半影先生的24小時(shí)營業(yè)書店

Requirements：

1. You must always be here from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. exactly. You must not be late. You cannot leave early.

2. You may not read， examine， inspect， or otherwise touch any of the books in this store—unless you are retrieving it for a customer.

3. You must keep precise records of all purchases. Time. Amount. The customers appearance. His state of mind. How he asks for the book. How he receives it. Does he appear to be injured. Is he wearing a sprig of rosemary on his hat. And so on.

工作須知：

一、從晚上10點(diǎn)到早上6點(diǎn)，你必須乖乖呆在這，不許遲到，不許早退。

二、你不能閱讀、翻看、檢查或以其他任何形式觸碰店里的書——除非是替顧客放回去他們不買的書。

三、你必須準(zhǔn)確地記錄每一筆購買：時(shí)間、數(shù)量、顧客的長相、他的言談舉止、他詢問書的方式、他接過書的方式、他看起來是不是受傷了、帽子上是否別了一小枝迷迭香。諸如此類。

None of this represented the glorious next stage of human evolution， but I was learning things. I was moving up. But then the economy took a dip， and it turns out that in a recession， people want good old-fashioned bubbly oblong bagels， not smooth alien-spaceship bagels， not even if theyre sprinkled with precision-milled rock salt.

這里沒有一件事能領(lǐng)我走向人生下一個(gè)輝煌的舞臺(tái)，但好歹我能學(xué)到知識(shí)，我在進(jìn)步?？山又?jīng)濟(jì)走下坡路。原來在經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條時(shí)期，人們想要那種復(fù)古的，看起來很歡騰的橢圓形百吉餅，而不是那種平滑的外星太空船造型的百吉餅，就算上面撒的是精細(xì)碾磨過的巖鹽粉也沒用。

The ex-Googlers were accustomed to success and they would not go quietly. They quickly rebranded to become the Old Jerusalem Bagel Company and abandoned the 1）algorithm entirely so the bagels started coming out blackened and irregular. They instructed me to make the website look old-timey， a task that burdened my soul and earned me zero 2）AIGA awards. The marketing budget 3）dwindled， then disappeared. There was less and less to do. I wasnt learning anything and I wasnt moving anywhere.

Finally， the ex-Googlers 4）threw in the towel and moved to Costa Rica. The ovens went cold and the website went dark. There was no money for 5）severance， but I got to keep my companyissued Mac-Book and the Twitter account.

So then， after less than a year of employment， I was jobless. It turned out it was more than just the food chains that had 6）contracted. People were living in motels and tent cities. The whole economy suddenly felt like a game of 7）musical chairs， and I was convinced I needed to grab a seat， any seat， as fast as I could.

That was a depressing scenario when I considered the competition. I had friends who were designers like me， but they had already designed world-famous websites or advanced touch-screen interfaces， not just the logo for an upstart bagel shop. I had friends who worked at Apple. My best friend， Neel， ran his own company.

這群前谷歌精英們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了成功，他們可不會(huì)就此罷手。他們迅速地重塑了品牌，變身成古耶路撒冷百吉餅公司（譯者注：公司原名為NewBagel），并且在生產(chǎn)中完全放棄了原來的規(guī)則，烤出來的百吉餅開始充滿焦味，且不規(guī)則。他們要我把網(wǎng)站設(shè)計(jì)得更具舊時(shí)代的氣息，這不是我想做的，這也不能給我贏得任何美國專業(yè)設(shè)計(jì)協(xié)會(huì)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。營銷預(yù)算在縮減，直到為零。我可做的事情越來越少，我不再學(xué)到什么東西，我不再進(jìn)步。

最終，前谷歌精英們放棄了，離開搬去了哥斯達(dá)黎加?？鞠淅淞?，網(wǎng)站也關(guān)閉了。我沒有拿到遣散費(fèi)，不過我得到了公司發(fā)的蘋果筆記本電腦和推特賬戶。

