行政特权
“I thought that the punishment was excessive, didn't you?” Shirley asked.
“我认为对我的处罚太过分了。不是吗?”雪莉问道。
Shirley was a supervisor and she thought she was exempt from the rule against using paid time to execute personal errands.
雪莉是个监督员,她认为自己可以免于遵守公司的规定。然而,公司认为她没有资格享受豁免权而不遵守公司规定。公司反对利用上班时间去做私事。
“Maybe,” replied Kitty.
“也许吧,”基蒂回答,
“However, you did take an unauthorized excursion during work time.” Kitty was a supervisor too.
“但你的确是未经批准,在工作期间外出游览了。”基蒂也是一名监督员。
Unlike Shirley, she exerted her best efforts to be an exemplary employee.
但跟雪莉不同,基蒂尽最大努力成为一名模范的雇员。
She did not believe that Shirley had a good excuse for violating the rules.
她认为雪莉没有正当理由违反公司规定。
“All I did was to take a short walk to get rid of this excess fat,” Shirley exclaimed.
“我只不过是出去散会儿步,减少多余的脂肪。”雪莉大声喊道,
“It seems like you can't even exhale in this office without asking for permission.”
“好像不经允许办公室里连大气都不敢出一口了。”
“I thought you went to the store to exchange a shirt,” Kitty said.
“我想你是去商店换衬衣去了。”基蒂说。
“I did,” Shirley said.
“是的,”雪莉说,
“But it's my privilege as an executive to take short breaks for personal matters.
“作为行政人员,我有权利用短短的休息时间做点私事。
I see the managers taking personal breaks to smoke a cigarette.
我看见经理们利用个人休息时间再抽烟。
Why should I be excluded from the group?
为什么我被排除再他们之外呢?
I put into my job the same a mount of exertion as they do.
对工作我倾注了和他们一样的努力。
At the end of the day, I am just as exhausted.
一天下来,我同样也精疲力竭。
Taking personal breaks shouldn't be an exclusive privilege for managers.”
利用个人休息时间不应是经理们独有的特权。”
“It's true, the managers don't exemplify good behavior for supervisors,” Kitty said.
“的确,经理们没有以良好的行为规范为监督人员树立榜样。”基蒂说,
“They're more concerned with out execution of their orders.
“他们更多关心的是我们对他们的命令的执行情况。
Frankly, I think we'll just have to accept the fact of our exclusion from executive privilege.”
坦率地讲,我想我们不得不接受这个事实—我们被排除在行政特权之外。”
“All this talk is exhausting me,” said Shirley.
“说了这么多快把我累死了。”雪莉说,
“I think I need another break.”
“我想我又该休息一下了。”
Kitty shook her head in wonderment. “Haven't you been listening to anything I've said?”
基蒂惊讶地摇摇头说:“难道你根本没在听我说的话吗?”