Punting, and Captioning Faux Pas Of The Century, Part III of III
Punting, and Captioning Faux Pas Of The Century, Part III of III
By Monette Benoit, All Rights Reserved.
Suddenly, rain began to flow – sideways – as we pre-tested equipment.
Phone lines went down. Internet service was interrupted; electrical grids were diverted away from our area.
And we, court reporting captioners took it all in stride.
We calmly continued to plug in equipment, then more equipment, then additional equipment.
Much later, after a large table was filled with cords, boxes, TVs, encoders, decoders, BNCs, RCAs, plasma equipment, and IT people began to scratch their heads, I have to share, we, the court reporting captioners, sat taller, put our shoulders back, made eye contact with little blinking and avoided prolonged sighing.
No, we had not had any lunch, though all others had dined sufficiently.
We continued to work and added additional surge protectors to send and receive NTSC composite transmissions, to create new transmissions and downconversions to analogue composites with conversions to SD/SDI components and connectors as new challenges continued to arrive – in realtime – and weather ramped up around our region. …
After the towers providing backup equipment went down, we had to rethink our original plan.
We packed all our electrical equipment and looked out the windows to very darkened skies.
No, there were no umbrellas, no plastic bags. We were told to “run to your car.”
I paused before calmly sharing, “Court reporters do not run with electrical equipment during electrical storms across open gravel parking lots.” Then I smiled.
After loading equipment, I drained the rain from my hair and wrung out my skirt before I sat in the car.
Then we headed off to what I now termed the “Punting Plan.”
No one saw our scramble – as it should be, in my opinion.
I had been up since 4 a.m. that last morning and paused, replying softly, “I was raised with three brothers. That person has three brothers. And that person has written every word people have spoken for eons. Surely you can tell us.”
The man looked to me, “Three brothers?”
I nodded.
He laughed, “Well, then you can handle this!” And he proceeded to share a moment from an international event 15 years ago.
As he began to share “the huge captioning faux pas of the century” (his words) surrounded by a group of men who clearly knew the wording, I stood tall and gasped. Then I finished the sentence for him with the original spoken word and the result that tranned across the large screens.
This man gasped and said, “Oh, my God! That was your company! You were onsite! I thought you looked familiar. You were one of the captioners on that job! Wow, we’ve taken that error around the world with us. That was hysterical! Thank you!”
The group howled with laughter while I did exhale, did roll my eyes and did not stand tall.
It took the wind out of my sails for a few moments as they slapped their thighs and laughed.
After all our work, after all the detailed prep, after five days of hurricane-related storms, and what was the exiting comment after I had to create a Punting Plan? An untran – one untran from 15 years ago?
Part I of III is posted October 10, 2010, on Monette’s Musings at www.monettebenoit.com and www.CRRbooks.com
Part II of III is posted October 20, 2010, on Monette’s Musings at www.monettebenoit.com and www.CRRbooks.com
Monette, Court Reporting Whisperer, may be reached: Monette@ARTCS.com and Monette@CRRbooks.com
Monette Benoit, B. B.A., CCR, CRI, CPE, Paralegal
Tutor, Motivational Management & Empowerment Coach,
Multiple Title Author of Books & Test Prep for the Court Reporting, CART, & Captioning Industry
Realtime Court Reporter, Instructor, Consultant, Columnist
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About Monette Benoit:
As a 25+ year court reporter, CART provider, author of NCRA test prep material, and an instructor, public speaker, Monette Benoit has taught multiple theories, academics, all speed classes, and the 225 homeroom within NCRA-approved schools and a community college. She understands the challenges many adults now face in our industry and schooling.
Monette Benoit has worked with thousands of professionals, court reporters, CART providers, captioners, students, and instructors. She has also helped create new court reporting training programs, worked with federal grants, and assisted instructors in developing curriculum for both in-class and at-home students.
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