Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
玛格丽特已婚，有两个小孩，过去七年一直在一幢大楼里做夜间清洁工，打扫办公室。
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. “I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school.”
她曾接受过护士培训，但当她的大孩子生了重病时，她不得不放弃了。“我本来想回去的，但这种工作班次对我来说不适合，因为我必须回家接送孩子们上下学。”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just ￡90, before tax and insurance. “It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra.”
因此，她转而做清洁工，从晚上9点到早上6点，每周五晚，税前90英镑。“这比去年好多了，但我仍然认为，那些在“非社交时间”工作的人应该得到一点额外收入。”
The hours she’s chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn’t think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
她选择的工作时间意味着她见孩子的时间很多，但见丈夫的时间很少。然而，她认为这不会给他们的关系带来任何压力。
Her work isn’t physically very hard, but it’s not exactly pleasant, either. “I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they’d be a bit more careful.”
她的工作在身体上并不很辛苦，但也不太愉快。“我确实对那些离开办公室后将办公室弄得像是养猪场的人生气。如果他们意识到像我这样的人必须打扫的化，也许他们会更小心一些。”
The fact that she’s working all night doesn’t worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. “Since I’ve got to be here, I try to enjoy myself - and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags.”
玛格丽特一点也不担心她通宵工作。与一些夜间黑暗的大楼不同，她工作的大楼光线充足，女性三人一组工作。“既然我必须来这里，我就尽量享受自己的生活，而且我通常也会这样做，因为有其他的女孩。我们都笑得很开心，所以时间过得很快。”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living. “They think you’re a cleaner because you don’t know how to read and write,” said Margaret. “I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I’d been doing, but I don’t think that way any more. I don’t dislike the work though I can’t say I’m mad about it.”
玛格丽特必须面对的另一个挑战是，当她告诉别人她以什么为生时别人的反应。玛格丽特说：“他们认为你是个清洁工，因为你不会读写。”。“我过去常常想，如果我的父母知道我在做什么，他们会怎么说，但我现在不再这样想了。我并不讨厌这项工作，尽管我不能说我对它很生气。”
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