Is it ever just a job?

During the Rochester Deaf Film Festival, I got talking with an interpreter about some of her pet peeve regarding the interpreting industry. She said that some of her fellow interpreters just treat interpreting as just a job. They come in, interpret, then go home, and that is the only exposure to deaf people that they have. Many times, while they are interpreting, they think about how to follow the national interpreting certification guidelines. For example, if the deaf person seems to sign more English, then they should sign English too. If they are more ASL, then sign more ASL. Even worse, sometimes they don’t even pay attention to make sure that the deaf person is following along with their interpretation. In another words, they think “if I follow the rules, then I’ve done my job”, but is that really what it is supposed to be all about?

Sorry, I don’t think so. In the continuum of life, I don’t think that anything that we do in life ought to be *just* a job. Neither should a game be *just* something you do to have fun. Nor should things you invest in just be a way to earn money (I generally avoid investing in companies I don’t believe in, even if I know it could make a buck for me to do so). Furthermore, even things you buy, and from whom should be weighed against more than just the price and how much you get out of it. No, it should extend beyond that, even onto how you are helping somebody else, or sometimes in the case of food, the environment through your purchase. I don’t think that enough of us ever fully appreciate the ripple effect that our life has on the rest of the world.

Back to the point about “is it ever just a job” — it is my firm belief that the most effective workers, the workers who make the most positive difference in the world are those who have a job that they believe in, and who treat their work as more than just a way to pay bills. They take ownership of their work — they seek day after day to do the very best job that they can at the moment. Yes, the goal would be, and should always be to do a better job today than yesterday. They also have a good sense of how their work helps other people — like a mission, a purpose for life.

If you are a teacher, it should be your goal to teach your classroom how to advance beyond your wildest dreams. By that I mean — do everything you can to bring out the kid’s greatest potentials. Forget curriculum (think of it as only minimum) — go above and beyond that. Why become a teacher if you don’t want to see those kids achieve a level of brilliance that you never managed to grasp?

I’m not saying I don’t appreciate the interpreters who see their job as just a job. I do appreciate their service. What I’m saying is I would like it if more interpreters come into that profession because they really do believe that Deaf people are capable of doing anything and everything that hearing people can do — except hear. It should be their goal to do their best to enable the Deaf people to communicate with their hearing peers seamlessly, and in a language that both sides understand. Free both sides, as much as possible, from the load of trying to figure out or translate what the others are saying, and allow both sides to think as much as possible in the idea and problem domain. In order to do this effectively, ideally, you should know both languages and the underlying culture very well. There is no better way to know both languages very well than to use both languages and interact with both cultures on a regular basis.

Think about it a moment: the ideal French-English translator would know both French and English by heart. As a matter of fact, they probably grew up speaking both languages. Alternatively, they might have 6-7 years of immersion into both languages at minimum. They know culturally French and culturally English people. They would probably STILL be interacting with both cultures at a regular basis if they are at all able. What is the purpose of translating between the two cultures if you do not believe in your heart that both cultures have something of value to give each other, and you have the desire to bring them both together on one accord while allowing them to maintain their separate identity?

Yet…having interpreters who don’t regularly interact with Deaf people, and instead view their job as just a job rather than a mission to bring together two cultures is precisely what Deaf people have to put up with all the time.

I’ve been told by interpreters from time to time that interpreter agencies who send interpreter to interpret for me always tell the interpreters to sign more English for me. After all, I grew up with signed English. Has anybody really bothered to ask *ME* what I want? Rarely am I ever asked. Now, I can understand how some Deaf people might not be aware of why they understand one system more than the other, but I’m pretty sure I’m aware of what I understand. I have the ability to THINK in ASL. In my mental process — I don’t have to translate what I see signed to English in order to understand it, so there is absolutely no need to make it clear to me what English words are spoken. I might expand more on this topic in a later blog.

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