IW 195: InterpreTip-Comedy: Don't Stand So Close to Me

You know that jacket makes you look fat. What?!

Our clients can very easily say things to us that would normally hurt our feelings or shock someone not in our profession. I give real examples of these phrases and discuss why we accept them and why others still use them.

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Transcript

IW 195: InterpreTip-Comedy: Don't Stand So Close to Me

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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]

00:00:02 Tim

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go to interpretersworkshop.com.

00:00:28 Tim

Let's start talking... interpreting.

[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

00:00:35 Tim [ONLY TIM SPEAKS IN THIS EPISODE]

And now, the quote of the day by the band many ice ages ago called The Police.

00:00:43

“Please don't stand so close to me.”

00:00:46

That quote is funny because every time I hear that phrase, I think of the song.

00:00:52

As sign language interpreters, we hear so many crazy, strange, creepy things said to us.

00:00:59

They tell us many things that they wouldn't tell or say to a non-sign language interpreter.

00:01:06

Why?

00:01:07

What is it about sign language interpreters that cause people's brains to malfunction, to get scared, to get confused?

00:01:17

Well, let's take a little look at that today.

00:01:21

Let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:01:28

Every day, in every assignment that we take on, we are told many things that normal people would not be told.

00:01:37

Let's take a look at them and analyze perhaps why.

00:01:42

And these are things that are said to us by all of our clients, hearing, Deaf, sometimes even, other sign language interpreters.

00:01:51

Oddly enough, interesting.

00:01:54

So, what do they say?

00:01:56

How many phrases are in your head right now that you're almost giggling at?

00:02:00

Or perhaps you just finished an assignment where people used these phrases.

00:02:06

Let's go through a few of them rapidly.

00:02:10

No, sit there.

00:02:12

No, don't stand there.

00:02:14

No, sit down.

00:02:15

No, stand up.

00:02:16

No, don't… don't be over there.

00:02:18

No.

00:02:18

Behind that.

00:02:19

There.

00:02:20

Right there.

00:02:21

Yes.

00:02:23

Your nails are way too long.

00:02:26

Why did you paint your nails that color?

00:02:28

I don't like that tattoo.

00:02:31

Why did you think that mustache would work?

00:02:34

Too much facial hair on you. I don't like that.

00:02:37

Wow. You've gained weight.

00:02:41

You look so tired.

00:02:44

Are you pregnant?

00:02:46

Those clothes are way too wild.

00:02:49

You should have long sleeves.

00:02:52

Those buttons are way too shiny.

00:02:54

Wow, you've got fat fingers.

00:02:57

Your fingers are really short.

00:02:59

Why are you closing your eyes?

00:03:02

What's he saying? What's he saying? What's he saying?

00:03:06

You can't stand there. No, you will be distracting.

00:03:10

Stand in the corner. Yeah, go back there to the corner.

00:03:15

You're standing way too close to me.

00:03:18

What do you mean it's not universal? It should be universal.

00:03:23

How did you learn that?

00:03:25

What's your real job?

00:03:28

Wait, this is all you do?

00:03:31

I think what you do is so beautiful.

00:03:34

I could watch you all day.

00:03:37

How did you get into doing this?

00:03:40

Are you a missionary?

00:03:43

Are you angry? Why are you looking like that? What's wrong? Why are you making that face?

00:03:47

Why aren't you looking at me?

00:03:50

Why are you staring at him?

00:03:52

Oh! You can talk?!

00:03:53

Can you hear me?

[ROCK TRANSITION  MUSIC STARTS]

00:03:56

When I'm having one of those days, I need a stiff, strong drink of coffee.

00:04:01

In fact, you can support me in that cause.

00:04:04

Just click on the links in the show notes for Buy Me a Coffee to support interpreters worldwide.

00:04:09

Thank you.

00:04:10

Now let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:04:12

So why do they say these things to us, even after many years of our profession or even whenever they have experience with interpreters?

00:04:22

Clients tend to look at our appearance through two sets of eyes.

00:04:28

For the hearing, it's about professionalism, whether you're up for the job or not.

00:04:34

For the Deaf clients, it's all about the language, invisibility, and professionalism as well.

00:04:42

Where we sit, where we stand, where we are, also has to do with visibility, language.

00:04:50

But for the hearing clients, it's all about fear.

00:04:54

Fear and the unknown.

