"I can't believe they pay me for this"

My colleague just said this to me as we wrapped up a meeting. I am sorry to say that generally I don't feel that way. Yes, sometimes I can feel that way. But there is certainly enough drudgery and just plain hassle to make it so that, well, I'd rather be at home checking the wind to see if I can go kiteboard on the Bay or looking at the tangomango.org to select the tango venue for the evening and maybe looking forward to a Warriors game ( which I can't get in this hotel). 
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that interpreting brings with it a richness that just doesn't grace most careers. Here we were with young men and women from ten African countries working to bring theater, art, sports and other productive activities to youth who in most cases were not getting these opportunities, because they were orphans, caught up in conflict or what have you. The goal is the steer them toward a bright future away from crime, drugs and terrorism. We, the interpreters, get to be the ones who convert their words into thought, we think the thoughts ourselves, and then express those thoughts in a language understood by the others. It's darn cool when you think about it.