Down below, Ramblin and I were discussing interpreters and I wanted to start a new link. I was shocked by ramblins post and I never thought of it as he put it. Jack has a very nice young man as an Interpreter in Kiev named Ilya. Perhaps others have met him. We had a blast together and Ilya is quite a nice looking young man. I wrote:

Ramblin,
Are you saying that because the guys are attractive? I used Ilya with Jack's service and he is a nice looking young man. However, I never felt as though the girls were "checking" him out instead of me, quite the contrary. I liked having Ilya around. I consider myself quite handsome and Ilya and I attracted alot of girls just walking around. We met several girls in pubs, restaurants, etc... We never had a waitress that I didn't talk to or who didn't ask about me. I think Ilya looks as though he's from Sweden, what do you say? I never met Rostik.

Mark H.

Ramblin replied:

Well, Mark, although you are correct that Ilya is a good looking guy and I even told him that he would fit in well in Southern California with the beach babes, he is not the guy that I had in mind so lets just leave it at that because my proof is not concrete until more guys speak out. I have heard from another interpreter that I use who told me that he has more than 6 former clients from this particular interpreter hitting on their ladies. One guy from this board wrote to me and told me that this interpreter wanted to do his lady so bad and that he preferred older ladies. I have my strong suspicions based on circumstantial evidence, therefore I cannot make an accusation but still feel that newbies would be better off not taking such a risk. I mean let's use a hypothetical generalization. Suppose you used the services of a young good looking Ukrainian guy as your interpreter and you noticed that although you and your lady were hitting it off, your lady and this interpreter were hitting it off too. And after you leave and they both promise to e-mail you and they don't. Then the lady e-mails you professing her love for you after the amount of time it would take for this interpreter to use her and dump her. If this interpreter really wanted your lady and you were back in the U.S.A. and this interpreter was right there in her same city, they could get together. Now if your interpreter was a female, nyet problem.

I was shocked. Anyone else have any problems with male interpreters? I kind of liked having a male interpreter but I've never had a female interpreter before...so nothing to compare it to.

I'm curious to see how all the guys feel about gender as it pertains to translators.

Mark H.

If you choose a girl to be your interpreter, you run the risk your lady will have the concern that your interpreter is angling to hook you and therefore be VERY circumspect. Perhaps too much so.

With a male interpreter, your lady may not feel comfortable discussing personal or intimate feelings.

There is no perfect solution.

As for the shaky accusations Jim levies towards Rostik - I've got to say that I probably know all the principals (Rostik, Ilya, and some of the ladies) better than anyone - including Jack - and I have a hard time believing that Rostik would act in the manner described.

Without something substantially more concrete that that offered, it is just so much smoke.

Look at the other possibilities Mark - there are numerous possibilities that do NOT involve Rostik actually making any overt gesture whatsoever to flirt or romance any of the girls. Some of those explanations (if I cared to share them) would not be too terribly flattering of the guys themselves.

Think about it.

- Dan

I don't know that he has been accused of anything...?

Well, I don't know all of the people working for Jack... so I didn't know who he was inferring...

I used one once and vowed never again.  You just never know what kind of spin they are putting on things or if they have a hidden agenda.  I do not think it matters if they are male or female.