Last night, as New York state (and also half the world) watched TV news for information on Pretty Damn Big Storm Sandy, a star was born.
As New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg droned relentlessly onward like a Caterpillar D8 bulldozer (shown below), Lydia Callis translated the true meaning of his words for those listeners who still believed in the power of life and who still had hearts that beat.
By 02:00 hrs GMT, as the storm was thrashing Lower Manhattan, Lydia had a Twitter account that was trending like a rocket. She was gaining followers in a way that meant only one thing: she had become an overnight sensation in the literal sense.
Her outstanding, intuitive and skilled visual interpretation of Bloomberg’s words was truly electrifying to watch.
It was made more so by the contrast between her vivacious delivery and his life-sucking, soul-crushingly unmemorable droning.
Lydia spoke to the living and the hard of hearing.
Mike spoke to the telegraph poles and the concrete kerb stones.
By morning, Lydia was receiving the kind of internet media attention that spelled trouble. People loved her. People adored her. People wanted to see more of her rather than Bloomberg.
One just knew what would happen next…
In a simple feat of 1950’s Russian Communist Party subtlety, Lydia has been deleted. Airbrushed out of the history of New York’s worst night.
Camera footage of her at Bloomberg’s side on the night of the storm has been cropped so that she is no longer in view. You can just catch a glimpse of her elbow if you have sharp eyes. Yes, the footage looks slightly grainy now; it has been cropped and enlarged to counter for the fact that it is zoomed in on Mike.
Her upbeat Twitter account comment which she made last night: “I’m back…!” has gone.
So have all her other comments and posts.
So has her Twitter account.
All that remains is a hashtag page for ‘SignLanguageLady’ – her own original account address. It leads to nowhere. She is now nobody. She has become a ‘non-person’.
Some might argue that it does not befit a mayor’s interpreter to upstage a mayor.
Others might counter that it does not befit a mayor to make his atrociously poor communication worse by removing his interpreter.
Some might argue that she diverted attention from Bloomberg’s words.
Others might argue that this was an act of supreme charity and kindness since Mike has no talent for communication. Not a shred. Nada.
Lydia mentioned last night that, although she loves working with Mike, when Bloomberg tries to “habla” (speak Spanish) – she stops signing.
Her comment has now been removed from the internet.
Bloomberg has as much in common with the Hispanic community as a hat stand does with a pork pie. This is not a thing that should be pointed out. If it is, then people might think that he is unelectable in the Hispanic community.
People might be right.
Bloomberg does not speak for and does not speak with the people. He should not be a mayor.
Callis (or: Callas – the spelling that used to appear) spoke for and to the people and she should be.
roadwax 