C：Amy，你有时间吗?

 

A：Sure，什么事？

 

C：Todd这个人真是很奇怪。有时候，我打电话给他，他明明在办公室里，而且也不忙，可他就是不接电话。我只好在电话里给他留言，可他好几个小时才回电话，有时根本就不回。

 

A：How does that make you feel?

 

C：让我觉得自己无足轻重。我不愿意跟他共事。

 

A：That happens when we use voice mail to hide from other people. Voice mail makes it easy to ignore callers.

 

C：我有的时候也不接电话，让打电话的人留言，比如手头工作急着要完成的时候。Is that wrong?

 

A：No. That's a perfect reason to use voice mail. All of us have times when we need to work without interruption.

 

C：可是有些人从来不接电话，电话打过去，一定是留言。这样下次谁还会找你呢？

 

A：没错。It doesn't take long for people to determine who is responsive and values their callers, and they call those people instead.

 

C：他们这样做不仅会得罪人，还会失去很多机会。我倒要看看，这个Todd什么时候才会回我的电话。

 

******

 

Amy第二天午饭时间又遇到了陈豪。

 

A：CH, I am curious. Did Todd ever call you back yesterday?

 

C：NO. 他一直没给我回电话。我觉得他这样做非常不礼貌。

 

A：Totally rude. It is quite one thing to use your voice mail when you can't be interrupted, but to use it

 

all day for your own convenience is disrespectful of other people and their time.

 

C：这确实是对我的一种不尊重。说实话，如果能从别人那里得到我需要的信息，我以后是不会再去找他的。我觉得Todd不是那种能愉快共事的人。

 

A：There are people who think that they are too important to answer their own phone and always use voice mail or someone else to answer for them.

 

C：不过，据我所知，一些非常成功的人士反倒有时间亲自接电话。Amy, 一般情况下，我们什么时候可以让别人留言而不失礼呢？

 

A：Send your calls to voice mail when you have someone in your office, when you need to concentrate on a project or when you are away from your desk.

 

C：噢，办公室里正好有人在谈事儿的时候，手头有工作赶着要完成的时候，或是不在办公室的时候，这些时候都可以让别人在电话上留言。

 

A：Otherwise, if your job or your business depends on relationships with other people, make yourself available.

 

C：对呀，不管是谁，打电话都希望能找到自己要找的人。