A Red Rose
My senior year of high school was no different from any other students—an extremely crazy one. I spent most of my time worrying about my grades, and making plans for my college. I had to spend my spare time juggling multiple extracurricular activities, dealing with my friends and family. It seemed as if my life had become a total chaos, and I was like a ship sailing without a compass,hoping to find some sort of direction.
Finally, as senior year craziness began to die down, I got a part-time job working at the local coffee shop. I had figured that the job would be easy and,for the most part, stress-free. I pictured myself pouring the best gourmet coffees,making delicious doughnuts and becoming close friends with the regular customers.
What I hadn’t anticipated were the people with enormous orders who chose to use the drive-through window, or the women who felt that the coffee was much too creamy, or the man who wanted their iced coffees remade again and again until they reached a certain level of perfection.There were moments when I was angry with the human race as a whole, simply because I couldn’t seem to please anyone.There was always too little ice and not enough non-fat milk, too much sugar.Nevertheless, I kept doing my job.
One miserable rainy day, one of my regular customers came in looking depressed and defeated. My coworker and I asked what the problem was and if we could help, but the customer wouldn’t reveal any details. He just said he felt like crawling into bed, pulling the sheets up over his head and staying there for a few years. I knew exactly how he felt.
Before he left, I handed him a bag along with his hot coffee. He looked at me questioningly because he hadn’t ordered anything but the coffee. He opened the bag and saw that I had given him his favorite type of doughnut.
“My treat,” I told him. “Have a nice day.”
He smiled and thanked me before turning around and heading back into the rain.
The next day was miserable as well,huge droplets of rain falling from the sky.Everyone in town seemed to be using the drive-through window because no one wanted to be exposed in this heavy rain.
I spent my afternoon hanging out the window, handing people their orders and waiting as they slowly counted their pennies. I tried to smile as the customers complained about the weather, but it was difficult to smile as they sat in their temperature-controlled cars with the windows rolled up, while I dealt with cold water hanging from my visor and a shirt that was thoroughly soaked around the collar. On top of that, no one was tipping.Every time I looked into our nearly empty tip jar, I grew more depressed.
Around eight o’clock that evening, I was in the middle of making another pot of double latte when the customer from the day before drove up to the window.But instead of ordering anything, he handed me a single red rose. He said that fewer people today took the time to care about others, and he was glad there were still people like me in the world. I was speechless and very touched; I nearly forgot yesterday’s deed. After a moment, I happily thanked him. He told me I was welcome and, with a friendly wave, drove away.
As time went by, I had served plenty of picky customers and received less tip than I expected. But anytime I felt tired or frustrated, I would look at the red rose and keep smiling.
一朵红玫瑰
我的高三和其他学生的没有什么两样，是极度疯狂的一年。大部分时间我都在担心自己的学习成绩，为大学制定各种计划。空闲时我穿梭于各种课外活动之间，同时应对朋友和家庭。我的生活看起来就是一团乱麻，我就像一艘没有指南针的小船，希望找到航行的方向。
终于，高三的疯狂开始消退，我在当地咖啡馆找了份兼职。我琢磨着这份工作会十分简单，而且大半没有压力。我想象自己倒出醇香的精制咖啡，制作香甜的甜甜圈，和常客们成为朋友。
我没能预料到的是使用“得来速”窗口点餐的顾客人数会这么多，总有女客人抱怨咖啡里放了太多奶伴，男客人希望我一遍又一遍地重新调制冰咖啡，直至达到某种完美的标准。有些时候我觉得我对全人类都愤怒了，就因为好像没有一个人对我满意。放太多冰块，脱脂牛奶太少，糖太多了。但无论如何，我还是坚持做这份工作。
一个十分糟糕的雨天，一位常客进了咖啡馆，他满脸都是郁闷和挫败。同事和我询问他发生了什么事，我们能否帮上忙，但是他不愿意透露更多的细节。他只说自己想爬到床上，用被子盖住头，在里面待上几年都不出来。我感同身受。
在他离开之前，我递给他一个袋子，还有他点的热咖啡。他疑惑地抬头看着我，因为他只点了咖啡。他打开袋子，看到里面是他最喜欢的甜甜圈。
“我请客，”我告诉他，“祝您度过愉快的一天。”
他微笑着向我道谢，然后转身走入雨中。
第二天也同样是糟糕的一天，大滴的雨水从天而降。因为没有人愿意暴露在瓢泼大雨之中，小镇里的每个人都选择了“得来速”窗口。
我整个下午都伏在窗口，给人们递咖啡，等着他们慢慢地数硬币。我努力在客人抱怨天气时保持微笑，但是这实在很难，尤其是当他们都坐在装有空调、窗户紧闭的汽车里，而我得应对冰冷的雨水从帽檐低落，从衣领向下都湿透的衬衫。更惨的是，没有小费。每次我看见那个几乎空无一物的小费罐子时，我就更加沮丧。
当晚八点左右，我正在制作另一壶双倍拿铁的时候，头天的客人开车朝窗口驶来。他没有点任何东西，相反地他给了我一支红玫瑰。他告诉我现在越来越少的人愿意花时间关心其他人，他很开心世界上还有我这样的人。我十分感动，话都说不出来了；我几乎忘了前一天发生的那件事了。之后，我开心地向他表示感谢。他告诉我无须客气，友好地朝我挥挥手，然后开车离开了。
随着时间的推移，我已经接待了一大批挑剔的客人，收到的小费比自己预期的少。但是每次感到疲倦或者挫败时，我就会看看这朵红玫瑰，然后继续微笑。
A Word to Readers
赠人玫瑰，手留余香。不经意的一点小事，却可以带给人无限惊喜和感动，让人充满勇气继续踏上新的行程。
Vocabulary
senior ［ˈsiːnɪə］ adj. 毕业年级的
extremely ［ɪkˈstriːmli］ adv. 极其，非常
multiple ［ˈmʌltIpl］ adj. 多重的，多倍的
extracurricular ［ˌekstrəkəˈrɪkjʊlə］ adj.学校课程以外的
chaos ［ˈkeɪɒs］ n. 混乱
compass ［ˈkʌmpəs］ n. 指南针
figure ［ˈfɪɡə］ v. 认为，计算
pour ［pɔː］ v. 倾倒，倒出
gourmet ［ˈɡʊəmeɪ］ n. 美食家
anticipate ［ænˈtɪsIpeɪt］ v. 预料，预见
enormous ［Iˈnɔːməs］ adj. 庞大的，巨大的
nevertheless ［ˌnevəðəˈles］ adv. 尽管如此
miserable ［ˈmɪzrəbl］ adj. 糟糕的
depressed ［dɪˈprest］ adj. 沮丧的
reveal ［rɪˈviːl］ v. 披露，展现
droplet ［ˈdrɒplɪt］ n. 小滴
expose ［ɪkˈspəʊz］ v. 暴露
complain ［kəmˈpleɪn］ v. 抱怨
speechless ［ˈspiːtʃlɪs］ adj. 说不出话的
frustrated ［frʌˈstreɪtId］ adj. 受挫的；恼怒的