Work stories

Here's some stories from work ....

VCO caller says, "Uh...uh...is Marie there?" (very loudly and not very clearly)
Person responds " I don't speak Spanish."
VCO caller: "no, no. I said is Marie there?"
Person again says, "I NO SPEAK SPANISH!"
VCO laughs. "I speak English."

Well, this made me laugh. Someone's been telling this poor guy that he speaks well enough to use the phone, but it comes out sounding like Spanish.



Deaf caller says, "Hi, it's me. Do you want some cereal?"
"Who is this?"
Caller repeats name. "Do you want cereal?"
This conversation repeats 4 times. Seriously. Word for word, it repeats.
(Finally some clarification)
"Honey Bunches of somthin...do you want cereal?"
"oh, ok."
"I'll be there in 5 min".

hmmmm.... I started to wonder if "cereal" was a code word for something else. Something mysterious and possibly illegal?

Deaf caller contacts a P.I. to ask if they could break into her boyfriend's computer and pager. She suspects he's cheating on her. "No. That's illegal. We can't do that." She asks 3 more times, just to be sure.

My job is so unique. I see dozens of different people every day. I am part of their conversations, and get a glimpse into their lives for a short time. Some calls I really enjoy, some I detest, some are boring, some are short, some are crazy long. I can't tell you how many times I get to work feeling tired or annoyed with something in my life. Then I interpret a call for someone asking to have their food stamp allowance increased because they can't feed their kids. Or a grandma saying that the kids miss their Daddy so much; can't you please come visit? Or people arguing for 30 minutes over $10 borrowed. Or a mother calling her son to say the police are looking for you.

It's those calls that make me realize how blessed I am. I could be living those situations. That could be my life. Instead, I'm just the interpreter, relying information between two parties. There is nothing I can to do to change the situation except send up a quick prayer on their behalf. And remember to be thankful for a life without (much) drama.