I sat nervously and waited for Kathleen to speak. Being called to the human resources department is a little like being called to the principal's office. "Annie," she said, "A food bank that serves the elderly is asking for 1. I'd like you to organize the event and see it through." "Well, um, err…sure. I guess so." As I stuttered (结巴地说) through my2, all I could think was, "What? Why me?"
I walked back to my office wondering where to 3. This was a time4the economy was fading. The rise in unemployment forced many of my coworkers to5to survive. How could I ask them for more?
That evening I drove home, depressed. Then I remembered once my father was out of work. Mom wrote a note to Jim, the milkman, asking him not to6any more milk. Two days later Jim picked up the7and left four liters of milk. He left a message, 8, "Kids need milk." The milk delivery9as usual and Jim never collected a cent10us.
The memory of Jim's11fired my enthusiasm. Perhaps I'd be in for a pleasant surprise.
The next morning I12signs about our food drive all over the cafeteria and on every notice board I could find. Each sign said, "Food drive to support the poor elderly! 13of non-perishable (不易腐的) foods are greatly needed."
Within a few days I had to locate empty office space to14a large number of contributions we had15. One of my coworkers, Maggie, made the rounds with me every day from one department to another to pick up the canned goods and other16. Though over sixty, she17manage to push our food trolley (手推车) around like a woman half her age.
I asked her where she got all the enthusiasm. She said, "With the unemployment rate touching 10 percent, I can't think of a better way to be18for keeping our jobs19so many have lost theirs. Sure money is tight. But when isn't it? People need food."
As I listened to Maggie, the milkman's words20in my ears, "Kids need milk."
