After a while， he stopped mowing. “Hey， Mom， could you come over here？”
I stood up grumpily. As I walked across the lawn， I noticed that he’d missed a sizable spot. “John， you didn’t...” The irritable words faded. For the spot I thought he’d neglected had been carefully and meticulously mowed into the shape of a heart.
“Like it， Mom？” he asked with a big smile. “Now I’ll finish the job.”
一个炎热而潮湿的夏日，我打算修剪那凸凹不平的草地。因为它眼看着就要变成丛林了。
几次启动失败后，我最后终于把我们那台古董割草机发动起来了。我一边奋力推着它爬上草坡，一边气喘吁吁地埋怨着活儿太累。
在一个小草坡上，我抬起头看见我那12岁的儿子正站在那里。他脸上挂着一丝微笑，手里拿着一个装满冰水的玻璃杯。“给您，妈妈，”他说，“喝点水吧。想让我替换您休息一下吗？爸爸让我割那些平坦地方的草。”
我接过冰水，走到一棵大树底下去乘凉。我一边喝着冰水，一边注视着约翰？托马斯。他似乎没有遵循正常割草的模式。他在干活的时候一直在咧着嘴冲我笑。难道他喜欢干这活儿？我在心里暗暗地想着。
过了一会儿，他停了下来，“嗨，妈妈，您能过来一下吗？”
我烦燥地站起来。当我穿过草地向他走去时，我注意到他漏掉了相当大一片草没有割。“约翰，你没有……”带着怒气的话渐渐弱了下去。因为我原以为被他漏割的那块草地已经被他仔细地修割成一个心形图案。
“喜欢吗，妈妈？”他脸上洋溢着一个灿烂的微笑。“现在，我要把这活儿干完。”
My first job
我的第一份工作
Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. I was born in El Paso， Texas， and when I was four， my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles.
Even though we struggled to make ends meet， my parents stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They imbued1 in us the concepts of family， faith and patriotism2.
I got my first real job when I was ten. My dad， Benjamin， injured his back working in a cardboard-box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rent ed space in a little strip mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr Ben’s Coiffure.
The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week， which meant getting up at 3 a.m. To pick up trash， Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I’d sleep in the car on the way home.
I did this for two years， but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired discipline3 and a strong work ethic， and learned at an early age the importance of bal ancing life’s competing interests—in my case， school， homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of high school， when I worked 40 hours a week flip ping burgers at a fast-food joint while taking a full load of college-prep courses.
The hard work paid off. I attended the U.S. Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later， I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state assembly. In these jobs and in everything else I’ve done， I have never forgotten those days in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families that is something we should honor.
我的父母都来自墨西哥的小镇。我出生于得克萨斯州的埃尔帕索城。我四岁时，全家搬到了东洛杉矶的一处低收入住宅区。
尽管我们当时要做到收支平衡都很困难，但父母仍对我和四个兄弟姐妹强调说，能在这样一个充满无限机遇的国家里落户，我们是多么幸运啊！他们潜移默化地给我们注入了家庭、忠诚和爱国主义观念。
十岁的时候，我得到了人生第一份正式的工作。我的爸爸，本杰明，在卡纸制盒厂工作时背部受伤。经过再培训，他成了一名发型师。他在一个规模不大的单排商业区租下了一个摊位并给他的店面取了个有趣的名字“本先生的发型”。
商业中心的老板给爸爸的租金打了个折扣，但条件是一周打扫三个晚上的停车场，这也就是说凌晨三点就要起床干活。爸爸用一个看起来像除草机的小机器来捡拾垃圾，而我和妈妈把垃圾从桶里倒出来后就直接用手捡。打扫这个停车场要用两三个小时。回家的路上，我总是在车里就睡着了。
这份工作我干了两年，但我从中学到的东西却受用终生。我学会了自律并具备了良好的职业道德，从小我就懂得了平衡生活中各种利益冲突的重要性 ——对我而言，就是上学、作业和工作。这些东西在我高二那年真是很有用处。那时，我在一家合资快餐店制作那糟糕透顶的汉堡包，一周要工作四十个小时，同时还要肩负着沉重的大学预科课程。
艰辛的工作终见回报。我考进了美国军事学院，接着又获得了哈佛大学的法律和商业学士学位。后来，我进入了洛杉矶一家著名的律师事务所，后又被选入加州议会。在做这些工作和其他所有事的过程中，我从未忘记过在停车场辛勤工作的日子。那段经历使我懂得工作无贵贱， 只要是自食其力来供养自己和家人就是值得我们敬佩的。
77 cents
77美分
I live in Albuquerque， New Mexico， and there are some homeless people in the downtown， especially the University area. I used to give a lot of money to the homeless， feeling sorry for their misfortune. But as time passed， I fell into avictim to many of the cir cum stances of a home less person. After I was divorced from my husband， I became a single mom with no home， a huge debt， and hardly any income. As a result， I became very mean and stopped giving to the people on the side of the road.
Through my working hard， things started to change for me. I be came responsible enough to have a home with a back yard for my daughter， and plenty of food， and I started to pull myself out of debt. One day we saw a homeless person with the sign“Will work for food.” I passed by. My daughter commented， “Mommy， you used to always give to those people in need. But now...”I replied， “Honey， they just use that money for alcohol or other bad things.”She didn’t respond1. But when I said that， I didn’t feel right.
Three days later， I was driving to pick up my daughter from school. A man was standing on the corner with the appearance of worries，and suddenly something deep inside me said， "Just help the guy.”So I rolled down my window， and he ran over with enthusiasm2. He said， D"ind lady， I only need 77 cents.”I reached into my pock et and found that I didn’t take my purse. And then I embarrassedly spread out my hands to show that I was in no position to help him. But when he turned away， I called to him， “Wait a moment！”I found in my ashtray there sat three quarters and two pennies. Oddly enough， it was the very 77 cents.
My skin was prickling as I saw this. I scooped it up and gave it to him. He burst out with joy and tears in his eyes， “Wow， you just made it possible for me to see my mom for Christmas！ Thank you so much！ I haven’t visited my mother for three years. The bus is leaving in 20 minutes！ I have to go now.”
It was the moment that I’ll never forget. I think that man won’t forget it either， but I was the one who got the best gift in life——GIVING. It also strikes me that nothing is a coincidence， and every giving has meaning， although it is the humble 77 cents.
我住在新墨西哥州的爱伯克奇城。而市中心则住着很多无家可归的人，尤其是高校区。过去，我很同情这些人的悲惨遭遇，常常会给他们很多钱。但后来我自己也成为他们其中的一员。我与丈夫离婚后，成了一位单身母亲。我无家可归，欠了一大笔债，而且还几乎没有任何收入来源。所以，我也就开始变得吝啬，不再给路边的乞讨者任何钱。
经过我的努力，生活开始有了好转。我已有足够的能力给女儿买带有后院的房子，为她提供充足的食物，而且我也渐渐地从债海中挣脱出来。一天，我看到一个无家可归的人，他拿着一个牌子，上面写着“请帮帮我，给我些食物。”我若无其事地从他身边走了过去，女儿却突然感叹道：“妈咪，过去你总是帮助需要帮助的人，可现在……”我回答道：“亲爱的宝贝，他们只会拿着乞讨来的钱去买酒喝或干其他坏事情。”虽然女儿没有回答，但我还是感觉到了这样说不太好。