My Job ExperienceIn university I had a part-time job at a shop downtown that sold doughnut

My Job Experience

In university I had a part-time job at a shop downtown that sold doughnuts and coffee. Situated on a block where a dozen buses stopped, it catered to commuters (通勤者) who had a few minutes to wait for their bus.

I poured coffee in takeaway cups and patiently waited for customers who'd point through the glass case and say, "No, not that one, the one two rows over."

Every afternoon around four o'clock, a group of schoolchildren would burst into the shop, and business would come to a stop. Adults would glance in, see the crowd and pass on. I didn't mind if the children waited for their bus inside where it was warm and dry. I was not working on commission (抽佣金), and hey, sometimes a kid would have 25 cents to spend.

I came to know the children pretty well. The older girls would tell me about their boyfriends; some of the younger ones would talk about school and show me the drawings they'd done in class. The boys were too reserved to share their secrets, but still, they'd wait every day in the shop until their bus came.

Sometimes I'd hand out a bus fare when a ticket went missing--always repaid the next day.

When it snowed, the kids and I would wait anxiously for a very late bus. They'd call their parents to let them know that they were OK. At closing time I'd lock the door, and the kids and I would wait in the warm shop until their bus finally arrived.

I gave away freely a lot of doughnuts on snow days.

I enjoyed my young friends, but it never occurred to me that I played an important role in their lives--until one Saturday afternoon when a serious-looking man entered the shop and asked if I was the girl who worked on weekdays around four o'clock. I admitted it was true, and he identified himself as the father of two of my favourites --a brother-and-sister team.

"I want you to know I appreciate what you do for my children. I worry about them having to take two buses to get home. It means a lot that they can wait here and you are keeping an eye on them."

I was touched. I told him it wasn't a big deal, that I enjoyed the kids.

"No, you don't understand. When they're safe. It is a big deal. And I'm grateful."

So I was the Doughnut Lady. I not only had received a title, I had become a landmark.

Now I think about all the people who keep an eye on my own children when they venture out into the world. Many of them I never hear about, and some I learn about only by chance. It feels odd to learn of the life my kids have apart from me. In their comings and goings they developed relationships with adults, and those adults, and those adults become, well, Doughnut Ladies.

The author is kind to the children because she wanted to play an important role in the children's lives.

A．Right

B．Wrong

C．Not mentioned