[00:00.78]Lesson 4
[00:02.44]The double life of Alfred Bloggs
[00:11.34]Why did Alf want a white-collar job?
[00:16.83]These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than people who work in offices.
[00:24.76]People who work in offices are frequently referred to as 'white-collar workers' for the simple reason that they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work.
[00:36.74]Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers.
[00:48.19]This can give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation.
[01:00.78]When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job.
[01:07.63]He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation.
[01:11.57]Every morning, he left home dressed in a smart black suit.
[01:16.45]He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman.
[01:22.90]Before returning home at night, he took a shower and changed back into his suit.
[01:29.02]Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret.
[01:35.66]Alf's wife has never discovered that she married a dustman and she never will, for Alf has just found another job.
[01:44.47]He will soon be working in an office.
[01:47.61]He will be earning only half as much as he used to, but he feels that his rise in status is well worth the loss of money.
[01:57.05]From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will call him 'Mr.Bloggs', not 'Alf'.
如今，从事体力劳动的人的收入一般要比坐办公室的人高出许多。坐办公室的之所以常常被称作“白领工人”，就是因为他们通常是穿着硬领白衬衫，系着领带去上班。许多人常常情愿放弃较高的薪水以换取做白领工人的殊荣，此乃人之常情。而这常常会引起种种奇怪的现象，在埃尔斯米尔公司当清洁工的艾尔弗雷德.布洛斯就是一个例子。
艾尔弗结婚时，感到非常难为情，而没有将自己的职业告诉妻子。他只说在埃尔斯米尔公司上班。每天早晨，他穿上一身漂亮的黑色西装离家上班，然后换上工作服，当8个小时清洁工。晚上回家前，他洗个淋浴，重新换上那身黑色西服。两年多以来，艾尔弗一直这样，他的同事也为他保守秘密。艾尔弗的妻子一直不知道她嫁给了一个清洁工，而且她永远也不会知道了，因为艾尔弗已找到薪职，不久就要坐办公室里工作了。他将来挣的钱只有他现在的一半。不过他觉得，地位升高了，损失点儿钱也值得。从此，艾尔弗可以一天到晚穿西服了。别人将称呼他为“布洛格斯先生”，而不再叫他“艾尔弗”了。