No dead cats this time. This oops is about too many 'terps.
I'm a Sign Language interpreter (terp) as everyone here already knows. Unless there are some new-comers.
I went on a job recently and to my surprise (it's happened before, more than once but not frequently) there was already another interpreter there.
Oops. We made sure there wasn't another Deaf person at the site that was waiting for an interpreter and then did "rock, paper, scissors" to see who would stay.
JK on the hand game. We spoke like two professionals and then I hit the road.
Obviously there was a mix up by the customer when sending in the request to the agency I work for. Even more interesting was the fact that the other person was there from a different agency. hmmm
Later that afternoon I got a text from the interpreter who stayed and she said that another terp showed up for the same client. Now, that has never happened before. double hmmmm
I've also gone on a few jobs only to find out upon arrival that the client wasn't actually DEAF! That one was a royal mix up. Actually, now that I think about it, that happened a few times. Once, the person had a hearing deficit but didn't know Sign Language.
I believe technology is strongly behind the errors. As much as I love the new stuff that's out there that makes our lives easier (most of the time), it also causes some big-time boo-boos.
I love freelance work.
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