I always try to keep job stress from spilling over into my personal life. Sometimes I fail. And now and then, a situation crops up that makes me regret it。

　　我总是努力控制工作压力，不让它影响到我的私人生活。有时我也没做到。偶尔，也会出现让我对此深感懊恼的情况。

　　After a long day at work recently, racing to hit deadlines and falling behind on my to-do list, I took a call from Josh, an installation guy for a new Internet service I'm trying out. I'd left a message for him hours earlier; I was already annoyed when I picked up the phone, and my impatience spilled into our conversation。

　　不久前有一次，我忙了一整天赶时间，但还是没完成我预定的任务，这时我接到乔希(Josh)的电话，我正要尝试的一项新的互联网服务将由他来负责安装。好几个小时之前我就给他的电话留了言。当我拿起电话的时候已经很生气了，这种不耐烦情绪终于影响到了我们的谈话。

　　He offered to come to my house two days later. Then we had to plod through my providing a credit card number, e-mail address and directions. By the time we hung up, I'd missed a couple of work calls and I was aware that I sounded grumpy ″ even though Josh remained pleasant and polite。

　　他提出两天后到我家来。然后我们不得不费劲地弄完手续，提供我的信用卡卡号、电子邮箱地址，我还给他指了到我家的路该怎么走。到我挂电话的时候，已经错过了两个工作电话，我意识到自己听上去气鼓鼓的，而乔希仍保持着和气和礼貌。

　　Job stress can easily spill over into personal and family life. People who are relatively powerless service workers, children and other innocent bystanders often bear the brunt. I've written about how pent-up stress caused by dealing with impatient customers spills over into the personal lives of customer-service workers, who take their frustrations home and vent on their partners and pets. And within the family, most children say that if they were granted one wish on how to improve parents' juggles, they wish Mom and Dad would come home less stressed, according to a study of 1,000 children by Ellen Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute. Drawing solid boundaries between work stress and other people in your life can be critical。

　　工作压力很容易就渗透进个人及家庭生活中。那些无权无势的人──服务人员、儿童以及其他无辜者──往往成了受害者。我曾经撰文指出，客户服务人员因为和坏脾气的顾客打交道而压抑的情绪怎样影响到了他们自己的个人生活，他们往往会把挫折感带回家，迁怒于家人和宠物。家庭与工作协会(Families and Work Institute)的艾伦·盖林斯基(Ellen Galinsky)对1,000名儿童所做的调查显示，大多数儿童都表示，如果他们有一个关于父母工作的愿望可以成真的话，他们会希望父母回家时不要带着那么大的工作压力。在你的工作之外筑就一堵高墙、保护其他人不受你工作压力的影响是非常重要的。

　　When Josh's appointed installation day arrived, I kept expecting him for hours, but he was a no-show. Then, at 6:30 p.m., just as my family was sitting down for dinner, the doorbell rang. It was Josh, smiling and ready to work. Annoyed, I told him I'd expected him much earlier, but I left my dinner and let him in。

　　到了乔希约定来访的那天，我等了他几个小时，不过他没有出现。然而，到了下午六点半，我和家人坐在一起正要准备吃饭时，偏偏门铃向了。我一看，正是一脸笑意、准备开工的乔希。我有点生气，告诉他我以为他早就会来，但我还是搁下了我的晚饭，把他请了进来。

　　We had a few laughs as he worked, and the service he installed was terrific. Then, he astonished me by remarking, as he was preparing to leave, that I had brightened his day。

　　当他工作的时候，我们还谈笑了一番，他给我安装的服务非常棒。当乔希准备告辞的时候，他说的话让我很震惊，他说我点亮了他那一天的生活。

　　It had been a tough one, he said. He and his wife, already parents of a child with cystic fibrosis, had gotten word that their second baby, due later this year, would almost certainly have Down syndrome. Right after he got the news, a truck rear-ended his car at a stoplight, sending him to the emergency room with a painful case of whiplash。

　　他说，今天太难熬了。他和他妻子已经有了一个患囊肿性纤维化症的孩子，今天又得知将于今年晚些时候出生的第二个孩子几乎肯定患有唐氏综合症。在获悉这个消息后，乔希的车在红灯前又被一辆卡车追了尾，他不得不因为剧痛的颈椎过度屈伸损伤而到急诊室接受治疗。

　　With a big smile, Josh thanked me for making his day better, and apologized for being late. Feeling sheepish and ashamed, I remembered the adage, 'never criticize another until you have walked a mile in his shoes.' I wished Josh and his family well with as much warmth and heart as I could, and waved good-by. I have been thinking ever since about his situation, reflecting on my need to set better boundaries and give more respect to everyone I encounter; who knows what they may be juggling?

　　脸上挂着一个大大的笑容，乔希感谢我让他的一天过得好受了一些，并对自己的迟到表示了歉意。我感到又惭愧，又不好意思，我想起了这样一句老话：家家有本难念的经──只有设身处地，才能知道谁都不容易。我真心真意地祝愿乔希家人一切安好，并向他挥手告别。从那以后我一直在想乔希的处境，并反思自己确实需要在工作和其他事务之间划一道更分明的界限、并给予我遇到的人更多尊重，谁知道他们是不是也是负担多多呢？