Today the interpreter received a phone call – mind you, that is not a rare thing. Enquiries, requests, job offers: all of these regularly come via the phone. However, this particular caller
wished to talk to me on behalf of the Heidelberg public transport companies and wanted to capture my “travelling statistics”. The day in question was (of all days) that of my infamous trip to Southern Italy.
Poor chap – my answers did not fit in any of the routines of his computer. By the way, his system’s processing capacities were more than challenged when I answered the question “Was this a normal Monday for you” with an enthusiastic “Yes, of course”! Anyway, the programme would not accept a commute of more than 2000 kilometers. Still,the caller had decided (just like I had) to take it in good humour saying that my interview had been extraordinary and entertaining.
The incredulous silence I got from the other end of the telephone line every once and again proved to me yet again that the conference interpreter’s profession is really out of the ordinary.
We do not know the word “routine” – every day is new, every day is different.
