2004-06-24 16:32:19.
焙果一分鐘儀式於焉展開爭先恐後媲美空襲時大家逃命躲警報
你魅力夠嗎？
- 社交低能的上禮儀課？善莫大焉！
Charmed, I'm Sure
作者╱米爾斯基 ( Steve Mirsky )
系裡面常常提供點心慰勞學生。每個星期三下午4點30分整，就會有人送一大包焙果到研究生休息室。「焙果一分鐘」的儀式於焉展開。那種爭先恐後的鏡頭，絕對可以媲美空襲時，大家逃命躲警報的緊張局面。凶惡、混亂、稍縱即逝，正是這一分鐘的最佳寫照。如果你在4點31分才趕到，就只有望著滿桌子奶油起士殘痕興歎的份了。當然，勝利者也會'努力'堆出一臉慚愧相。
餐桌禮儀課有助於避免「焙果一分鐘」那種混亂場面的出現。有個學生來上課，戴的帽子上寫著「皮條客」，「穿出成功」課程對他一定很有幫助。
the chemistry department rewarded the students with a weekly treat. Every Wednesday at 4:30 P.M. a big bag of bagels was delivered to the student lounge in an exercise that became known as “bagel minute.” Not since buzz bombs rained down on London have people raced to a common destination with a greater sense of urgency. Bagel minute was nasty, brutish and short. If you showed up at 4:31, all that was left were some stray schmears of cream cheese and the guilty faces of the survivors.
譯者╱高涌泉
在美國，人家常常戲謔的問理工科學生：「你清牙縫是用MIT（麻省理工學院）入學通知的信紙，還是要用信封？」正確的答案是：以上皆非，你得用那根夾著「入學須知」的迴紋針。
說正經的，其實MIT校方也心裡有數，每年從MIT畢業的優秀青年無數，但其中有不少在人際應對上卻仍相當笨拙生澀。他們跨接惠斯登電橋，要比跨出房間去跟陌生人搭訕更感到自在；開口跟別人討實驗燒杯是家常便飯，卻不敢開口問：「請妳跳支舞好嗎？」他們擅長嵌入基因，卻無法融入其他人的談話。不用我再贅述，你就知道我在講什麼了。
有鑑於此，MIT校方每年2月都舉辦「魅力研習營」（Charm School），開放學生自由參加，到2000年已是第八屆了。MIT生活輔導組的歐黛爾女士負責安排課程，她說：「以前我們戲稱這是『MIT除書呆氣研習營』，現在則不用『書呆』這字眼，沒有人喜歡人家叫他書呆子的。」她大概沒想到，《紐約時報》介紹這個魅力營時，標題正是：「專為MIT書呆子舉辦的……」
因為“charm”也碰巧是基本粒子夸克的一種特性，所以校方也搞不清楚，到底有多少人誤以為這是夸克研習營才來的。反正有800人出席，約占全校學生總數8%。
我當年念理工時，就曾經因為禮儀問題而心靈受創，因此對這個研習營特別關注。那時我在化學系當研究生，系裡面常常提供點心慰勞學生。每個星期三下午4點30分整，就會有人送一大包焙果到研究生休息室。「焙果一分鐘」的儀式於焉展開。那種爭先恐後的鏡頭，絕對可以媲美空襲時，大家逃命躲警報的緊張局面。凶惡、混亂、稍縱即逝，正是這一分鐘的最佳寫照。如果你在4點31分才趕到，就只有望著滿桌子奶油起士殘痕興歎的份了。當然，勝利者也會努力堆出一臉慚愧相。
短短一天內，MIT魅力營試圖教學生認識一些「行為準則」，將來可以優雅的融入彬彬有禮的社會裡，餐桌禮儀課有助於避免「焙果一分鐘」那種混亂場面的出現。有個學生來上課，戴的帽子上寫著「皮條客」，「穿出成功」課程對他一定很有幫助。
另外還有專家講授的「商場禮儀」及「手機禮儀」課程。遺憾的是，學生對前者的興趣遠高於後者。這種偏頗應予糾正，而且事不宜遲。我最近在紐約搭火車，車廂內有好幾位大嗓門乘客對著手機聊天，一路「廣播」到波士頓。你就曉得情況有多嚴重了。
不過，MIT魅力營的招牌課程是「如何勾引異性」，課程只有半小時，但是每天都重複排了很多場次，以饗大眾。你也許會問：「教大學生如何跟異性交往？那豈不跟教夜鶯唱歌一樣，多此一舉？」事實證明，未必如此。
指導老師把上課的男女生分開，各別問：「你們怎樣判斷，派對裡剛認識的那位異性對你有好感？」男生組的頭兩個理由是：「她會正眼看我；她會專心跟我講話。」女生組的呢？「他瞪著我看；他臉都紅了。」我不由得想起：晃盪樹間的老祖宗習性，依舊深植眾人心底呢！這更加證明了，為什麼學會如何正確無誤的使用餐具，的確是有其必要！
Charmed, I'm Sure
- FOR THE SCIENTIFICALLY BRIGHT BUT SOCIALLY BEFUDDLED, A DAY OF ETIQUETTE INSTRUCTION MIGHT BE JUST WHAT THE PH.D. ORDERED
By Steve Mirsky
It's a classic problem for the average scientist- in-training: Do you pick your teeth with your acceptance letter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or with the envelope it came in? (The correct answer is neither: you use the paper clip holding together your orientation materials.)
But seriously, for a moment anyway, M.I.T. recognized the fact that it was sending some students out into the world who were apparently more comfortable crossing a Wheatstone bridge than crossing to the other side of a room to introduce themselves. They were more at ease asking for a Dewar flask than asking, “Do you want to dance?” They could insert a gene better than they could insert themselves into a conversation. Before I search for a geology reference, you get the idea. So in early February, M.I.T. invited any and all students to voluntarily attend its eighth annual charm school.