就這樣，工作還不到一年，我失業(yè)了。結(jié)果證明并不只是食品產(chǎn)業(yè)縮水了。人們開始住進(jìn)汽車旅館和帳篷區(qū)。整個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)的狀況突然變得像一場音樂搶椅游戲，而我必須搶到一個(gè)座位，任何座位，越快越好。

可當(dāng)我考慮到競爭的形勢，眼前一片慘淡，就拿我那幫朋友來比吧，和我一樣是設(shè)計(jì)師的有的已經(jīng)設(shè)計(jì)過世界知名網(wǎng)站或是高端的觸屏互動(dòng)界面，而不是為新開的百吉餅商店做商標(biāo)設(shè)計(jì)。我還有朋友曾在蘋果公司工作，我最好的朋友尼爾還開過公司。

Another year at NewBagel and I would have been in good shape， but I hadnt lasted long enough to build my portfolio， or even get particularly good at anything. I had an art-school thesis on 8）Swiss typography （1957—1983） and I had a three-page website.

But I kept at it with the help-wanted ads. My standards were sliding swiftly. At first I had insisted I would only work at a company with a mission I believed in. Then I thought maybe it would be fine as long as I was learning something new. After that I decided it just couldnt be evil. Now I was carefully 9）delineating my personal definition of evil.

It was paper that saved me. It turned out that I could stay focused on job hunting if I got myself away from the Internet， so I would print out a 10）ream of help-wanted ads， drop my phone in a drawer， and go for a walk. Id crumple up the ads that required too much experience and deposit them in dented green trash cans along the way， and so by the time Id exhausted myself and hopped on a bus back home， Id have two or three promising 11）prospectuses folded in my back pocket， ready for follow-up.

This routine did lead me to a job， though not in the way Id expected.

San Francisco is a good place for walks if your legs are strong. The city is a tiny square 12）punctuated by steep hills and bounded on three sides by water， and as a result， there are surprise 13）vistas everywhere. Youll be walking along， minding your own business with a fistful of printouts， and suddenly the ground will fall away and youll see straight down to the bay， with the buildings lit up orange and pink along the way. San Franciscos architectural style didnt really make 14）inroads anywhere else in the country， and even when you here and youre used to it， it lends the vistas a strangeness： all the tall narrow houses， the windows like eyes and teeth， the wedding-cake 15）filigree. And looming behind it all， if youre facing the right direction， youll see the rusty ghost of the Golden Gate Bridge.

如果能在新百吉餅公司多呆一年，我可能狀態(tài)會(huì)更好，我的簡歷會(huì)更加豐富，甚至在某些方面可以做得十分出色，可惜它沒給我這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)。我有一篇在藝術(shù)院校寫的關(guān)于瑞士國際主義平面設(shè)計(jì)風(fēng)格（1957—1983）的論文和一個(gè)三頁長程序的網(wǎng)站。

我一直在瀏覽著各種招聘廣告。我的擇業(yè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)下滑得厲害。最開始時(shí)，我堅(jiān)持只去我認(rèn)同對(duì)方企業(yè)使命的公司。然后，我覺得只要能學(xué)到新知識(shí)也行。再之后，我認(rèn)為只要那家公司不做壞事就好。到現(xiàn)在，我小心謹(jǐn)慎地描述我個(gè)人對(duì)“壞事”的定義。

紙張確實(shí)幫了我大忙。原來我離開網(wǎng)絡(luò)，就能專注于找工作，我打印了無數(shù)的招聘廣告，把手機(jī)丟抽屜里，走出門去。那些要求過多經(jīng)驗(yàn)的都被我揉成一團(tuán)，丟進(jìn)一路上經(jīng)過的帶著凹痕的綠色垃圾桶了。到最后我累得不行跳上一輛回家的公交車時(shí)，我的后袋里已有二三份疊好的還不錯(cuò)的公司簡介，可以繼續(xù)了解。

