As thousands were getting vital information from Manatee County, Florida officials in the days leading up to Hurricane Irma, hearing-impaired citizens are alleging they were only privy to information about pizza and monsters.
Mantee County employee Marshall Greene was the man seen on a September 8 broadcast featuring other county officials warning viewers about the upcoming threat of Irma. But with authorities claiming they were “in a pinch,” Greene was called upon as an interpreter despite possessing what appears to now be a limited knowledge of American Sign Language.
“The press conference turned out to be an insult and a disaster, according to members of the deaf community,” reported WFLA. “When Greene began signing words like ‘pizza,’ ‘monster’ and ‘bear,’ along with other gibberish during an emergency evacuation order—those who are hard of hearing were livid.”
Greene reportedly knew just enough ASL to communicate with a deaf sibling, but those familiar with American Sign Language interpretation were immediately tipped off by his inability to effectively communicate.
For starters, Greene was wearing a yellow shirt instead of black attire. The latter is standard, as it allows viewers to see the hands more clearly. Greene also repeatedly turned his head to view the person talking, eschewing the common practice of looking straight ahead.
In Greene’s defense, he appears to have been asked to fill in despite being under qualified for the job. His father took note of that while speaking with WFLA.
“He can’t expect to communicate something he doesn’t know,” Greene’s father offered.
With county officials seemingly shrugging off the botched translation due to the circumstances surrounding Hurricane Irma, members from the deaf community are asking for an official apology.