“We used to refer to it as 'Degeekifying M.I.T.,'” says Katherine O'Dair, charm school coordinator and assistant dean for student life programs. “But we got rid of any references to geeks. No one wants to be thought of that way.” (So, O'Dair must have been thrilled with the New York Times. The headline of its charm school coverage included the phrase “Geeks at M.I.T.”) It's not clear how many students showed up thinking it was a symposium on quarks, but about 800 did wind up attending—about 8 percent of the student body.
I was particularly interested in the M.I.T. event because of psychic etiquette wounds I experienced in my own scientific education. At the institution where I attended graduate school, the chemistry department rewarded the students with a weekly treat. Every Wednesday at 4:30 P.M. a big bag of bagels was delivered to the student lounge in an exercise that became known as “bagel minute.” Not since buzz bombs rained down on London have people raced to a common destination with a greater sense of urgency. Bagel minute was nasty, brutish and short. If you showed up at 4:31, all that was left were some stray schmears of cream cheese and the guilty faces of the survivors.
M.I.T.'s charm school attempts, in a day, to at least expose students to the many guidelines of behavior that will help them move gracefully into the polite society that their postgraduate lives should include. Classes in table manners will most likely do away with any bagel-minute-like escapades. Dress-for-success instruction will come in particularly handy for the young man who showed up wearing a cap on which was written, simply, “PIMP.”
Students were also free to sit at the feet of experts in both business and cell phone etiquette. Unfortunately, many more seemed interested in the former than the latter, a situation that needs quick remedy if my train trip from New York City was any indication: half a dozen loud cell phone conversations took place in my car all the way to Boston.
Perhaps the highlight of M.I.T.'s charm school was the half-hour class on flirting, which ran repeatedly during the day. (One might think that teaching college kids how to flirt would be as necessary as teaching a nightingale to sing, but one might be wrong.) In each session, the mentors separated the men from the women and asked members in each group how they could tell if someone they had just met at a party liked them. The top two reasons the men thought a woman might be interested was that she made eye contact and seemed genuinely engaged in the conversation. The top two reasons the women thought a man might be into them was that “they stare at me and they turn red.” And so I was reminded that our tree-swinging origins still beckon. Which is all the more reason for learning how to flawlessly finger the fondue fork.
