商務禮節美語第133期:開門還是關門
Open Doors versus Closed Doors
開門還是關門
陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作，他的同事Amy在陳豪新換的辦公室門口敲門。(knock on door)
C: Come in.
A: Hi Chen Hao, am I interrupting you?
C: 沒事，我就是處理一下郵件。
A: I was afraid I might disturb you when I saw your door was shut.
C: 不會打擾的！我現在總算有辦公室了，所以喜歡把門關上。
A: It is good to have some privacy every now and then, especially when you need to concentrate on something, but I think you should reconsider keeping it shut all the time.
C: 我不應該關門嗎？
A: It can give a bad impression to your colleagues, some of whom don't have the luxury of an office with a door.
C: 我不懂。辦公室有門，不就是爲了關的嗎？
A: When people see your door shut, they assume that you are not to be disturbed. I was reluctant to knock, but I needed to deliver a report to you so I decided to take a chance.
C: 噢，我明白了，辦公室的門關着，別人就會覺得我不願意被打擾。
A: A closed door implies that you might have someone in your office or that you are working on an important project and don't want to be disturbed. You might also be having a confidential phone conversation and don't want to be overheard.
C: 我怎麼沒想到呢！別人會以爲我是在會客、趕着完成工作，或是在講電話，不願意被外人聽到。
當天晚些時候，Amy又來到陳豪的辦公室，門開着，陳豪正在跟同事Todd講話。
C: (To the co-worker) Todd, I am really disappointed in your work on this project. Please take it back and rework it using the correct data. Hi Amy, come in. Todd was just leaving.
A: Bye Todd, see you later. (Amy hesitates a minute)Gee, that was embarrassing.
C: 覺得尷尬，爲什麼？
A: Well, walking up while you were criticizing Todd was embarrassing, because I am sure that made him feel uncomfortable to have you reject his report and especially when other people walking by could hear your conversation with him.
C: 怕別人聽見？可他的報告實在讓我無法接受，我只能把報告打回去，讓他重寫。你覺得我應該怎麼做呢？
A: You should have shut your door while you were talking to him so no one else would overhear you.
C: 你不是說辦公室應該開着門的嗎？
A: I did, but I didn't say that you should have it open all the time.
C: 剛纔Todd 進來的時候門就是開着的，所以我就沒關。
A: You needed to get up from your desk and shut the door. Or you could have asked Todd to close the door. Then you could have had your talk in private.
C: 我明白了，謝謝你，Amy。
