥狠狠地啄得滿頭包呢。也因此，啄食的順序（pecking order）就可以相當傳神地用來代表「長幼有序」囉！
River：I think some people at the company are quite hostile to me.
River：我覺得公司有些人對我很有敵意。
Cindy：What made you say so?
Cindy：你怎會這樣說呢？
River：Sometimes, when I greet them in the morning, they didn’ t even bother to respond. And yesterday when I was doing my presentation, a lot of the senior staff weren’ t even listening at all.
River：有時候我早上跟他們打招呼，他們連回都不回一句。還有昨天，我在作簡報時，很多資深同事根本沒在聽我講。
Cindy：Quite frankly, I noticed that, too. I seem to be the only one at the office asking you out for lunch together.
Cindy：老實說，我也注意到了。我好像是辦公室裡唯一會邀你一起去吃午餐的人。
River：I’ m totally puzzled. Did I do something wrong?
River：我真是完全摸不著頭緒。我做錯什麼了嗎？
Cindy：Based on my understanding, it all started from your welcoming party.
Cindy：據我了解，一切都是從你的迎新舞會開始的。
River：But I didn’ t do anything wrong. I was so excited when coming on board, I asked all my team mates to sing with me in the beginning.
River：可是我沒做錯什麼啊。我剛進公司的時候，還很興奮的邀請所有組員一起上台唱歌呢。
Cindy：That’ s exactly what you did wrong. There’ s a pecking order at the company. You should have invited your supervisor and all the other senior people first.
Cindy：就是這樣你才做錯了啊。在公司裡長幼有序可是非常分明的。你應該要先邀請你的主管還有其他資深員工才對。
River：My God. Simply because I didn’ t do that? From now on, I’ d better watch each step I move.
River：天啊。就因為我沒那樣做嗎？從現在開始，我最好步步為營為妙。
（本單元固定每週三、四見刊）
posted by James at 1:37 PM
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