Asked what job they would take if they could have any, people unleash their imaginations and dream of exotic places, powerful positions or work that involves alcohol and a paycheck at the same time.

    如果能選擇，你會做什么工作？對于這個問題，人們會充分施展想象力，幻想在異國他鄉身居高位，或從事一邊喝酒一邊拿工資的事情。

    Or so you'd think.

    大概你也這么想。

    None of that appeals to Lori Miller who, as a lead word processor, has to do things that don't seem so dreamy, including proofreading, spell checking and formatting. But she loves it.

    可是這些全都沒有讓首席文字處理員Lori Miller心動。她的工作似乎不那么美妙，比如校正、拼寫核對及整理格式。可是她卻樂在其中。

    "I like and respect nearly all my co-workers, and most of them feel the same way about me," she says. "Just a few things would make it a little better," she says, including a shorter commute and the return of some great people who used to work there. And one more thing: She'd appreciate if everyone would put their dishes in the dishwasher.

    她說：“我喜歡并尊敬所有同事，他們多數人對我也是一樣的感覺。只需一點點改進就能讓這份工作更好了。”她所指的包括：上班距離更近；過去跳槽的好職員能回來；另外，她希望大家都把用過的碗碟放入洗碗機內。

    It's not a lot to ask for and, it turns out, a surprising number of people dreaming up their dream job don't ask for much. One could attribute it to lack of imagination, setting the bar low or "anchoring," the term referring to the place people start and never move far from. One could chalk it up to rationalizing your plight.

    這要求不算高。讓人驚訝的是，很多做著白日夢的人們實際上也沒有太高要求。有人會將此歸結為缺乏想象力、要求太低或是“守舊”——愿意停在一開始的地方，永遠都離它不遠。有人說，愿意“守舊”其實是為自己的窘境找借口。

    But maybe people simply like what they do and aren't, as some management would have you believe, asking for too much -- just the elimination of a small but disproportionately powerful amount of office inanity.

    但也許人們就是喜歡自己的工作而且不會要求太多（正如一些管理人希望讓你相信的那樣），只要去除掉辦公室里為數不多卻能量驚人的愚蠢行徑就行。

    That may be one reason why two-thirds of Americans would take the same job again "without hesitation" and why 90% of Americans are at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs, according to a Gallup Poll.

    這也許就是為什么Gallup調查發現，有三分之二的美國人愿意毫不猶豫地投奔老東家， 90%的美國人至少對工作有一些滿意的原因。

    The matters that routinely rank high on a satisfaction scale don't relate to money but "work as a means for demonstrating some sort of responsibility and achievement," says Barry Staw, professor of leadership and communication at University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. "Pay -- even when it's important, it's not for what you can buy, it's a validation of your work and approval."

    按Barry Staw教授的話說，對工作滿意程度影響大的因素都和錢無關，“人們認為工作是一種展示責任和成就的方式”。Barry Staw在加州大學伯克利分院Haas商學院開設領導及溝通課程。他說：“薪酬的重要性不在于你能用它買到什么，而是對你工作和認可的證明。”  

    So, money doesn't interest Elizabeth Gray as much as a level playing field. "I like what I do," says the city project manager who once witnessed former colleagues award a contractor, paid for work he never completed, with the title of "Contractor of the Year."

    所以對Elizabeth Gray來說，相對金錢，一個機會平等的平臺更讓她感興趣。作為城市規劃管理人員，她目睹之前的同事們將“年度承包商”的頭銜授予一位根本沒有完成任務的承包商。“我喜歡我所做的。”

    Thus: "My dream job would be one free of politics," she says. "All advancement would be based on merit. The people who really did the work would be the ones who received the credit."

    她說：“我的理想工作沒有辦公室政治。所有的獎勵都根據表現。真正付出勞動的人應該獲得嘉獎。”

    Frank Gastner has a similar ideal: "VP in charge of destroying inane policies." Over the years, he's had to hassle with the simplest of design flaws that would cost virtually nothing to fix were it not for the bureaucracies that entrenched them. So, the retired manufacturer's representative says he would address product and process problems with the attitude, "It's not right; let's fix it now without a committee meeting."

    Frank Gastner的想法也類似：“副總裁負責消滅愚蠢的政策。”常年以來，他和那些最簡單的設計缺陷做斗爭，如果不是因為官僚作風，修補這些缺陷不花什么錢。因此這位曾經的制造商代表說，他會將產品、流程和態度聯系在一起：“這不對。我們現在就糾正它，不需要開什么委員會”。

    Monique Huston actually has her dream job -- and many tell her it's theirs, too. She's general manager of a pub in Omaha, the Dundee Dell, which boasts 650 single-malt scotches on its menu. She visits bars, country clubs, people's homes and Scotland for whiskey tastings. "I stumbled on my passion in life," she says.

    Monique Huston用有一份理想的工作，而且許多人告訴她這工作也是他們所夢想的。她是奧馬哈市一家酒館的總經理。這家名為Dundee Dell的酒館供應650種單麥芽蘇格蘭威士忌。為了推銷威士忌，她走訪了酒吧、鄉村俱樂部、民宅。她說：“我這個激情是偶然發現的。”

    Still, some nights she doesn't feel like drinking -- or smiling. "Your face hurts," she complains. And when you have your dream job you wonder what in the world you'll do next.

    不過有些時候她也不喜歡品酒或微笑。她抱怨：“臉會疼。”當你擁有了一份理想工作，你會想，接下來還有什么可做的。

    One of the big appeals of a dream job is dreaming about it. Last year, George Reinhart saw an ad for a managing director of the privately owned island of Mustique in the West Indies.

    白日夢本身就是一件幸福的事。去年George Reinhart發現位于西印度群島的Mustique私人島在招聘總經理。

    He was lured by the salary ($1 million) and a climate that beat the one enjoyed by his Boston suburb. A documentary he saw about Mustique chronicled the posh playground for the likes of Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret. He reread Herman Wouk's "Don't Stop the Carnival," about a publicity agent who leaves his New York job and buys an island hotel. In April of last year, he applied for the job.

    他被1百萬美元的薪水和比波斯頓市郊宜人的氣候所吸引。他看過有關此島的一部紀錄片，那是上好的休閑勝地，專門服務Mick Jagger及Princess Margaret這類名流。他重讀了Herman Wouk的小說《不停狂歡》，書中講述一位紐約的宣傳代理人辭職買下了一個島嶼旅店。在去年四月他申請了這份工作。

    He heard nothing. So last May, he wrote another letter: "I wanted to thank you for providing the impetus for so much thought and fun." He didn't get the job but, he says, he takes comfort that the job hasn't been filled. "So, I can still dream," he adds.

    但是卻沒有音訊。于是去年五月他又寫了一封信。在信中他稱：“我想感謝你給我帶來這么多的思索和樂趣。”他表示雖然自己沒有獲得工作，但是卻感到安慰，因為也沒有其他人獲得這職務。“所以，我還能繼續夢想。”

    I told him the job had been filled by someone -- but only after he said, "I need to know, because then I can begin to dream of his failure."

    我告訴他有人已經獲得這份工作了。在這之前，他說：“我想知道，因為那樣我能開始幻想他會失敗。”