00:04:57

They are afraid because this is not a schema they're used to.

00:05:02

Normally when they are lecturing or when they're presenting or when they're talking to one of their clients, they don't have another person there in close proximity or taking the stage and taking attention away from them because they are the important person.

00:05:20

And so now we've changed that schema and they're not used to it.

00:05:25

So therefore, they have a little bit of confusion or fear of what might happen.

00:05:32

It's that fear of the unknown.

00:05:35

Many of the other things have to do with knowing the way the system works.

00:05:40

The Deaf client knows that you're there to facilitate the communication.

00:05:46

So, they immediately want to know, what's that person saying?

00:05:48

What are these people saying?

00:05:50

What's happening?

00:05:51

What am I missing out here?

00:05:52

What am I losing out on?

00:05:54

Because normally when I don't have an interpreter, I've got all of these unknowns.

00:05:59

But there's an interpreter now, so I want to know everything.

00:06:04

I want to take advantage of that.

00:06:06

For the hearing clients, they want to know what's being said when we're flapping our arms back and forth between clients or between team members.

00:06:15

They also are out of the loop.

00:06:18

They're now feeling what it's like not to have the information.

00:06:22

Are you talking about me?

00:06:24

Is something wrong?

00:06:25

Did I do something?

00:06:26

Do I need to do something?

00:06:28

The eye contact.

00:06:30

We tend to think with sign language, we have to have eye contact.

00:06:33

It's very important to use and regulate and moderate the flow of information.

00:06:39

For the hearing clients, it's also respectful to look at someone to show that you're having attention in most cultures.

00:06:48

Facial expressions, however, are also paramount for both groups of clients.

00:06:55

And they also want to know, what are you actually saying?

00:06:59

Because I said this kind of calmly, but you're acting as though you're angry or you're showing some type of confusion on your face.

00:07:07

And I don't think that means the same thing as what I thought it meant.

00:07:12

So, it's a language or grammar or structure misunderstanding.

00:07:17

How did you learn this?

00:07:19

It's also a misunderstanding about the profession.

00:07:22

Are you a missionary? - real job, all of those things.

00:07:28

If we back out and think, what do all of these strange phrases, questions, comments have in common?

00:07:38

It's a systemic problem.

00:07:41

Even people who understand or have been explained that it's a full language, they still have deep rooted deep in their psyche, their knowledge, their experience, that…

00:07:54

… Okay, it's a language, but it's a language made-up for those disabled people, the Deaf, who can't understand real language, and therefore they cannot know, and therefore it should be able to be universal because you're creating the language for the disabled, especially when you have special education classes, you have special education degrees, teaching them some signs, teaching the teachers of special education some signs, therefore you're creating the signs for the, the teachers to be able to communicate with the students, and therefore they would learn the language from the teachers.

00:08:40

So why not just teach the teachers the same universal language?

00:08:44

And everybody around the world would be using the same.

00:08:46

It's that mentality, those assumptions that are being used that make them think, no matter how much we explain it, no matter how much they experience the Deaf community, they still have those ideas in their heads because of all the other systems, institutions that are in place.

00:09:08

It keeps that concept of the language going that it is a created language for those people.

00:09:18

And that connects to why they say, oh, do you have a real job?

00:09:23

Are you a missionary?

00:09:24

Because you're helping those poor people, the ones that need it.

00:09:30

They don't think it's a reciprocal interpretation where they need you because they're not from the special education area, right?

00:09:39

They're not from that group.

00:09:42

Why do they want us to stand in the corner?

00:09:45

Because we're just for that group.

00:09:46

Just like special education, that person is put in a special area, special area of the school, of the class, of society, and therefore just stand at the back.

00:10:00

Don't distract us because you're going to need to help them anyway, right?

00:10:04

You're going to have to support them with extra things that are going to take too much time and it's not anything that we need.

00:10:11

That's the perpetual mentality that is hard to get rid of, very hard when it's throughout our society, worldwide.

00:10:21

Normal, well, is normal.

00:10:24

But why do we accept these things as interpreters?

00:10:28

Well, before we go to that, let's think about how systemic our reactions are.

00:10:34

We get used to these phrases, and we have our own little phrases, like I've talked about before, where we answer them in a way which gives them all the information, very concise, so that we don't have to go into a five-minute dialogue of what is needed.

