Timing is Everything

　　A very close friend of mine, named Alan, is chronically late, and not by just a little. Anybody that knows Alan knows that he is totally undependable and will always show up an hour late, if he shows up at all. But somehow people put up with this frustrating characteristic because he is one of the funniest, most charming individuals you will ever meet. An occasion that I remember provides an illustration. A group of 4-5 people had plans to go to dinner together, including Alan. The plan was to meet at the home of Brent, who had arranged the whole thing, at 8:00pm, have a quick drink, and still make our 8:30 dinner reservation. At 9:30, Alan had still not shown. Everyone, but especially Brent who had by then made 3 calls to the restaurant, was hungry and extremely angry at Alan. Just when we had decided to go on without him, he showed up. As we were all climbing into Brents car, Brent had to take some stuff out of the back seat and put it into the trunk so we would all have room to sit. Only Alan could have then said Gee, Brent, you had an hour and a half. Couldnt you at least get the car cleaned out? The laughter that ensued caused everyone to forget how hungry and mad we were.

適時(shí)就是一切

　　我有一個(gè)非常要好的朋友名叫艾倫，總是遲到，而且常常不止三兩分鐘。每一個(gè)認(rèn)識(shí)他的人都知道 他完全不能信任。即使他最終出現(xiàn)，那也是一個(gè)小時(shí)以后的事。但是人們卻可以在一定程度上接受他這種令人沮喪的脾氣，因?yàn)樗赡苁俏覀兯龅降淖钣腥さ娜恕?有一件事我還記得，就是個(gè)很好的明證。

　　有四五個(gè)人約好一起去吃飯，包括艾倫。計(jì)劃八點(diǎn)鐘在一個(gè)叫黑雁的家伙，也就是整個(gè)活動(dòng)的 籌劃者，家里見(jiàn)面，隨便喝點(diǎn)什么，然后八點(diǎn)三十分在飯店吃飯。然而，到九點(diǎn)半艾倫還沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)。每個(gè)人都非常饑餓，而且對(duì)艾倫非常生氣，特別是黑雁，他 已經(jīng)給飯店打了三個(gè)電話(huà)。我們決定不再等他時(shí)，他卻出現(xiàn)了。由于我們都爬進(jìn)黑雁的車(chē)，黑雁不得不從后座中取走一些東西放進(jìn)旅行箱中，以便大家都能 坐下。就在這時(shí)，艾倫開(kāi)口了：伊，黑雁，你有一個(gè)半小時(shí)的時(shí)間，你不能至少把車(chē)收拾干凈嗎?爆發(fā)的笑聲使每個(gè)人都忘記了我們是多么的饑餓和生氣。

Timing is Everything

　　A very close friend of mine, named Alan, is chronically late, and not by just a little. Anybody that knows Alan knows that he is totally undependable and will always show up an hour late, if he shows up at all. But somehow people put up with this frustrating characteristic because he is one of the funniest, most charming individuals you will ever meet. An occasion that I remember provides an illustration. A group of 4-5 people had plans to go to dinner together, including Alan. The plan was to meet at the home of Brent, who had arranged the whole thing, at 8:00pm, have a quick drink, and still make our 8:30 dinner reservation. At 9:30, Alan had still not shown. Everyone, but especially Brent who had by then made 3 calls to the restaurant, was hungry and extremely angry at Alan. Just when we had decided to go on without him, he showed up. As we were all climbing into Brents car, Brent had to take some stuff out of the back seat and put it into the trunk so we would all have room to sit. Only Alan could have then said Gee, Brent, you had an hour and a half. Couldnt you at least get the car cleaned out? The laughter that ensued caused everyone to forget how hungry and mad we were.

適時(shí)就是一切

　　我有一個(gè)非常要好的朋友名叫艾倫，總是遲到，而且常常不止三兩分鐘。每一個(gè)認(rèn)識(shí)他的人都知道 他完全不能信任。即使他最終出現(xiàn)，那也是一個(gè)小時(shí)以后的事。但是人們卻可以在一定程度上接受他這種令人沮喪的脾氣，因?yàn)樗赡苁俏覀兯龅降淖钣腥さ娜恕?有一件事我還記得，就是個(gè)很好的明證。

　　有四五個(gè)人約好一起去吃飯，包括艾倫。計(jì)劃八點(diǎn)鐘在一個(gè)叫黑雁的家伙，也就是整個(gè)活動(dòng)的 籌劃者，家里見(jiàn)面，隨便喝點(diǎn)什么，然后八點(diǎn)三十分在飯店吃飯。然而，到九點(diǎn)半艾倫還沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)。每個(gè)人都非常饑餓，而且對(duì)艾倫非常生氣，特別是黑雁，他 已經(jīng)給飯店打了三個(gè)電話(huà)。我們決定不再等他時(shí)，他卻出現(xiàn)了。由于我們都爬進(jìn)黑雁的車(chē)，黑雁不得不從后座中取走一些東西放進(jìn)旅行箱中，以便大家都能 坐下。就在這時(shí)，艾倫開(kāi)口了：伊，黑雁，你有一個(gè)半小時(shí)的時(shí)間，你不能至少把車(chē)收拾干凈嗎?爆發(fā)的笑聲使每個(gè)人都忘記了我們是多么的饑餓和生氣。