quailman03

• What powers/privileges/responsibilities does a 32nd degree Mason have that lower degrees do not?
• Is 33rd degree the highest level?
• Did you ascend so high due to family/bloodline connections, or is there another reason?

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Hi, Since this is an AMA, I hope you get a chance to see my question. I was a relay operator for many years, Text to Speech to be exact. How do you feel about those types of services?

I know a lot of people don't like them because of the delay. And to be honest the accuracy isn't that great. But we do try hard. Harder than most people think.

I worked with many deaf customers. Unfortunately our business went under, (google UrRelay) but I gained a greater understanding of the deaf community. I think it's unique in a way how the deaf community is so established. In a way that, say, amputees or paraplegics are not. That's not to say they're the same as being deaf, I suppose I should shut up before I male a bigger idiot of myself.

My question is, how do you or anyone you know in the community view text to speech services? Is it an inconvenience, a necessary evil, a valuable part of life or none of the above?

The pranks were just part of life, I couldn't even begin to narrow it down to who was doing it, or remember a specific one. Did you ever use nextalk or urrelay? The only school I remember off hand (and this is breaching confidentiality agreements) is Helen Keller in New York.

It may come as either a surprise or a relief, but as an operator as soon as I was done with a call I forgot it entirely. I seriously could not remember something that happened 5 minutes before. It's a combination of having too much coming in at once, and honestly just not caring. So talking about your dirty, most intimate secrets through a relay operator is not a big deal. We really don't care. We're only worried about typing as fast as we can. When that's over we forget it. I hope that helps you and your friends if you were ever concerned about that. (unless it's really dirty, or a drug deal, or you were really bitchy about something, then we might mention it to our coworkers, laugh about it for a minute, then continue to forget it entirely, but NEVER did it go beyond that. even if it was illegal or immoral, it was just gossip between us, the powers that be aren't aloud to do anything about the content of a call)

Edit: I think we were one of the few services that went thru AOL instant messenger, even though we were contracted out and went by a bunch of different names. If you ever used AIM for a relay call, you probably went through me.