Do you have the time…to listen to me whine?

Last week, I had to file a complaint on my captionist for unprofessional behavior, because I had 3 incidents with him IN ONE WEEK that pushed me over the edge.

First, he was told to use a specific plug and he decided he wanted to use the one under my desk, which my boss had said NOT use. I told him this and he blew me off. And yes, I tattled on him. Damn skippy I did. I wasn't about to have my boss fire ME because he wasn't following the rules.

Two days later, he answers a question asked by the trainer that was directed to the class not to him. Are you kidding me? That's one of the big no-no's of not just interpreting, but he wouldn't have dared to do that in a courtroom. What makes him think its ok for him to do that in my classroom?

And finally, he actually yelled at me. I was busy working and he started typing, but it wasn't for the classroom. It was him telling me he talked to my supervisors about needing more frequent breaks. "That's fine," I tell him. "That's between you and the supervisors." He snaps at me, "Would you at least let me finish?"

Really? You're going to yell at me when I need to be working not having conversations with you? You're going to yell at the person who is the only reason you even have this job? And you're a freelance who has to take what he can get? Plus you're new in town and need to develop a good reputation, not piss off the few people that actually request CART services.

And come to find out, he's not doing the CART correctly either. He wouldn't put any hard returns in the narrative for easier reading. The new captionist does this plus she adds things like "speaker" and "question" so I know who is talking.

DEAF 'TERPING FOR DEAF? HOW DOES THAT WORK?
 Unbelievably, this guy also had a hearing loss and used a hearing aid. He couldn't hear the questions from the other trainees and would get extremely agitated. He finally started asking the trainers to repeat the questions, but he would be very aggressive and demanding. Even the guy across from me could tell he was getting m when he couldn't hear. And get this…he actually started typing to me during a lecture that the supervisors didn't care or understand that he couldn't hear the questions.

I'm sorry, but hearing is a necessity for court reporting, transcribing, and CART services. And I'm sure you don't yell at the judge to REPEAT THE QUESTION during court.

PUT YOUR OVARY AWAY, DUDE
 I swear, I must be some kind of magnet for overly sensitive men. In addition to the captionist, I've managed to piss off someone I dated in high school. He kept saying something about an "ear dude" fixing me on my FaceBook status. My response was, "I'll be sure to tell my female audiologist you called her a dude." He deleted me as a friend after telling me I wasn't very nice. Who the hell says "dude" anyway? Besides Michelle Tanner on Full House, that is.

GIRLS RULE BOYS DROOL
 Two days into having a new captionist, I'm in heaven. Her equipment isn't new and fancy like his, but I can read her screen better and can keep up and take notes much easier. I take notes while reading along because it helps me retain the information and then I have it right there for the quizzes we usually have almost immediately after the lectures.

I get along with everyone but that captionist, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't me.