IW 194: InterpreComedy: Spy OR Interpreter
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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.
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00:00:34 Tim [ONLY TIM SPEAKS IN THIS EPISODE]
And now, the quotes of the day.
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Today we have three, so let's get through them.
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All three are British.
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The first is the author, Graham Greene.
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“The spy is the idealist of our time. He believes in something larger than himself.”
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And the second by author Ian Fleming.
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“In espionage, you never know who trusts whom and who is betraying whom.”
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And the last quote by actor Sir Roger Moore: “You can't be a real spy and have everybody in the world know who you are and what your drink is.”
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So today we're going to take a look at some of the crazy things that we as sign language interpreters have to talk about and why it sometimes makes me think, am I a spy or a sign language interpreter?
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We'll talk about these quotes in a little bit, but hopefully you understood why I use these three and how it connects to sign language interpreting.
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But what are you, a spy or interpreter?
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Well,
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Let's judge at the end of this episode.
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Let's get started.
[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]
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As sign language interpreters, our ethical codes, our professional conduct, our behaviors, our policies, our habits, our education, our communities make us say things uncomfortably that are not normal sayings for most people.
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So, let's listen in on a couple of imaginary conversations that I'm sure I've never had in my life, but you might have had them or heard them or even started them.
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Let's take a listen.
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Are we really sign language interpreters or are we spies?
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You be the judge.
00:02:36
Let's go.
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First.
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[silly voice] Well, hi. So where do you work?
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Hi, kind of all over.
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What does that mean?
00:02:48
Well, I work in the community.
00:02:50
Oh, you mean around here in this town?
00:02:53
Well, actually, kind of in several different towns, sometimes in other countries.
00:03:00
Other countries?
00:03:02
I think I'll just ask your wife, okay?
00:03:06
Well, actually, she doesn't know where I work either.
[pause]
00:03:13
A secret code, really?
00:03:16
No, I said it's a CODA thing.
00:03:19
Yeah, secret code - DUH! That's not what that...
00:03:26
it's... ugh…
00:03:28
yeah.
[pause]
00:03:29
Oh, I guess people have their “eyes on you.” Well, yeah, actually, that's...
00:03:38
they do. They…yeah. Huh.
00:03:42
So, you have these secret hand signals, huh? Well, it's only secret outside of the community.
00:03:50
Oh, the “community”.
00:03:53
Yeah, the community.
[pause]
00:03:56
“You work autonomously, I guess, huh? Yes, I do work by myself, on my own.
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Sometimes I work in teams, but it's the agency who tells us where to go.
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The “agency”, oh, now I understand.
00:04:14
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Yeah.
[pause]
00:04:17
Many times, we're working in teams and we're monitoring what each of us do, and of course, we sometimes have a debriefing and give feedback and see what the results are.
[pause]
00:04:31
Oh, boy, this was a really tough day.
00:04:34
Oh, really? What happened? What's wrong?
00:04:38
Well...
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I can't really tell you.
00:04:40
Oh, or you'd have to kill me, right? [chuckling] Right?
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Wait, why are you smiling at me?
[pause]
00:04:51
So, like, what did you talk about all day?
00:04:54
Well, I really didn't do any talking today.
00:04:58
But, like, you were there all day, right?
00:05:00
You said you were working there all day.
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You might say everyone else did all the talking.
00:05:05
I didn't actually interject any of my opinions or, thoughts.
00:05:09
Although I really wanted to, but I usually keep those to myself.
00:05:14
Yeah.
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00:05:16
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00:05:18
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00:05:20
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00:05:28
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00:05:35
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00:05:39
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00:05:40
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Thank you.
00:05:44
Now that's the true meaning of support.
00:05:48
Now let's go back.
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00:05:52
Yes, we do say some funny things that make you want to think, huh, why are we so secretive?
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Many people think, well, just tell me, I don't care where you've been.
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I don't care who they were.
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I'm just asking a simple question.
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Where do you work?
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So, because I have friends and I want to keep them, both of them anyway, I usually answer those questions a bit differently in real life.
