今天的The Seattle Times上有这么个调查，调查的问题是：The offer you’ve been waiting for came through. The money is good, the job is great and the company is a winner. But when you tried to resign from your old job, your employer surprised you with a counteroffer that’s a bit higher than the other offer. What should you do?

结果是这样的：

• 77%的人选择了：Reject the counteroffer and take the new job


• 13%的人选择了：Tell both companies you need a week to think things over


• 8%的人选择了：Use the new offer to negotiate a better deal from the new company


• 2%的人选择了：Take the counteroffer

或许那8%的人的选择是个好的选择。我一直对很多经过我tech screen的人说，要好好准备面试，面试的前一天晚上休息好，因为工作的各个环节里，准备面试以及面试本身几乎是投资回报率最高的一件事情。一旦进了公司，就算苦干一年，也未必能把年薪从24万升成27万。但如果面试中留给雇主的印象稍微再好一点点，在谈offer的时候再多一点点本钱加上多一点点耐心，或许从进公司第一天开始就是27万了。或许此类用两家公司的offer相互抬价的行为看上去不怎么上台面，有点太赤裸裸的铜臭味。跟公司没什么好客气的，谈offer的时候是要钱的最好的机会，不能亏待了自己。众所周知的事实是：要想工资加得多加得快，多跳跳槽。

只有2%的人选择了留在原来的公司。换了是我，连counteroffer都不会开，凡是想好了要走的，只要开口，一律放行，绝对不搞萧何月下追韩信，也绝对不发动三姑六婆来游说。一方面，在我见过的人里面，被劝到最后留下来了的，很多到头来还是做得不开心，还是走掉了；另一方面，等到人家要走了才跟人说“你对我们很重要”、“你在我们这里有很大的机会”之类的话，未免太假惺惺，做姿态成分居多——既然我在这里有很大的机会，为什么早点不搞一点给我看看？我认识一个SDET，曾经共事过，一个东欧那里的人。前年秋天他做的不开心，想走，那个test manager挺赏识他的，想挽留他，就升他做了test lead，但不出半年，这人还是走了。如果我是这个test manager，我是不会这么干。老板如果想确保手下跟着自己多干几年，只能平时就多留一些心眼，防微杜渐，不让小问题日积月累。不要等到手下递辞职信的时候再千方百计地挽留，那时候就晚了，也没意思了。

如果把这个调查拿到上海做一做，恐怕选择”Reject the counteroffer and take the new job”的人会更多。中国人讲究开弓没有回头的箭。中国人对忠诚的理解和实践与美国人很不一样，中国人担心如果留下来了，老板会不会给自己穿小鞋，会不会很多机会就给别人了。所以中国人在提出要走的想法的时候也更谨慎，很多人是把下家都落实得差不多了才跟现在的老板说，说的那一刻，虽然人还没有check out，但心已经完全check out了，taking the counteroffer is no longer an option。

If Seattle were more sunny like San Francisco and tax-free like Portland, it would be the best city in America to live.

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But I hate Washington state law. It says no selling beer after 2:00am. I was in Safeway this morning (or last night, hard to define), buying some chips and beers before joining the deployment in office. When I checked out, the cashier told me "sorry, no beer after two, it's the Washington state law". It's too bad. It was just 2:03 at that moment. Just three mintes too late. I ended up walking out of Safeway with chips only. I don't like that law. American always have some weird laws.

Safeway is indeed good. It's 24 hours like the tiny convenience stores in Shanghai, but it's much much much larger. Some of the Safeway stores are even larger than some Carrefour stores in Shanghai. I always cannot understand how Safeway afford so many 24 hours big supermarkets (there are 22 Safeway stores around Lake Washington: Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, etc.). Shanghai has much more population and higher density. But no supermarket in Shanghai can afford 24 hours.

I was chatting this with friends. They had some theories. Some believe Safeway can run 24 hours because there is no 24 hours convenience stores in the states, therefore, when night owls want to buy something, Safeway probably their only choice. It's not really true. First, those 7-11s are still available at every gas station. Safeway is not really the only choice. Second, there aren't many buyers at Safeway in mid night. This morning, 2:00am, there were probably 2-3 buyers in that store, including me. That Safeway probably won't sell as much as a convenience store in Shanghai from mid night to dawn.

Some other's theory is: Safeway actually lose money by keeping stores open in mid night, but this helps Safeway to build brand image and customer loyalty. It's a valid point. But why there is no supermarket in Shanghai doing this? Don't Carrefour want to build better brand image? The Carrefour in Gu Bei runs until 12:00am. Why can it further extend? Cannot, or don't want to? Why? Don't forget that the labor cost in Shanghai is much lower than in the states.

Anyway, I like Safeway. It's a place that makes me feel safer when I am travelling in here alone. In late night, walking through the stacks, smelling, looking at the fruits, meat and all types of food around me, it makes me feel pretty happy.