所以，伊丽莎白"格雷(Elizabeth Gray)更关心的是一个平等的竞争平台而不是金钱。宣称热爱自己工作的这位城市项目经理曾亲眼看到从前的同事们向一个承包人送礼，为这个人根本没完成的工作支付酬金，还授予他“年度承包人”的头衔。

　　 So, money doesn't interest Elizabeth Gray as much as a level playing field. 'I like what I do,' says the city project manager who once witnessed former colleagues award a contractor, paid for work he never completed, with the title of 'Contractor of the Year.'

　　因此：“我的理想职业是一个能够摆脱办公室政治的工作，”她说。“应该唯才是举，那些真正付出劳动的人们应该得到奖励。”

　　 Thus: 'My dream job would be one free of politics,' she says. 'All advancement would be based on merit. The people who really did the work would be the ones who received the credit.'

　　弗兰克"加斯特纳(Frank Gastner)也有类似的理想：“做个负责消灭空洞政策的副总裁。”这么多年来，他不得不为解决最简单的设计缺陷费尽口舌，而如果不是因为官僚作风作祟，解决这些问题根本不用付出什么成本。因此这位已经退休的厂商代表说，对待产品和加工问题，他会采取这样的态度，“这样做不对，不要开委员会会议，让我们现在就来解决它。”

　　 Frank Gastner has a similar ideal: 'VP in charge of destroying inane policies.' Over the years, he's had to hassle with the simplest of design flaws that would cost virtually nothing to fix were it not for the bureaucracies that entrenched them. So, the retired manufacturer's representative says he would address product and process problems with the attitude, 'It's not right; let's fix it now without a committee meeting.'

　　莫尼克"休斯顿(Monique Huston)已经拥有了理想职业──而且许多人告诉她这也是他们的梦想。她是奥马哈一家酒吧的经理。这家名为Dundee Dell的酒吧有650种单麦芽苏格兰威士忌供顾客选择。她走访酒吧、乡村俱乐部、到人们家中做客，并前往苏格兰品酒。她说，“我偶然间发现了热爱的事业。”

　　 Monique Huston actually has her dream job -- and many tell her it's theirs, too. She's general manager of a pub in Omaha, the Dundee Dell, which boasts 650 single-malt scotches on its menu. She visits bars, country clubs, people's homes and Scotland for whiskey tastings. 'I stumbled on my passion in life,' she says.

　　不过，有的晚上她还是不想喝酒，或者做笑脸。“脸会觉得疼。”她抱怨说。当你拥有理想职业以后，你就会想自己下一步究竟该做些什么。

　　 Still, some nights she doesn't feel like drinking -- or smiling. 'Your face hurts,' she complains. And when you have your dream job you wonder what in the world you'll do next.

　　理想职业的一大诱人之处在于你会为之魂牵梦萦。去年，乔治"莱因哈特(George Reinhart)看到一则西印度群岛私人岛屿马斯蒂奎岛招聘总经理的广告。

　　 One of the big appeals of a dream job is dreaming about it. Last year, George Reinhart saw an ad for a managing director of the privately owned island of Mustique in the West Indies.

　　 100万美元的薪水和好过波士顿郊区的气候吸引了他。他看了一部关于西印度群岛的纪录片，那里是滚石乐队主唱米克"贾格尔(Mick Jagger)和英国玛格丽特公主(Princess Margaret)这样的人物经常光顾的时髦去处。他重读了赫尔曼"沃克(Herman Wouk)的《不要让狂欢节结束》(Don't Stop the Carnival)，这本书写的是一个宣传人员离开在纽约的工作，买下一处小岛饭店的故事。去年四月，他申请了这份工作。