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I don't say, well, I can't really tell you.
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I say things in general, like we all can.
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Well, I work everywhere.
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Think about it.
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Where do you go throughout your life, on your everyday life, working, going to the doctor, job interviews, all of that, that's where I work.
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You name it, that's where I work.
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Those kind of answers, instead of the, well, I'm really not supposed to tell you, those answers in the beginning are a way for us to be secretive and show how important it is to have confidentiality and respect the other person's agency or space.
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When in reality, that's not what anybody's asking for.
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Nobody's asking us, oh, well, tell me what medical procedure they have…
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Nobody cares.
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It's somebody else's life.
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They just want to know where you work, right?
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What do you do for a living?
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They find out that you're an interpreter and they want to know more because it's a very interesting, unique job that most people never know anything about.
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And so, all we have to do is answer in the general and they get an understanding of it, or at least a small understanding of where we would work and how that works.
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And then they can ask some specific questions.
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How does that work?
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But when we answer, well, I can't really answer that.
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I can't talk about that.
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I'm not supposed to talk about that.
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It starts out innocently.
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When we first learn about confidentiality and ethics, we go back to our education.
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But later it turns into this, how cool and unique am I?
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At least it sounds like that, as though I've got to be secretive and show how mystical my work is by not saying anything really.
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And that goes back to the quote
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back to all of those quotes.
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Roger Moore talking about you can't be a real spy and have everybody in the world know who you are and what your drink is, right?
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So, if we substitute the word spy for interpreter,
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You can't really be a real interpreter and everybody in the world know - you, because that's kind of unethical as well.
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When you talk about where I've been and who I've been with and what I've done and this cool event and that cool event, because then it's all about me and I'm bringing all the attention to me.
00:08:59
So just like spies, sign language interpreters cannot be all about me.
00:09:05
Because then we go to Ian Fleming's quote of trust.
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As a spy, you never know who trusts whom and who is betraying whom.
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As sign language interpreters, we need to know trust.
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Trust is very important and it's also very important to spies.
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You need to know who will betray me, who is telling me the truth, who can I trust and who can I not trust.
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That's why we work with some people in teams better than others, because we trust that that interpreter has our back.
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They will support us when we need it.
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We know that they will.
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That's important.
00:09:46
And just like the spy is the idealist of our time, he believes in something larger than himself.
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He doesn't mind being the anonymous person who's doing something good or at least in his mind, in his goal, is to do something good for the greater good, for a goal, a mission, a purpose.
00:10:10
And as sign language interpreters, we also have that as well.
00:10:13
We think we're doing this for a purpose.
00:10:16
It's not for ourselves.
00:10:18
That's why we...accept the fact that it's not all about me, me, me.
00:10:23
Look at me, I'm on stage.
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Look at me. I'm the cool one that knows both languages and both cultures.
00:10:29
It's not that.
00:10:31
And it's not purely altruistic.
00:10:34
We're doing it because we love the work, we love working with the people, and I personally love going through the mental processes that devour my energy that keeps me going, figuring things out quickly like that.
00:10:50
Keeps me going, keeps me motivated as the wonderful international spy that I am, interpreter.
00:10:56
Yes, sorry, I shouldn't have said that on air. [coughs]
[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]
00:11:06
So now that you've accepted the mission, this podcast will end in just a few seconds.
00:11:12
But before then, remember, have a little fun with your work, enjoy what you do, spy on yourself, and give yourself feedback.
00:11:21
So, the next time the agency calls you, accept your mission boldly, bravely, and anonymously.
00:11:29
Well, not completely anonymously, otherwise they wouldn't pay you.
00:11:33
In secret, accept that mission.
00:11:35
Go forth and watch a lot of people have their conversations and staring at you.
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But don't interject any of your own thoughts.
00:11:45
Allow them to converse in their own way, on their own time, in their own space.
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So, until next time, keep calm, keep interpreting the “bond” that keeps us together.
00:12:01
I'll see you next week.
00:12:03
Take care now.
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