00:10:53

We get used to them.

00:10:54

And unfortunately, that also affects us. When we team with other interpreters, sometimes other interpreters are just reflecting what our clients say.

00:11:06

I can't believe that interpreter is wearing that blouse.

00:11:10

I can't believe their nails are like that.

00:11:13

Why are they sitting there? They should be standing over there next to the speaker.

00:11:17

It's because it's been drilled inside our heads for so long by the clients, perhaps by our education, and we don't realize that we're just copying, reflecting exactly what we've been shown.

00:11:34

So, the reasons we accept it?

00:11:36

Well, in the beginning, I would say we have a little bit of imposter syndrome.

00:11:42

And therefore, we accept it, say, oh, I don't, I'm new to this.

00:11:45

I'm going to let them guide me.

00:11:47

I will listen to them and do that.

00:11:49

I'll just nod my head and accept it.

00:11:51

And perhaps with the hearing clients especially, they tell us, well, we can't stand here or stand there.

00:11:57

They have authority in our minds.

00:11:59

Well, you know, they're experienced professionals and I'm just a beginner little interpreter.

00:12:05

I don't have the professional skills or the confidence right now to go against that.

00:12:11

And so, we accept it.

00:12:13

And if the Deaf tell us to do something at that point, we just totally accept it because we've been so focused on serving the client's needs, whatever they say goes.

00:12:24

And so, we accept it.

00:12:26

And that connects to fear.

00:12:29

As new interpreters, hopefully only new, hopefully nobody, but for new interpreters, we tended (tended?) we tend to have a fear that if we do something wrong, we're not going to be asked back to do these gigs for these clients.

00:12:47

We must serve them so that they accept us.

00:12:52

We don't want to get a bad reputation.

00:12:55

Later, we know that the Deaf know what they need, and so we accept that.

00:13:02

Not in a way that it's, yes, yes, yes, yes, okay, yeah, yeah, I'll do that…

00:13:06

…in a weak, submissive way, but we realize they have some reason for me to stand here or move here or change my language because it's for them.

00:13:17

So, we get to that point where we accept that.

00:13:20

We let the Deaf decide where the hearing client is telling us to stand or not.

00:13:27

Let them accept it or not accept it rather than us.

00:13:30

And then much, much later in our careers, we know from experience what works in the situation.

00:13:39

And so, if the decisions have been made by the clients in a certain way, and we know that, okay, yeah, this does work best if I'm over here, they've already said it, I don't need to do anything.

00:13:49

But if they say something that's not quite right, or they ask something that's not quite right, or they make a comment about our weight, well, we know that in the end, everything's going to be okay.

00:14:03

The day's going to finish.

00:14:04

We will probably finish the communications to a sufficient acceptance by everyone, and it really doesn't matter about those little details that we were fretting over, that we were worrying about.

00:14:18

The older we are, the more experienced, rather we are, the more we know the details don't always matter if the job gets done, especially if the clients have already decided this is the way it should be.

00:14:32

Luckily, at that stage in our career, we also know if something is not getting done sufficiently and we can navigate around that and make sure that even though the clients think this is correct, we can make sure that it is by adding something there because we know that even if it wasn't our decision, we might still be blamed for it.

00:14:55

That's just life.

00:14:56

And so, we interject when we have to, when we need to, when it makes sense.

00:15:02

So sometimes our clients may be very blunt about our appearance, about where to sit or stand, or whether we need to stand in the corner for a little while until we behave.

00:15:14

But in the end, it's still our profession and we can decide to accept it and not let those words hurt us.

00:15:24

We will be told many things in our careers, and the better we get at just ignoring, the better we get at realizing it's not personal.

00:15:36

It's a misunderstanding on their side, including some of our teams.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:15:47

So, the next time you're insulted by a client in a nice smiley way, smile back and know that you are a professional sign language interpreter and it's just part of the job.

00:16:01

And of course, if it's one of your special teams, point out to them that they're just being a client.

00:16:08

And then wink and make sure they understand you were insulting them.

00:16:11

Wait, umm, and discuss it with them thoroughly so they understand everything. [sighs]

00:16:19

Or just send them this episode.

00:16:21

Until next time, keep calm, keep ignoring the clients, I mean, interpreting for the clients.

00:16:30

I'll see you next week.

00:16:31

Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:17:07]