7

There are people who live on my street that I haven't spoken to in years. When I was about four, Mom and Dad had a cocktail party for some of the couples in the neighborhood, and I went downstairs during the party to use the bathroom. But I guess back then I didn't know you were supposed to keep the door locked, so Mr. Harkin walked right in on me. OOPS! SORRY 'BOUT THAT, BUDDY! When I was done I found Mom and told on Mr. Harkin, and I'm sure he felt like a jerk.

和我住在同一条街上的人，我已经很多年没说过话了。 我四岁的时候，爸爸妈妈为附近的几对夫妇举办了一个鸡尾酒会，聚会的时候我下楼去上厕所。 但我想当时我不知道你应该把门锁上，所以哈金先生就进来了。 哦!对不起，伙计！当我完成后，我找到妈妈，告发了哈金先生，我敢肯定他觉得自己像个混蛋。

So I'm not about to knock on the door of some guy I ratted out when I was in preschool and ask him for money, either. Today I realized there's just too much history between me and the people in my neighborhood, so I decided to go one street over to Prentice Lane and start fresh. I walked up to the house on the corner and knocked on the door. But I recognized the lady who answered. She was Mrs. Melcher, one of Gramma's friends from Bingo. I told Mrs. Melcher I was trying to earn a little money shoveling people's driveways and that I'd be happy to do hers for five bucks.

所以我也不会去敲一个我在幼儿园时出卖的人的门向他要钱。 今天我意识到我和邻居之间有太多的历史，所以我决定去另一条街的普伦蒂斯巷重新开始。 我走到街角的房子前，敲了敲门。 但我认出了接电话的那位女士。 她是梅尔彻太太，奶奶在宾果玩的时候的一个朋友。 我告诉梅尔彻太太，我想在别人的车道上铲雪赚点钱，我很乐意给她铲雪，只要五块钱。

But she told me she never gets visitors and invited me inside to chat. I didn't want to be rude, so the next thing I knew I was sitting in Mrs. Melcher 's living room surrounded by the lawn ornaments she took inside for the winter. I felt a little uncomfortable, but I figured if I was gonna ask someone for money the least I could do was try and be polite.

但她告诉我她从来没有访客，并邀请我进去聊天。 我不想无礼，所以接下来我只知道自己坐在梅尔彻太太的客厅里，四周都是她带进去过冬的草坪装饰品。 我觉得有点不舒服，但我想如果我要向别人要钱至少我可以试着礼貌一点。

But all I could think about the whole time I sat there was how much money I could've been making if I'd just knocked on someone else's door instead. I must've been in there for an hour before I was finally able to steer the conversation back to the subject of me shoveling her driveway. But Mrs. Melcher said her son was coming by in his pickup truck any minute and he plows her driveway for free. So that's an hour of my life I'll never get back. I headed back out onto Prentice Lane and started knocking on doors. I guess most people were at work, so it took me a while to find someone who was actually home. I finally got lucky when a guy who looked like he just woke up came to the door. I told him I'd shovel his driveway for five bucks, and he said it was a deal.

但在我坐在那里的整个时间里，我满脑子想的都是，如果我去敲别人的门，我能赚多少钱。 我在里面待了一个小时才终于把话题引回到我铲她家车道的话题上。 但梅尔彻太太说，她儿子随时会开着皮卡过来，而且他会免费给她的车道犁地。 那是我生命中的一小时，我再也回不去了。 我回到普伦蒂斯巷开始挨家挨户敲门。 我猜大多数人都在上班，所以我花了一点时间才找到一个真正在家的人。 我终于走运了，一个看起来刚睡醒的人走到门口。 我告诉他只要五块钱我就能铲掉他的车道，他说一言为定。

I got to work and was making pretty good progress. But it started snowing again while I was shoveling. By the time I finished, it had snowed so much that you could barely tell I did any work. So I rang the doorbell and asked the guy if he wanted me to shovel his driveway again for another five bucks. But he wouldn't go for it.

我开始工作，并取得了不错的进展。 但是当我在铲雪的时候又开始下雪了。 当我完成的时候，雪下得很大，你几乎看不出我做了什么工作。 于是我按响了门铃，问那个人要不要我再给他铲一次车道，再给我五块钱。 但他不同意。

And to make things worse, the guy said he wasn't gonna pay me the first five bucks until his driveway was clear like I promised. See, this is why it's a good idea to have a contract before you start working for someone. I got back out there and started shoveling, but so much snow was falling that I was getting nowhere. Then I had an idea. Gramma's house was only a few streets away, and I remembered that she keeps her lawn mower in the garage. So I walked over to her place and pushed the mower back to the driveway I was working on.

更糟糕的是，那家伙说他不会像我承诺的那样先给我五块钱直到他的车道清理干净。 看吧，这就是为什么在你开始为某人工作之前签一份合同是个好主意。 我回到那里开始铲雪，但雪下得太大了，我什么也铲不动。 然后我有了一个主意。奶奶的家就在几条街之外，我记得她把割草机放在车库里。 于是我走到她家，把割草机推回到我正在修理的车道上。