- 社交低能的上禮儀課？善莫大焉！
Charmed, I'm Sure
作者╱米爾斯基 ( Steve Mirsky )
系裡面常常提供點心慰勞學生。每個星期三下午4點30分整，就會有人送一大包焙果到研究生休息室。「焙果一分鐘」的儀式於焉展開。那種爭先恐後的鏡頭，絕對可以媲美空襲時，大家逃命躲警報的緊張局面。凶惡、混亂、稍縱即逝，正是這一分鐘的最佳寫照。如果你在4點31分才趕到，就只有望著滿桌子奶油起士殘痕興歎的份了。當然，勝利者也會'努力'堆出一臉慚愧相。
餐桌禮儀課有助於避免「焙果一分鐘」那種混亂場面的出現。有個學生來上課，戴的帽子上寫著「皮條客」，「穿出成功」課程對他一定很有幫助。
the chemistry department rewarded the students with a weekly treat. Every Wednesday at 4:30 P.M. a big bag of bagels was delivered to the student lounge in an exercise that became known as “bagel minute.” Not since buzz bombs rained down on London have people raced to a common destination with a greater sense of urgency. Bagel minute was nasty, brutish and short. If you showed up at 4:31, all that was left were some stray schmears of cream cheese and the guilty faces of the survivors.
譯者╱高涌泉
在美國，人家常常戲謔的問理工科學生：「你清牙縫是用MIT（麻省理工學院）入學通知的信紙，還是要用信封？」正確的答案是：以上皆非，你得用那根夾著「入學須知」的迴紋針。
說正經的，其實MIT校方也心裡有數，每年從MIT畢業的優秀青年無數，但其中有不少在人際應對上卻仍相當笨拙生澀。他們跨接惠斯登電橋，要比跨出房間去跟陌生人搭訕更感到自在；開口跟別人討實驗燒杯是家常便飯，卻不敢開口問：「請妳跳支舞好嗎？」他們擅長嵌入基因，卻無法融入其他人的談話。不用我再贅述，你就知道我在講什麼了。
有鑑於此，MIT校方每年2月都舉辦「魅力研習營」（Charm School），開放學生自由參加，到2000年已是第八屆了。MIT生活輔導組的歐黛爾女士負責安排課程，她說：「以前我們戲稱這是『MIT除書呆氣研習營』，現在則不用『書呆』這字眼，沒有人喜歡人家叫他書呆子的。」她大概沒想到，《紐約時報》介紹這個魅力營時，標題正是：「專為MIT書呆子舉辦的……」
因為“charm”也碰巧是基本粒子夸克的一種特性，所以校方也搞不清楚，到底有多少人誤以為這是夸克研習營才來的。反正有800人出席，約占全校學生總數8%。
我當年念理工時，就曾經因為禮儀問題而心靈受創，因此對這個研習營特別關注。那時我在化學系當研究生，系裡面常常提供點心慰勞學生。每個星期三下午4點30分整，就會有人送一大包焙果到研究生休息室。「焙果一分鐘」的儀式於焉展開。那種爭先恐後的鏡頭，絕對可以媲美空襲時，大家逃命躲警報的緊張局面。凶惡、混亂、稍縱即逝，正是這一分鐘的最佳寫照。如果你在4點31分才趕到，就只有望著滿桌子奶油起士殘痕興歎的份了。當然，勝利者也會努力堆出一臉慚愧相。
短短一天內，MIT魅力營試圖教學生認識一些「行為準則」，將來可以優雅的融入彬彬有禮的社會裡，餐桌禮儀課有助於避免「焙果一分鐘」那種混亂場面的出現。有個學生來上課，戴的帽子上寫著「皮條客」，「穿出成功」課程對他一定很有幫助。
另外還有專家講授的「商場禮儀」及「手機禮儀」課程。遺憾的是，學生對前者的興趣遠高於後者。這種偏頗應予糾正，而且事不宜遲。我最近在紐約搭火車，車廂內有好幾位大嗓門乘客對著手機聊天，一路「廣播」到波士頓。你就曉得情況有多嚴重了。
不過，MIT魅力營的招牌課程是「如何勾引異性」，課程只有半小時，但是每天都重複排了很多場次，以饗大眾。你也許會問：「教大學生如何跟異性交往？那豈不跟教夜鶯唱歌一樣，多此一舉？」事實證明，未必如此。
指導老師把上課的男女生分開，各別問：「你們怎樣判斷，派對裡剛認識的那位異性對你有好感？」男生組的頭兩個理由是：「她會正眼看我；她會專心跟我講話。」女生組的呢？「他瞪著我看；他臉都紅了。」我不由得想起：晃盪樹間的老祖宗習性，依舊深植眾人心底呢！這更加證明了，為什麼學會如何正確無誤的使用餐具，的確是有其必要！
Charmed, I'm Sure
- FOR THE SCIENTIFICALLY BRIGHT BUT SOCIALLY BEFUDDLED, A DAY OF ETIQUETTE INSTRUCTION MIGHT BE JUST WHAT THE PH.D. ORDERED
By Steve Mirsky
It's a classic problem for the average scientist- in-training: Do you pick your teeth with your acceptance letter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or with the envelope it came in? (The correct answer is neither: you use the paper clip holding together your orientation materials.)
But seriously, for a moment anyway, M.I.T. recognized the fact that it was sending some students out into the world who were apparently more comfortable crossing a Wheatstone bridge than crossing to the other side of a room to introduce themselves. They were more at ease asking for a Dewar flask than asking, “Do you want to dance?” They could insert a gene better than they could insert themselves into a conversation. Before I search for a geology reference, you get the idea. So in early February, M.I.T. invited any and all students to voluntarily attend its eighth annual charm school.