這樣做確實(shí)讓我找到了一份工作，但卻不是以我預(yù)想的方式。

倘若你的腿足夠強(qiáng)壯的話，舊金山是個(gè)適合步行的好地方。這座小小的四方城市三面環(huán)水，其間分布著大坡度的小山頭，由此而生的是處處讓人驚奇的街景。你沿路前行，手里揣著一把打印稿，正想著自己的事情，突然腳下的路消失了，取而代之的是一段急急的陡坡，你能直接看到遠(yuǎn)處的海灣，沿路是明亮的橙色和粉色樓房。舊金山的建筑風(fēng)格獨(dú)樹一幟，在國內(nèi)的其他地方鮮有見到，而就算你生活在這，熟悉這里的事物，它的街景也總是給你一種新奇的陌生感：滿是高而窄的樓房，似眼睛又似牙齒的窗戶，層層疊疊好似精致的婚禮蛋糕。如果你向著正確的方向，就能看到建筑物后那若隱若現(xiàn)地被銹蝕的金門大橋的身影。

I had followed one strange vista down a line of steep stair-stepped sidewalks， then walked along the water， taking the very long way home. I had followed the line of old piers—carefully skirting the 16）raucous 17）chowder of 18）Fishermans Wharf—and watched seafood restaurants fade into 19）nautical engineering firms and then social media startups. Finally， when my stomach rumbled， signaling its readiness for lunch， I had turned back in toward the city.

Whenever I walked the streets of San Francisco， Id watch for HELP WANTED signs in windows—which is not something you really do， right？ I should probably be more suspicious of those. Legitimate employers use 20）Craigslist.

Sure enough， the 24-hour bookstore did not have the look of a legitimate employer：

HELP WANTED

Late Shift

Specific Requirements

Good Benefits

Now： I was pretty sure “24-hour bookstore” was a 21）euphemism for something. It was on Broadway， in a euphemistic part of town. My help-wanted hike had taken me far from home； the place next door was called Bootys and it had a sign with neon legs that crossed and uncrossed.

I pushed the bookstores glass door. It made a bell tinkle brightly up above， and I stepped slowly through. I did not realize at the time what an important threshold I had just crossed.

我曾沿著一處陌生的街景來到一條有著陡峭階梯的人行道，踱步至海邊，繞了好長一段路回到家。我也曾尋著古老碼頭沿岸——仔細(xì)環(huán)視著漁人碼頭及周邊這鍋人聲鼎沸的大雜燴——先是海鮮餐館，然后是各種航海類工程公司，再到新興的社交媒體公司。最后，當(dāng)我的肚子咕嚕嚕提示我午餐時(shí)間到了，我才轉(zhuǎn)而往城里走去。

當(dāng)我在舊金山街頭漫步時(shí)，我總會(huì)注意看櫥窗里掛著的招聘廣告——?jiǎng)e人一般不這么做的，對(duì)吧？我本也應(yīng)該抱著懷疑審視的心態(tài)，因?yàn)檎５墓椭饕话愣忌峡死赘窳斜砭W(wǎng)站發(fā)布信息。

說得沒錯(cuò)，二十四小時(shí)營業(yè)書店看起來就不像是個(gè)正常的雇主：

招聘

晚班

特殊要求

報(bào)酬豐厚

現(xiàn)在，我?guī)缀蹩梢钥隙ā岸男r(shí)營業(yè)書店”是某種場所的委婉表達(dá)。這里是百老匯大街，市里說話最隱晦的地方。看來我的“讀招聘廣告之旅”走得夠遠(yuǎn)的了；書店旁邊就是一家叫做“美臀”的店，店門招牌上就掛著勾勒出各種美腿的霓虹燈。

推開書店的玻璃門，頭頂?shù)拟忚K歡快地響起，我緩慢地踏進(jìn)店里，并沒有意識(shí)到自己已經(jīng)踏上了一段非凡的旅程。翻譯：lvsu