Gary S. Becker, Nobel laureate in economics and professor at the University of Chicago:
My first real job was during the summer when I was 15 years old: I worked in a luncheonette dispensing sandwiches, ice cream sodas and sundaes from 8 p.m. to midnight. Afterward, I would hang out with fellow workers, so I went to bed late and slept in late. I felt like an adult. I had to beg my father to allow me to take this job, since he had to go to work at an early age and wanted an easier life for his children. But to my surprise he eventually agreed it was a good experience for me.
This low-skilled job taught me several lessons. Considerable pride comes from providing one's own income. Although I was only paid 50 cents an hour, which even in those days was not much, I could finance all my spending during the summer.
I learned that bosses could be very demanding and, unlike parents, they did not worry much about your sensitivities. My boss was gruff and quick to criticize, but gradually we developed a good relationship. He did not allow me near the cash register until he began to trust me. I was insulted at first, but this taught me that trust was not automatic and had to be earned. It also helped when the boss realized that I could do arithmetic very well.
This simplest of jobs had a big impact on my thinking, especially since it was at the beginning of a teenage transition from concern only with sports to an interest in the world of books and ideas. That transition would have occurred anyway, but the difficulty and low pay of unskilled labor convinced me that mental work was a lot more satisfying and interesting than physical work. I also realized that financial independence can provide enormous gratification and should become an important goal for the future.
Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley
After I graduated from college, I taught at a Montessori school in Berkeley. Montessori teachers practice a philosophy that says you can reach all children if you awaken their senses. We lured the children with lessons in "practical life skills": We taught them to wash their hands, set the table, pour from pitchers and sweep into a dustpan —little exercises in sensual awareness that focused their concentration. We taught them sorting and matching skills by letting them play games with dried beans and canisters of strong-smelling substances. We had a little garden that we all helped take care of.
The theory was that instead of forcing the students to focus on correcting their mistakes, you invited them to participate in activities where their senses were engaged by something beautiful and real, and in the process they learned how rich and beautiful their lives could be.
This is what I've tried to practice ever since, as a cook and restaurateur. I still use this approach when I introduce new employees to Chez Panisse. I take them on a tour to give them a sensory understanding of the restaurant. We walk into the refrigerators, through the kitchens, to the room where we cure meat, and out to the garbage to see how we compost the kitchen scraps. When all our senses are wide open, information floods in, reason dawns, and we learn that we're connected to one another.作者: goldensun 时间: 2006-6-30 08:08
没看明白作者: pinetree 时间: 2006-7-10 11:49
thanks!
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