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 shelves in a supermarket early 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 thought carefully before spending the money.
False — Falso: fue STRAIGHT there after work, todavía con el uniforme puesto. El plan era viejo, pero la compra fue inmediata.
Why is the short line 'I wore them twice' important?
Because it shows the purchase was a mistake, without saying so — 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?
Because she wanted her child to learn from the mistake alone — 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?
That losing the money taught the writer something worth more than the money — 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.