What DTF St. Louis Gets Wrong

I wasn't planning on watching DTF St. Louis on HBO Max. I know what the acronym stands for and despite the cast, it just didn't seem like something that would interest me. My guess was a show about infidelity and/or dating after divorce and neither topic really entertains me. Then some podcaster I like, probably Lizzie Bassett from What Went Wrong, said it was well written and very well acted so I decided to give it a try (she's right on both counts).

But as usual, that's not what I'm here to talk about. Nope, I want to talk about how this show escaped my attention on two fronts: One of the main characters is an ASL interpreter. Another one is a youth baseball umpire. Both of them are terrible (but potentially realistic) representations of these two occupations. How do I know? I am an ASL interpreter and a youth sports official. (Caveat: I don't umpire baseball yet, but I have an application in with the city.) Not only that, but I was the chair of an interpreter training program and I have been a coordinator and educator for rugby referees. I know ball.

So, what does DTF St. Louis get wrong about this? Let's take a look.

Interpreting

On the show, Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour) is a down-on-his-luck former printer toner salesman who stumbles across an ASL class on his way to a job interview. He realizes that he has found his calling but instead of enrolling in the class, he picks up a pamphlet and starts teaching himself ASL on the train ride hime from Chicago to St. Louis. We don't know how Floyd ends up as an interpreter, let alone on TV. At one point he says he's been signing for about a year. Later, it's implied that he came across the ASL class several years prior to the start of the show. 

What we do know is that Floyd is not a fluent user of ASL. His signing is stilted and lacks the use of cohesive signs that show relationships between propositions. It's possible he could have picked up that level of fluency in about a year, but unlikely without a class or knowing any Deaf people. If he's still that bad after several years, that would be surprising unless, again, he's learning on his own. If that's the case, it's no wonder he can't make ends meet, because he must not be getting much work outside of occasional gigs with the TV station and an odd concert.

While there are some crappy interpreters who find work, it's alarming that Floyd would get such high profile gigs. Especially for his first job to be on TV when we know there are plenty of qualified interpreters in St. Louis. The other thing is that Missouri has certification and licensure laws for practicing interpreters, which my MO based interpreter friends say Floyd would not pass at the skill level he shows. So there's basically no way this character could exist like this in St. Louis.

Floyd is a poor representation of interpreting as a field and it's sad that many people will watch the show and get the idea that this is what we do and who we are. On the other hand, there really are interpreters like Floyd out there doing a disservice to Deaf people around the country. We've seen real life terrible interpreters show up on TV during extreme weather events. So while the show got a lot wrong, it does show an aspect of the interpreting world that is sort of accurate. Just not in St. Louis.

Umpiring

I admit, I have less experience on this one than I do as an interpreter. I have been a manager of youth rugby referees. I play in a rec softball league that has umpires. The show inspired me to apply for a job with our city's parks and rec to become an umpire. Carol knows nothing about baseball and says they gave her a rulebook when she was hired but indicates that was the extent of her training. I know how hard it is to recruit people to officiate youth sports, but Twyla must be super desperate. For most sports leagues, officials need to have some kind of certification. This is especially true now when abuse of athletes is a very public concern. The website for the fictional city of Twyla where the show is set requires umpires to take a certification course, and lists Carol as a certified umpire. She also says she earns $85/game. I guess that's possible. Youth rugby refs in my area earn $75/game. However, the city of Twyla's website offers a high of $38/game. In my hometown, sports officials for all games earn between $22-$37/hour. While the money thing isn't super important, it is very unlikely carol would be hired as an umpire without some kind of training. The show's depiction of her side gig is odd and a little annoying.

So there it is. Is any of it important? No. Does anyone care? Probably not. Did I enjoy the show in general? Absolutely. Give it a watch if you can get someone's login.