Sidney Wilson’s watch was old and it did not work well. It
was either too fast or too slow. It spent more time staying in the
repair shop than on his wrist. He decided to buy himself a new
watch.
  He went into a jewelry shop and spoke to the saleswoman
behind the counter. “I want to buy a new watch. Please show
me the best watch you have.”
  The saleswoman smiled happily. This was the kind of customer she liked.
  “Certainly, sir,” she said, and showed Sidney a gold watch.
  “This watch is made of gold and has twenty-four jewels,”
she explained.
  “How much is it?” Sidney asked.
  “$5,000,” the saleswoman said.
  “Oh,” Sidney said. “I’m sorry. You did not understand me. I
want to see the best watch you have for under $100.”
  The saleswoman now lost interest in Sidney. She pushed
some cheap watches to him. “Choose one of these,” she said
rudely. “They are all under $100.”
  Sidney picked up one of the watches, “Will it last me a
lifetime?” he asked.
  “Of course,” the saleswoman said.
  “Then I’ll buy it,” Sidney told her. He paid for the watch and
left the shop.
  Two days later the watch stopped. Sidney could not make
it start again. He took it back to the shop.
  “This watch is broken,” he said to the saleswoman. “You
told me it would last me a lifetime.”
  “When you bought it, sir,” the saleswoman said, “you didn’t
look very well.”

                  能用一辈子的手表
  悉尼·威尔森的表旧了，又不好用，不是太快就是太慢。表在维修店的
时间比戴在他手上的时间要多得多，因此他决定买块新手表。
  他来到珠宝店对柜台售货员说：“我想买块新表，请给我拿一块你们店
里最好的表。”
  售货员开心地笑了。这是她喜欢的顾客类型。
  “好的，先生。”说完，她就递给悉尼一块金表。
  “这块表是金的，上面有二十四颗钻石。”她解释说。

  “多少钱？”悉尼问。
  “五千美元。” 售货员回答。
  “啊，”悉尼忙说，“很抱歉，你可能没听懂我的意思。我想看看你们
店中一百美元以下最好的表。”
  售货员马上对悉尼失去了兴趣。她拿出一些便宜的表递给悉尼，然后极
不礼貌地说：“从这些表当中挑一块吧，它们都是一百美元以下的。”
  悉尼拿起其中的一块表问道：“这表我能用一辈子吗？”
  “当然能啦。” 售货员回答。
  “那我就买这块表了。”悉尼付款后就离开了商店。
  两天后，表停了，悉尼怎么摆弄都弄不好，于是他把表拿回了商店。
  “这块表坏了，”他对售货员说，“你不是说这表可以用一辈子吗？”
  “先生，你买表的时候，看起来不是很健康啊。”售货员说。