Everyday Encounters in Public Space

Abstract

This is one of many social interactions which I have observed during my fieldwork in Hackney. The fact that the shop assistant is in no way surprised about the nature of this transaction exemplifies the commonplace nature of diversity in Hackney, discussed in the previous chapter. The skilful way in which both the shop assistant and the customer deal with the situation points to something more than just commonplace diversity, but to the existence of specific skills which facilitate communication across language (and, in other such interactions, cultural and religious) differences.

I’m at a supermarket looking for a hair dryer. As I stand in front of the electronic household equipment, I observe an elderly Turkish woman asking a young white British shop assistant for advice. I hear him say: ‘Do you understand?’ She says, ‘No, no English, only Turkish.’ She takes her mobile phone out of her bag and calls someone, indicating to the shop assistant to wait. Once she has spoken to the other person on the phone, she hands the phone to him. The person on the phone now seems to be doing the translation, and the phone is being handed back and forth between the shop assistant and the Turkish woman. It seems completely normal for the assistant to deal with a customer via an interpreter over the phone. He is very friendly all through the interaction and he seems in no way surprised about the translation service over the phone.

(Research Diary, 12 August 2008)