爲什麼給男友打掃房間不能收費大綱
About a year ago, I moved into my boyfriend’s house in a new city. I’m renting out my old house for income as I look for work. I pay my partner $100 each month to cover my utility expenses. He pays his cleaning person $160 a month to clean the house twice a month. I am not convinced that the house gets cleaned well, and I have plenty of free time anyway. I offered to clean the house in lieu of the money I pay him, which would save him $60 and me $100. He refuses, claiming that it would be as if he were paying me to clean the house. Would that be so wrong? NAME WITHHELD, SANTA FE
大約一年前，我搬到一個新城市，住進了我男朋友家裏。我正在找工作，所以把自己的舊房子租了出去，獲得一點收入。每個月我給男朋友100美元作爲生活費。他付160美元讓清潔工每月打掃兩次房子。我覺得房子打掃得也不是很乾淨，而且反正我有大量空閒時間，所以我提議自己打掃房子，免交日用品費。這樣他能省60美元，我能省100美元。但是他拒絕了，說那樣的話，感覺像是他在付錢讓我打掃房子。我的提議真的很有問題嗎？匿名，聖達菲
It’s not wrong. It’s a shrewd request on your behalf. But I think you’re overlooking the real reason your boyfriend doesn’t want to do this: It would make him feel uncomfortable in his own home. It’s strange to pay someone you’re romantically involved with to do work for you, even if the compensation is somewhat indirect. Furthermore, giving you this responsibility would place him in an awkward position should you end up doing a subpar job — he can fire a cleaning person, but he can’t fire his girlfriend.
你的提議沒有問題。從你的角度講，這是個聰明的提議。但我覺得你忽視了你男朋友不想這樣做的真正原因：那會讓他在自己家裏不自在。付錢給跟他談戀愛的人幹活會讓他覺得很奇怪，儘管不是直接給錢。況且，給你這個責任會讓他陷入一種尷尬的境地——假如你打掃得不夠乾淨的話。他可以解僱一個清潔工，但是不能解僱自己女朋友。This is an ethics column, so — ethically — I’m on your side. But ethics can’t be the only consideration in a dispute that combines the personal with the professional. This really has nothing to do with morality. Your boyfriend simply doesn’t want to add an unnecessary power dynamic to your relationship.
這是一個倫理欄目，所以從倫理角度講，我站在你這邊。但是在一個既涉及人際關係又涉及職業關係的爭論中，不應該只考慮倫理。這真的跟道德沒有任何關係。你男朋友只是不想在你們的關係中增加一個無謂的變數。
MOWING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
醉酒後修草坪I’ve been using the same landscaper for a few years now. On a recent morning, he and I happened to be at the gas station at the same time. He was filling up one of his trucks. As he started the engine, I noticed that he had a Breathalyzer device attached to the ignition — similar to the kind issued to individuals who have been convicted of D.W.I. I am starting to have concerns about my safety and my property. Should I ask the landscaper about this? Is it grounds enough to dismiss him? NAME WITHHELD, WHITE PLAINS
我用同一個園丁好幾年了。前不久的一個早上，我和他碰巧同時去了同一個加油站。當時他正在給自己的一輛卡車加油。他發動引擎時，我注意到點火開關上裝着一個酒精測量儀——類似於發放給曾經被判酒後駕駛的人的測量儀。我開始擔心自己的安全和財產。我應該問問園丁這件事嗎？這是否足以讓我解僱他？匿名，白原市First of all, I have no idea why you think a D.W.I. arrest would make this person unfit to tend to your garden. Are you afraid he will get loaded and overprune the petunias? Second, he seems to have the Breathalyzer device attached to the same vehicle he uses for work, so he can’t even show up unless he’s legally sober (I suppose he could theoretically bring a six-pack in his lunchbox and get drunk while he worked — but then he wouldn’t be able to start the truck and drive home). If you want to ask him about his arrest record, that is your right as a person. And if you both had signed a contract when he was hired, and its language included some kind of morality clause, you would be legally justified in firing him. But I see no reason that you would fire a man you’ve employed “for a few years” over a crime that has no relationship to what you’ve hired him to do and only surfaced because you were peeping inside the cab of his vehicle.
首先，我不明白你爲什麼覺得因酒駕被拘留過的人不適合打理你的花園。你是擔心他喝醉後過度修剪你的牽牛花嗎？第二，他的酒精測量儀似乎是和他的工作用車連接在一起的，所以除非他從法律上講是清醒的，否則他根本沒法來工作（我知道理論上他可以在午餐盒裏裝六瓶酒，一邊工作一邊喝醉，但是那樣他就發動不了卡車，無法把它開回家了）。如果你想問問他的逮捕記錄，那是你的個人權利。如果你們雙方簽了僱傭合同，其中包括某種道德條款，那你在法律上有理由解僱他。但我覺得你沒必要因爲一個跟他的工作無關的罪行（還是你往他的車廂裏瞟了一眼才發現的）解僱一個爲你工作了“好幾年”的人。
