一個(gè)真實(shí)的玩笑

One dark stormy night，an elderly couple hurried into a hotel and asked whether they could be put up for the night."I’ m very sorry，" the clerk on night shift said politely，"We are all booked tonight. But you could stay in my room if you don’t mind. It’s not exactly a suite，but it’s clean. As I’m on duty，I’ll be staying up in the office anyway，and I can do some bookkeeping business there. " The young man gave the sincereadvice.

The elderly couple accepted his offer with gratitude. They apologized for the inconvenience they had caused him. The next day，the rain stopped and it cleared up. When the old gentleman went to pay his bill，the clerk behind the counter was that same helpful young man. "The room you and your wife stayed in is not a proper guest room in this hotel，so you don’t need to pay，" said the clerk，with the same friendly smile.

The old gentleman nodded in appreciation： "You are an employee that every boss in the hotel business would dream of. Per-haps someday I’ll build a hotel for you. " The clerk was amazed but，deciding that the guest must have been joking，he gave the remark no more thought.

Two years later，the young man received a registered letter from the old gentleman，in which he recalled the experience of that dark stormy night. The letter also enclosed a formal invitation and a round- trip air ticket to New York，asking the young man to pay a visit.

At a street corner in Manhattan，the young man met his former guest. The old gentleman，pointing to a magnificent new building towering over the crossroads，said，"Look，that is the hotel I promised to build for you. I hope you will manage it for me. Remember what I said then？ Well，I was serious aboutit. "

Overwhelmed with surprise，the young man stammered，But..will there be any conditions，sir？ Why do you choose me？ And who are you？" My name is William Aster. There’s no condition whatsoever. Like I told you before，you are the best employee I could ever dream of！

This building was none other than the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel. This hotel has been a symbol of supreme status and honour in the city of New York，the number-one choice for visiting state leaders from various countries. The young man who became its first manager was George Boldt，the man who turned Waldorf into one of the most glamorous hotels in the world.

一個(gè)風(fēng)雨交加的夜晚，一對(duì)老夫婦急忙走進(jìn)一家旅館，要求住宿一晚。旅店的夜班服務(wù)生禮貌地說(shuō)：“非常抱歉，今天的房間已經(jīng)訂滿了。不過，你們不介意的話可以待在我的房間，它雖然很簡(jiǎn)陋，但還是挺干凈的。我要值班，可以在辦公室休息，順便處理有關(guān)賬務(wù)的問題?！边@位年輕人很誠(chéng)懇地提出這個(gè)建議。老夫婦十分感激地接受了他的建議，并對(duì)造成服務(wù)生的不便致歉。第二天，雨過天晴，老先生要前去結(jié)賬時(shí)，柜臺(tái)前仍是昨晚的那位服務(wù)生。服務(wù)生依然微笑著親切地說(shuō)：“昨天您住的并不是飯店的客房，所以我們不會(huì)收您的錢。”

老先生點(diǎn)頭稱贊：“你是每個(gè)旅館老板夢(mèng)寐以求的員工，或許改天我可以幫你蓋棟旅館?！狈?wù)生覺得有些受寵若驚，但是因?yàn)檫@個(gè)說(shuō)法實(shí)在太夸張了，所以他只把它當(dāng)成一句玩笑。

兩年后，這位服務(wù)生收到老先生寄來(lái)的掛號(hào)信，信中提到了那個(gè)風(fēng)雨交加的夜晚所發(fā)生的事，另外還附了張邀請(qǐng)函和往返紐約的機(jī)票，邀請(qǐng)他到紐約一游。

在曼哈頓的一個(gè)路口，服務(wù)生見到了當(dāng)年的旅客，老先生指著路口矗立著的一棟華麗的新大樓說(shuō)：“這是我曾承諾為你蓋的旅館，希望你來(lái)為我經(jīng)營(yíng)，記得嗎？我在當(dāng)時(shí)曾提出這樣的建議，告訴你吧，我可是認(rèn)真的?！?/p>

服務(wù)生驚喜萬(wàn)分，說(shuō)話都變得結(jié)結(jié)巴巴：“你是不是有什么條件？你為什么選擇我呢？你到底是誰(shuí)？”

“我叫作威廉·阿斯特，我沒有任何條件，我說(shuō)過，你正是我夢(mèng)寐以求的員工?！?/p>

這棟建筑就是華爾道夫飯店，這家飯店是紐約極致尊榮地位的象征，也是各國(guó)高層政要造訪紐約時(shí)下榻的首選。當(dāng)時(shí)接下這份工作的服務(wù)生就是喬治·波特，一位奠定華爾道夫成為世界上最迷人的酒店地位的人。