“We used to refer to it as 'Degeekifying M.I.T.,'” says Katherine O'Dair, charm school coordinator and assistant dean for student life programs. “But we got rid of any references to geeks. No one wants to be thought of that way.” (So, O'Dair must have been thrilled with the New York Times. The headline of its charm school coverage included the phrase “Geeks at M.I.T.”) It's not clear how many students showed up thinking it was a symposium on quarks, but about 800 did wind up attending—about 8 percent of the student body.
I was particularly interested in the M.I.T. event because of psychic etiquette wounds I experienced in my own scientific education. At the institution where I attended graduate school, the chemistry department rewarded the students with a weekly treat. Every Wednesday at 4:30 P.M. a big bag of bagels was delivered to the student lounge in an exercise that became known as “bagel minute.” Not since buzz bombs rained down on London have people raced to a common destination with a greater sense of urgency. Bagel minute was nasty, brutish and short. If you showed up at 4:31, all that was left were some stray schmears of cream cheese and the guilty faces of the survivors.
M.I.T.'s charm school attempts, in a day, to at least expose students to the many guidelines of behavior that will help them move gracefully into the polite society that their postgraduate lives should include. Classes in table manners will most likely do away with any bagel-minute-like escapades. Dress-for-success instruction will come in particularly handy for the young man who showed up wearing a cap on which was written, simply, “PIMP.”
Students were also free to sit at the feet of experts in both business and cell phone etiquette. Unfortunately, many more seemed interested in the former than the latter, a situation that needs quick remedy if my train trip from New York City was any indication: half a dozen loud cell phone conversations took place in my car all the way to Boston.
Perhaps the highlight of M.I.T.'s charm school was the half-hour class on flirting, which ran repeatedly during the day. (One might think that teaching college kids how to flirt would be as necessary as teaching a nightingale to sing, but one might be wrong.) In each session, the mentors separated the men from the women and asked members in each group how they could tell if someone they had just met at a party liked them. The top two reasons the men thought a woman might be interested was that she made eye contact and seemed genuinely engaged in the conversation. The top two reasons the women thought a man might be into them was that “they stare at me and they turn red.” And so I was reminded that our tree-swinging origins still beckon. Which is all the more reason for learning how to flawlessly finger the fondue fork.