(no subject)

Near the end of the shift I had a hell of a time interviewing an Indian lady whose English was a little on the basic side. I had to simplify the wording of most of the questions for her (taking care not to alter the meaning) and, almost immediately, she complained that I was talking too fast - so from then on I slowed down considerably. I sounded like the worst stereotype of a British tourist speaking English slowly and loudly to a foreigner, but somehow we got the whole interview done.

Just as I was coding out Margaret came over and said she'd been listening in. "Oh, shit," I thought, because when you're being monitored departing from the standard wording of the questions is pretty much the worst sin possible. To my surprise, she congratulated me on carrying out a superb interview in difficult circumstances.