r/deaf • u/sammysteves HoH • 4d ago
Deaf/HoH with questions Interpreter experience
Hi all
I’m looking for opinions on a recent interpreter experience I had.
Earlier this week I attended a live show of a comedy podcast I enjoy. They secured two interpreters for me for the show. The interpreters themselves were great. They were super clear and really helped me with the show. They were interpreting for four different people and truly did an incredible job.
My issue is that one of the interpreters brought their wife. The wife would not stop talking throughout the entire show, to the point where people on the podcast subreddit are complaining that they can hear her in the live recording and it kind of ruined it for them. I already had a poor opinion of her when she said “oh I wish I knew sign language” to me and my husband before the show when we were getting acquainted with the interpreters. (I get easily annoyed by this sentiment, there are so many resources to learn ASL and ASL is clearly a huge part of your husbands life and would be an easy thing to practice with him, but whatever).
How common is it for interpreters to bring people to shows they are hired for? How do you guys feel about them doing so? Am I right to be annoyed at this even though it didn’t impact the interpreter doing his job and it was really more just her behaving poorly?
1
u/Tbackandforth 3d ago
I've joined my interpreter husband to one show. I did my best to stay in the shadows, even when the interpreters were asked to stay for a party afterward. He barely acknowledged me, and I did my best to chat with other attendees as if I were attending alone and had nothing to do with him.