礼节美语 061 Dealing with Disabled Persons Who Are Wheelchair Bound

陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作，他在走廊上遇到了刚吃完中饭回来的美国同事Amy。

(Office ambience)

C：Amy, 吃过饭了吗？

A：I did. A group from the office went out together. We missed you.

C：我今天特别忙，所以从家里带了便当。

A：You have a worried look. Is anything wrong?

C：你可真是好眼力。我们部门昨天来了位新同事，是坐轮椅的残疾人。今天中午大家都出去吃饭了，办公室只有我们两个人。

A：That was a good opportunity for you to make her feel welcome. Was there a problem?

C：跟她在一起，我觉得很不自在，不知道怎样做才得体。

A：What happened?

C：因为只有我们两人，所以我上来先自我介绍。

A：That's exactly right. Why was that a problem?

C：我记得你说过，自我介绍的时候应该主动跟别人握手。

A：That's correct.

C：但是我不知道她能不能握手，所以就没有把手伸过去。

A：What happened?

C：结果她也介绍了自己，然后主动跟我握了手。

A：You handled that exactly right. If she had not been able to shake hands, she would not have offered hers.

C：那以后遇到残疾人，是不是都要等他们先伸手呢？

A：Yes. You never want to make assumptions about what someone in a wheelchair can or cannot do.

******

当天下午下班前，陈豪来到Amy的办公室。

C：Amy, 你现在有时间吗？

A：Come on in. Tell me what else happened with your wheel-chair bound co-worker.

C：她在我后面热饭。微波炉的位置挺高的，我不知道她需不需要帮忙。

A：What did you do?

C：后来看她要把饭盒放进微波炉里确实很吃力，所以我就说，“May I help you?”需要帮忙吗？

A：Your instincts were on target. You were right to ask her before you took action.

C：可是当时我就傻傻地站在那儿，挺别扭的。

A：What happened next?

C：她表示了感谢，然后让我帮她把饭盒放到了微波炉里。

A：By asking her if you could help, you gave her the option to accept or reject your offer. Persons with disabilities are accustomed to doing things for themselves.

C：我也是这么想，残疾人其实都是很独立的，而且能到咱们公司来工作，一定很有能力。

A：People with disabilities appreciate offers of help, but don't like others to make assumptions about what they can or can't do.

C：下次再遇到残疾人，我该怎么做呢？

A：It is quite simple, when you introduced yourself, you let her instigate the handshake. When it appeared that she might have difficulty with something, you asked her if you could help.