21 Jul Sure love my morning cup…
This article was written on June 27, 2014. Enjoy!
I generally start my day with a cup of coffee. By no means am I a morning person, and there is nothing like that freshly brewed first cup to get my day started. I wouldn’t consider myself a caffeine addict. I grew up drinking 2 to 3 cups a day: a cup in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one at night before bed (preferably with some freshly baked bakery bread or pan de agua.
These days I have my morning cup, and occasionally I may have a second cup later in the day or evening. I recently read in some article, in some paper on my cell phone, that the second cup helps prevent adult diabetes. Maybe, who knows? I “phone” read for the vocabulary and the pictures more so than for the content.
I digress, back to the coffee; I love the taste, and I drink it for the taste. If I don’t have my morning cup, other than feeling a lil’ groggier, I don’t get headaches or any other withdrawal symptoms. I like to think it makes me more alert in the morning. I like to think it helps me stay awake on those late Saturday evenings when the UFC main event doesn’t start until after midnight, and chances are I won’t make it to bed till 1am, if I’m not staying up later to watch the post-fight presser. What I do know is I enjoy it. Sure do. It’s my second favorite drink, distant second. Water holds the top spot; whole nuther’ topic though (intentional slang since I believe we don’t spend most days listening to proper English).
Now, on those mornings when, for whatever reason, I can’t find my freshly brewed, or slightly reheated, or McDonald’s vanilla iced, my back-up method for coping with the morning grogginess is interpreting. Once I get the first case of the morning under my belt the grogginess is gone, my mind is alert and racing: thinking about word choices, my notes, self-critique, what to work on between cases, etc… After that first case, I’m wired, no coffee necessary. I’m “red’ to go”, as Wanda would say, for those folks who remember In Living Color. I’m ready for a next case, and a next one, and a next one…
I pretty sure I’m not the only interpreter who feels a certain euphoria each time they perform. There’s a certain amount of thrill in finding the right word combinations, and delivering them properly while keeping emotions at bay. It’s the thrill which keeps me coming back for more. It’s the reason I’d rather be busy going from case to case, for that matter, the reason why 11 years later, I’m still on this journey.
I am beginning to wonder whether the thrill will ever go away. Sometimes there is a bit or monotony in doing the same things over and over again: wake up, go to work, interpret some cases, go home to rest for a bit and prepare to do it all over again the next day. So far the thrill is there, and hopefully like coffee, I’ll always want some more.
What keeps you doing what you do?
Kevin is a State Certified interpreter, served in NAJIT’s Public Relations Committee, and as the NAJIT Observer Administrator for over a year. He likes to try his fingers on the keyboard once in a while in order to rest his mind from interpreting and to exercise his creativity.
30 plus years and no loss of thrill here. Perhaps because the gymnastics our neurons practice when we interpret have that “caffeine-like” effect. Or it could be the simple satisfaction of providing a necessary service that keeps us going for more. I won’t venture into the brain chemical maze, just wanted to share the two main sources of satisfaction for this veteran interpreter.
Know what you mean, Kevin. I’ve been interpreting in court for 31 years now, and I still like love it. Sure, there are the bad days (I get discouraged sometimes by so many tales of woe), but I still like looking up new words, doing the best interpreting I can, and most of all, feeling like I’m helping people. But unlike you, I depend on my morning latté to charge my brain!
Had my first sip after my morning cases today, still enjoying both.
I do not work in court, but always enjoyed my café cubano in the morning. Then high blood pressure hit and that became a nice treat once in a while. I am still looking for a substitute. No, decaf doesn’t cut it.
-Been certified about 30 yrs now. Still loving it. My brain can’t stop the multi-tasking cz It’s addictive. I’ve read that tea-some caffeinated tea-contains more caffeine than coffee and it relaxes me for a ‘The’ performance. The sweetness of a touch of milk and the warmth of the liquid soothes me & sharpens my neurons with a smile! I know that the best way to help is by doing my job to the best of my ability and at the same time, help by inspiring trust in my profession and the judiciary.