While I’m working VRS, between calls I like to read from the book Encounters with Reality: 1,001 Interpreter Scenarios (2nd Edition) by Brenda E. Cartwright. I’d like to share a couple of quotes I read recently that stuck with me:
The first is from an interpreter’s perspective.
“I always like to remember that there’s probably no other job in the world that would put me in so many different and unusual situations, good and bad, and how much richer my life is as a result” (113).
The second is from a Deaf consumer’s perspective on advice he/she would give to an interpreter.
Don’t compromise on confidentiality. This is something I have a hard time dealing with; I have a hard time trusting interpreters. I’ve heard too many horror stories about interpreters who blab” (p 133).
Both quotes stand out to me for what a wonderous, amazing job I have. I encounter the strange and amazing, the sad and the successes of the people I serve. But I also have a constant feeling of “I did well!” and “I don’t think I know any language…” Being an interpreter is hard, and I keep in mind this continuous swelling and deflation is normal.
However, at the end of the day, it’s not about me, as the Deaf consumer notes when he/she says that trusting interpreters is hard. While a psychologist may get into your mind, a doctor may get into your body, and the bank may get into your finances, a sign language interpreter gets into all of them. Therefore, it’s important to keep in mind that being invited into a Deaf/hard-of-hearing consumer’s life is a privilege regardless of what my sense of self says at the end of the day.
Melanie Page 
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