実践ビジネス英語ディクテーション (8/12,13)

こんにちは。実践ビジネス英語Talk the Talkコーナーのディクテーションです。
8月前半のテーマは、‘Technology with The Human Touch’（人間味あるテクノロジー）でした。オンライン人生相談の話題に始まり、このデジタル時代、勤務時間と私的な時間の境界があいまいになってきているという指摘がありました。「上司が週末にもメールへの返信を求めるなら、自分たちには勤務時間中にオンラインで私的な事をする権利がある」という考え方があるのには少し驚きました。
また、一方的に相手とのつながりを遮断するghostingという行為もあるそうです。

Technology with The Human Touch
（S: 杉田敏先生　H: Heather Howardさん）

S: In our current vignette, Ueda describes a letter to an online advice column. Do you ever read those, Heather?

H: I do. I’ve enjoyed reading advice columns for a long time, actually. My personal favorite is an etiquette column that’s been written by an American woman for decades.
When I was a teenager, one of my best loved books was a compilation of her advice, which was always mixed with humor.
One reader wanted to know, for example, if they should send their boss a thank-you note for their quarterly bonus. She replied that she always believes in sending thank-you notes; it encourages people to give more.
My all-time personal favorite was her answer to a reader who asked, “What I am supposed to say when I’m introduced to a homosexual”― and this was in quotes―”’couple’?”
She replied, “How do you do? How do you do?”

S: Good one. What do you think of the columnist advice in the vignette?

H: I see her point about the blurring of the line between private time and work time. And I think people do use Internet surfing as a way to clear the mind a bit.
I browse a little myself sometimes when I’m stuck when I can’t think of the best way to write something, for example.
But Wu is right, of course. This has to be done in moderation. When people start spending 30 minutes, an hour on the Internet and away from work, they’re cheating their company out of money.

S: Sandy Wu describes the practice of ghosting: completely cutting off contact with another person. Have you ever experienced that, Heather?

H: I have to admit I have―one especially painful case involved a friend who moved back to her home country from Japan.
We’d spent lots of time together, and confided in each other about all sorts of very private things.
But not long after she left, she suddenly stopped responding to my communications. I sent several messages through the social media network we both use, but there was no reply.
And like Wu says, I could see her activity on the network. She had plenty of time to post lots of messages about her new job and daily life, but apparently not enough motivation to maintain our friendship.

S: That must have been upsetting. And it certainly didn’t give you any closure.

H: It was upsetting. I racked my brain, trying to think what I might’ve said or done to ruin our friendship. But nothing came to mind.
Ultimately, I blocked her posts on the social media network because it was too painful to see them.
That turned out to be a temporary ghosting, actually. We reconnected some years later as a result of certain key events in our lives.
And I never did ask her why she was out of touch for so long. Maybe she got caught up in her new life and then felt embarrassed about replying after so much time had passed.
I don’t know. There’s not much point in bringing it up now.
I did have another friend who disappeared entirely after she stopped working in the same friend as me.
That relationship was never restored. But we weren’t as close so it didn’t hurt as much. I still wonder whether she cut ties because I was no longer in a position to assist her work.

S: The vignette also talks about the importance of the human touch in interacting with customers.

H: Absolutely. When I was an online movie critic, I kept a list of the people who won my weekly drawings for movie goods and tickets.
That way I could personalize some of the hand-written notes I sent them with the prizes, writing things like, “Congratulations, you won again!”

最後までお読みくださり、ありがとうございました。