My job requires skills， like driving a forklift， I ha? ven’ t got. My Ivy League education won’ t helpme now. you drive a forklift？ Those five deflating wordsinstantly alerted me that my prep－school backgroundand advanced degrees would mean nothing on thenew thousands last year， I was downsized from ohose sizzling dots， now dot－gone. Faced with ashrinking job market， I turo manual labor. It’ s aon trend， now that une**loyment is at 5. 8 per? t. But the transition is seldom seam*** the new boss was mildly disgusted when Icouldn’ t drive the forklift， he lectic wheossed me a wrench to open a hydrant and saw me tight? ening it with all my strength. “ Wrong dire！” heexploded. “ Lefty loosey； righty tighty. ”I didn’ t know that. Ihere is a whole toolkit of basic skills that Andover， Bates， bia andHarvard never equipped me with. But there are moments when I shine. I read the Latin on every publicbuilding we pass. Wheruckdriver from Quebec ar? rived with an 18－wheeler of muld I began ver? sing in near － flaw***s Parisian French about his longjourney and breakfast of croissants， my boss’ s eyeslit hydroseeding， my main responsibility is to guide200 feet of heavy， serpentine hose while the bo ss spraysthe slime. But there’ s more to my job thalingthe imes the hose gets clogged. Sometimes the es off the mixer. And sometimes I have to usethe side mirrors to move the 60， 000－pound trureverse. All these situations require an all－around me? ical o is as i**ortant to the bluecollarworker as the ability to navigate Microsoft Officeis to the white－collar ohese are the “ value sub? tracted” moments my background has not preparedme I’ m happy when those occasions arise when I offer the bes of my education. Of course， it an? noys the hell out of my boss how rarely my skill set actu? ally helps us out. And it amazes him how I’ m foreverdawdling with my coffee and misplag it at job how I’ m morbidly preoccupied with safety———likethe time， fearirocution， when I refused to holdup a lowhanging cable wire to allow our tall truck topass beh. （ “ It carries a signal， not a current！” hehollered， grabbing it for dramatic effect. ）In some ways， ours is a clash of cultures. On daysoff， the boss ges the oil in his pickup， reti*** hiskit floor or does brickwork； I take my car throughthe automatic wash， go bird watg or read“ Nicholas Nickleby.” This last tick*** him———somighty are my strugg*** reading I’ m just as strong as he is， and matchhim bale for bale， hoisting the 50－pound sacks of seedwe fill the truck with. So there is the basis for a bit ing respect. And for all of my drawbacks， I am atleast reliable———a vestige， perhaps， of the grim“ show up at your desk at all costs （ if only to sitthere） ” still it caught me off guard when， with the airnow cold and the hydroseeding seasohe boss in? quired retly： “ you drive a snowplow？”热词空间ivy n. 常春藤prep n. 家庭作业； 预习功课background n. 出身背景； 背景资料； （ 画等的） 背景preoccupied a. 心事重重的， 出神的electrocution n. 电刑， 电死culture n. 文化， 文明； 教养； 培养； 培养菌 （本章完）