当问到这样一个问题：如果所有工作任你选，你会选择做什么？人们会发挥出天马行空的想象力，或是梦想自己能在充满异国风情的地方工作，或是位居要职，或是有份喝酒赚钱两不误的美差。

　　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.

　　或许你也会这么想。

　　Or so you'd think.

　　不过，这一切都吸引不了洛丽"米勒（Lori Miller）。作为一名文字处理专家，她的工作──校对、拼写检查和设计版式──似乎和梦想不沾边。不过她热爱自己的工作。

　　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.

　　“我喜欢而且尊重几乎所有同事，他们中的大多数人对我也是如此，”她说，“只是有几个方面我还不太满意，”其中包括公司离家较远。她还希望一些已经跳槽的好同事能够回到自己的身边。还有一点：如果每个人都能将用过的盘子放进洗碗机她会不胜感激。

　　"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."

　　这些要求并不过份，实际上，对理想职业要求不高的人多得出奇。有人会将之归咎于缺乏想象力、标准偏低或者在工作上原地不动、停滞不前。有人会给自己的糟糕处境找到合理的借口。

　　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.

　　不过人们或许仅仅是喜爱他们的工作，并没有像某些管理人员所宣称的那样要求太多──他们希望的，只是摆脱办公室里不多但影响力不小的无聊事。

　　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.

　　这或许就是为什么有三分之二的美国人会“毫不犹豫”地再次选择同样的工作、有九成美国人在一定程度上满意自己的工作，这是一项盖洛普调查得出的结论。

　　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.

　　能带来更高满意度的一般不是金钱，而是“工作作为一种证明某种责任和成就的手段，”加州大学伯克利分校哈斯商学院（Haas School of Business）领导和沟通专业教授巴里"斯托（Barry Staw）说，“薪酬即使重要，也不是因为你能用它来买什么，而是对你工作的一种认可和承认。”

　　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.'

　　所以，伊丽莎白"格雷（Elizabeth Gray）更关心的是一个平等的竞争平台而不是金钱。宣称热爱自己工作的这位城市项目经理曾亲眼看到从前的同事们向一个承包人送礼，为这个人根本没完成的工作支付酬金，还授予他“年度承包人”的头衔。

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