ESL Podcast 560 – Learning Work Rules and Routines

（单词翻译）

I was happy to finally get a job, but I wasn’t ready for a first day of work like this one.

...

Boss: This is your first day and my job is to give you the rundown on how we do things around here. This is a well-oiled machine. Everybody has to pull his or her weight, or things don’t run smoothly¹. Got that?

Olivia: Yes, I do. I’m here to learn and to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

Boss: Good. I expect you to know the drill and be able to fall in line by the end of the week.

Olivia: I will do my very best.

Boss: We don’t like surprises around here, so we’ve built our workday around a lot of routines that every employee follows. We expect people to arrive at 8:30 on the nose. That’s our start time and there is no leeway whatsoever². If you’re habitually³ late, you’re out. Got that?

Olivia: Got it.

Boss: We’re no run-of-the-mill company. We have a tried and true system here and we expect all of our employees to follow lockstep. Got that?

Olivia: Yes, sir.

...

I needed a job, but when I was offered this one, I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for. I didn’t have a new boss. I had a drill sergeant⁴!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse