I went to bed Friday night, not knowing if I would have a job this week. During the last month and a half, the newspapers and media have shifted their focus from Charlie Sheen to the looming government shutdown. Every two weeks, a shutdown was looming as we waited for Congress to pass a budget or a continuing resolution.
During the first shutdown threat, I received a email from the agency that I have guaranteed hours with, announcing that if the government closes, they would be closing- 98% of their contracts are with the federal government. In the coming weeks, I received emails from other interpreting agencies, detailing their plans during the government shutdown- essentially the message was "if the government closes and cancels assignments, they won't pay our contracts and we can't pay you." With no indication of how long a shutdown would last, I was obviously concerned about the long-term.
While interpreters have more flexibility and options than other government employees and contractors, we would be hurting as well. There is always medical, community, and college work, but now the market would be saturated with interpreters, and only so much work to go around. I made the decision that I would not accept any assignments that I normally would not consider or consider myself qualified for (i.e. medical, mental health, legal). I was already interpreting a class at the community college and when requests were sent out for the second eight-week session, in the midst of shutdown threats, I immediately accepted a second class, bringing my weekly total to eight hours. Last Friday, I received a request for an all day Saturday assignment (14 hours!), and I accepted that assignment as well (I was qualified for the assignment, but working all day is necessarily my first choice on a Saturday), as Congress had yet to reach a decision. Fortunately, just before midnight, Congress approved another continuing resolution.
This entire experience has made me more thankful for my job and what I have, but also served as a reminder that no one has true job security. If the government did shut down, we were going to be better off than most- my husband would still have his county job, but my hours dropping from 30 hours/ week to 8 hours/ week was certainly going to be difficult. The future is uncertain and we will continue to save for that "raining day." In the meantime, I will be counting my blessings.
