When the phone rang, no one moved – an unnerving response to an American, for whom a ringing phone demands an immediate reaction in anticipation of an opportunity. When I asked about it, the employees explained what to them was obvious: “People call offices only about problems.”
大约在差不多的时候，在莫斯科政府办公室，我获得了另一个很小但深刻的洞见。当电话响起时，没有人动身——对美国人来说，这样的反应让人感到紧张，因为在美国，电话铃声响起很可能意味着机会来临，你必须马上去接。当我就此提出疑问时，政府雇员解释说——这对他们来说是理所当然的——“人们只有有问题了才会打电话来。”他们显然认为，解决问题不是他们的工作职责。