A sign language interpreter in Hawaii deserves a round of applause for not missing a beat when a heckler interrupted a speech by Honolulu mayor Kirk Caldwell during a September 8 press conference. When someone in the audience shouted “F*** you!” at the politician, she used quick thinking to translate the shout in real-time.
- The press conference was about coronavirus restrictions. Caldwell was giving the speech to let Honolulu residents know that the stay home/work from home guidance would continue to be in effect for another two weeks. However, not everyone was happy about the restrictions that were in place.
- Caldwell is trying to stop the spread of coronavirus. While he reopened beaches and parks for solo fitness activities, he reiterated that gatherings of multiple people is still not allowed. “You can only get one household in one household. Your friends from another household are prohibited, or should not be coming to your house to gather,” he said. “We’re trying to really bring down the spread of the virus and we do know that it spreads when people from different households get together. You can’t invite your auntie and [cousin] from another household over to your house to have dinner. That is a gathering that is prohibited.”
- The big F-you came in the midst of these announcements. While the sign language interpreter did stop momentarily, she then sprang back into gear pretty much immediately, throwing up her middle finger to let those with hearing impairments know what was being said. I think that got the message across pretty clearly, don’t you?!
- The interpreter was under contract to translate absolutely everything. It’s not like she could have ignored it. Regardless of what was said, she had to make sure those who couldn’t hear it knew it was happening anyway. Thank goodness for that – we got a viral video out of it!
- Mayor Caldwell has been praised for his excellent response to the heckling. “I understand how upset people are, and I understand that from where they stand they see it as being unfair, but we’re trying to be as fair as possible in terms of our public’s health and safety,” he said. Fair enough!
