《《6.An Ideal Position》.doc

An Ideal Position Life is good. My career in elementary education in Canada is now just a fond memory. I think back on the many years of service and I recall the many classed I taught, the different schools I worked at, the countless staff meetings I attended and the many committees I served on. I estimate that the number of faculty members I worked with over the years is in the hundreds and well over a thousand students have called me teacher. Is it any wonder that I can say that I always felt comfortable walking in school corridors? Sometimes I worked with students at the intermediate level. In Canada, students at that level are youth in their preteen(青春期前的) years as well as teenagers. When I decided to retire, I knew that the first step in the procedure was to write a letter to my employer, a school board, to resign my position. I postponed mailing the letter. I was reluctant to add the postage to the letter, knowing that once I mailed it, the decision could not be reversed. Because I was a veteran teacher of many years, I would be eligible to receive a pension. I calculated that the revenue(收入) I would receive each month would be sufficient to sustain my current lifestyle. If I was smart about my spending habits, I might even have a surplus of money. I certainly would not need to pinch every penny. I knew the money would not come to me in the form of a check. Instead, it would be deposited directly into my bank account. I could withdraw cash from my investments if I needed to supplement my income, my credit rating would allow me to be eligible for a loan when some unforeseen(预料不到的) financial crisis a rose. I knew, therefore, that there was no reason to panic, as my future was secure even if inflation increased or a recession occurred. In either case my income would only be minus a few dollars, a fraction of the total amount. I decided to take the plunge, but waited another fortnight before I mailed the letter. I even paused briefly(简短的,暂时的) with the letter p