  Timing is Everything 适时就是一切

  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.
  我有一个非常要好的朋友名叫艾伦，总是迟到，而且常常不止三两分钟。每一个认识他的人都知道他完全不能信任。即使他最终出现，那也是一个小时以后的事。但是人们却可以在一定程度上接受他这种令人沮丧的脾气，因为他可能是我们所遇到的最有趣的人。有一件事我还记得，就是个很好的明证。

  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 Brent's 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. Couldn't you at least get the car cleaned out?" The laughter that ensued caused everyone to forget how hungry and mad we were.
  有四五个人约好一起去吃饭，包括艾伦。计划八点钟在一个叫"黑雁"的家伙，也就是整个活动的筹划者，家里见面，随便喝点什么，然后八点三十分在饭店吃饭。然而，到九点半艾伦还没有出现。每个人都非常饥饿，而且对艾伦非常生气，特别是"黑雁"，他已经给饭店打了三个电话。我们决定不再等他时，他却出现了。由于我们都爬进"黑雁"的车，"黑雁"不得不从后座中取走一些东西放进旅行箱中，以便大家都能坐下。就在这时，艾伦开口了："伊，黑雁，你有一个半小时的时间，你不能至少把车收拾干净吗？"爆发的笑声使每个人都忘记了我们是多么的饥饿和生气。 