El primer sueldo (The first pay packet)
MCER B1192 palabras
I was sixteen and I worked for three weeks in a supermarket, filling shelves at six in the morning. It was July, the shop was cold and I was the only person there under fifty.
On the last Friday they gave me an envelope with two hundred and ten euros in it. I had never held that much money in my hand.
I had a plan. There was a pair of trainers in a shop in the centre, white, expensive, and I had been looking at them since April. I went straight there after work, still in my uniform, and I bought them.
I wore them twice.
What I remember now is not the trainers. It is my mother's face when I put the empty envelope on the kitchen table, and the fact that she said nothing at all. She did not tell me I had been stupid. She waited eleven years, until I bought my first washing machine after comparing four models for a month, and then she said: 'You see? You learnt it yourself.'
I still think that was the most expensive lesson anybody has ever let me pay for.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- to fill shelvesreponer estanterías
- envelopesobre
- trainerszapatillas de deporte
- uniformuniforme
- washing machinelavadora
- stupidtonto, idiota
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
What was the writer's job?
Filling supermarket shelves at six in the morning — Filling shelves at six in the morning, tres semanas de julio. La tienda de zapatillas es donde gasta el dinero, no donde trabaja.
The envelope had ___ hundred and ten euros in it.
two — Two hundred and ten euros: doscientos diez.
The writer waited several days after payday before buying the trainers.
False — Falso: fue directamente a la tienda después del trabajo, todavía con el uniforme puesto.
Why is the short line 'I wore them twice' important?
It shows how little use the expensive purchase had — Cuatro palabras solas en un párrafo. El texto no dice «me equivoqué»: pone lo que costó al lado de las veces que las usó y te deja hacer la cuenta.
Why did the mother say nothing at the time?
She let her child learn from the mistake — El texto no lo explica hasta once años después, y entonces lo dice ella: «lo aprendiste tú solo». Callarse era el método.
What does the last sentence mean?
The wasted pay bought a lasting lesson about spending — Juega con dos sentidos de «pagar»: pagó 210 euros por unas zapatillas y a la vez pagó una lección. Y añade quién se la dejó pagar: su madre, callándose.