财富精英励志演讲71：计算让生命有意义的事情(2)

 　　What counts for Vivian was the emotional connection she created with her fellow employees and our guests. And what gave her inspiration and meaning was the fact that she was taking care of people who were far away from home. Because Vivian knew what it was like to be far away from home.

　　对薇薇安来说意义在于与她的同事和客户之间的情感交流。给予她鼓励和内涵的实际上是，她所照顾的那些身在异乡的人们。因为她深知远离家乡是怎样的一种感觉。

　　That very human lesson, more than 20 years ago, served me well during the last economic downturn we had. In the wake of the dotcom crash and 9/11, San Francisco Bay Area hotels went through the largest percentage revenue drop in the history of American hotels. We were the largest operator of hotels in the Bay Area, so we were particularly vulnerable. But also back then, remember we stopped eating French fries in this country. Well, not exactly, of course not. We started eating "freedom fries," and we started boycotting² anything that was French. Well, my name of my company, Joie de Vivre -- so I started getting these letters from places like Alabama and Orange County saying to me that they were going to boycott¹ my company because they thought we were a French company. And I'd write them back, and I'd say, "What a minute. We're not French. We're an American company. We're based in San Francisco." And I'd get a terse³ response: "Oh, that's worse."

　　这非常感人的一课，在超过二十年里，在这次经济危机中，更是让我受益良多。在从互联网泡沫和911事件觉醒过来之后，三藩市海湾地区的酒店业经历了在美国酒店业历史上最惨重的的收入暴跌。我们曾经是海湾地区最大的酒店运营商因此我们的损失尤其惨重。更糟糕的是，我们从那时起停止使用法国薯片.而，准确说来，它不是法国的.。我们开始吃“自由薯片”我们开始抵制一切来自法国的东西而，我公司的名字，joiedevivre，所以我开始收到许多来自阿拉巴马和橘郡的信件，通知我他们即将要抵制我的公司，原因在于他们以为我们是一家法国公司。然后我给他们回信说，“等等，我们不是法国公司。我们是美国公司，我们的公司总部在三藩市。“然后我接到一个精炼的回答：那更糟糕！

　　So one particular day when I was feeling a little depressed⁴ and not a lot of joie de vivre, I ended up in the local bookstore around the corner from our offices. And I initially⁵ ended up in the business section of the bookstore looking for a business solution. But given my befuddled⁶ state of mind, I ended up in the self-help section very quickly. That's where I got reacquainted with Abraham Maslow's "hierarchy⁷ of needs."

　　在一个特别的日子，我感觉异常沮丧甚至找不到生活的乐趣时，我走进了一间坐落在我们办公室楼边的本地书店。我先去看了和经商有关的书籍，寻找一个商业解决方案。可是我感觉到头昏脑胀，我快速浏览了有关自助的书籍。在那儿，我重新认识了亚伯拉罕.马斯洛的人类需求等级的理论。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. take care of

　　照顾；注意；抚养

　　eg. "Yeah, I have to be here to take care of her," he said.

　　王志军也咧嘴笑着说：“是啊，我必须在这照顾她。”

　　eg. If you take care of something, you begin to love it — which makes us very vulnerable.

　　如果你照顾某些事情，你已经开始爱上它了--这让我们非常的投入.

　　2. far away from

　　远离；离…远

　　eg. Like these men, my wife and I and my coworkers are all far away from anywhere we might call home.

　　就像这些人一样，我和我的妻子以及同事们都远离了我们可以叫做家的地方。

　　eg. If you are still far away from your ideal balanced day schedule, try to think about an ideal balanced week.

　　如果你仍然远离你的理想平衡天时间表,试着去思考一个理想的平衡的星期。

　　3. economic downturn

　　经济低迷；经济不景气；经济滑坡

　　eg. In a time of rapid globalisation and the current economic downturn, we should seize the opportunity that open innovation offers us to work collectively and efficiently⁸ towards a better future for all.

　　在这个迅速全球化而当前经济低迷的时代，我们应该抓住开放创新提供给我们的机会，为所有人的更美好未来而协同有效地工作。

　　eg. Then, what should the innovation focus on in the economic downturn?

　　那么，经济低迷期，企业创新的主要着眼点在哪里？

　　4. go through

　　参加；经受；仔细检查；被通过

　　eg. He was going through a very difficult time.

　　他在经历一段非常艰难的时期。

　　eg. It was evident that someone had gone through my possessions.

　　显然有人翻过我的物品。

　　背景资料

　　切普·柯利是幸福生活酒店（Joie de Vivre）的创立者、执行主席以及CEO。幸福生活酒店是他于1987年创立的，当时切普才26岁。如今，酒店已发展成美国加利福尼亚州最大的精品酒店集团。

　　切普曾被《金山商务时报》评为旧金山去“最有创新精神的CEO”。

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

3 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

4 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 befuddled   

adj.迷糊的，糊涂的v.使烂醉( befuddle的过去式和过去分词 )；使迷惑不解

参考例句：

• He was befuddled by drink. 他喝得迷迷糊糊的。
• John is very amusing when he is completely befuddled. 当约翰喝得完全糊涂了的时候，他非常有趣儿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

8 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。