Awkward (and other) questions about MNers jobs-following on from *Pinocchio's 1st thread.

Haha Boffin....yes that has happened especially since my ability to hold in a fart has greatly diminished after DC but usually the gentleman on the receiving end doesn't notice due to copious alcohol intake. Its still really really though. In avoidance I make sure that I do not eat any curry or fried food the night before work. Hehee

Only just found this second thread! Someone asked about how chambermaids prepare a room to hotel standard in 15mins (or something along those lines).

In my previous life as a chambermaid I did it as follows:

I didn't tend to do one room at once as I found it tedious and it was much quicker doing a bunch of them at the same time. So i'd walk down my corridor finding which rooms had been vacated until I had a little run of them.

Firstly I'd take a bin bag and go through all of them emptying bins, getting rid of any rubbish, etc. In my first go I'd usually stick the pots in the sink with water and the cleaning stuff too.

Next sweep I'd go in and strip all the beds off that needed it and pile the dirty laundry/towels just outside the door.

Then I'd go round washing pots, making beds (with hospital corners....I fecking love hospital corners), dusting and doing bathrooms (I kept a poo knife on my trolley too).

Lastly would be restocking (soaps, teas, coffees, etc) and hoovering.

BoffinMum......yes leakage is something I do worry about during time of the month, I just make sure I keep some femfresh wipes with me and remember not to wear white during aunt flo.

Womban you must have a terrific figure. I am a bit jealous actually.

Imagine farting in someone's lap or face whilst strutting your stuff. It must happen.

To answer:

Guys sometimes do come in groups, surprisingly a lot come in on their own. As for extra's they are a big NO NO...though I have heard about it going on in other clubs YUCK!!!! There are always guys who think that if they offer you enough money you will be willing to provide extra's, sometimes they get rather annoyed that they can't seem to buy you...MORONS!!

Do I ever get turned on during a dance...NO!!, some guys are nicer or easier to dance for than others and believe it or not your would be surprised at the amount of guys who are not really interested in seeing your writhe around naked and prefer a conversation instead. At the same time you do get some absolute perv's or fetishes.

I always find it amusing the amount of men who think they can pick you up!! HAHA....they don't realize that the their chances are none existant, I mean who wants to meet their future BF/DH in a lap dancing bar!!

Have I ever seen a client out in public - YES, though they usually do not recognize me and at work I have a totally different persona and look very different...big hair, fake lashes, fake nails, fake tan....outside of work I actually look very reserved/respectable

Why did I stop working as a lap dancer - I didn't I still do it, have actually only been doing it for 11 months (which at almost 32 years old and with most of the other girls half my age I came to the profession pretty late in life). I have a full time 'normal job' a DH of 11 years and 3 DC but we are trying hard to save for our first property together...as we got hit hard by the recession and never managed to buy.

Its been such an eye opener actually and the girls I work with are mostly mums just like me and are either studying, or have normal jobs. They are a lovely bunch and have a lot of self respect and are respectable women.

God that was long post...after all that I hope I didn't leave anything out

Womban, brilliant. Ever worried about - ahem - body smells from Down There whilst doing your stuff? Or leakage?

A few of my students have paid their way through Uni via stripping, apparently.

Yes - this is exactly the problem with which we are faced at the moment. We do need to be objective and ultimately we have to be but it is difficult to apply an objective criteria to people's emotions. I do tend to talk to the more minor (at least to my mind) cases in terms of what the SC procedures are for and without going into personal detail, give examples of e.g. the straight A student whose mother was killed in a accident two days before the key final exam or the student attending classes between chemotherapy sessions who missed a few deadlines due to sickness. I try to leave it up to the students to judge whether they are really in the same category and many do appreciate that they do have to pull themselves together to get through two or three vital days but often the "hamster-whiners" will insist that their grief is just as strong and in those cases we put them forward for consideration - most are then rejected by committee but at least I can stop the Board laughing at the student, which is really not on under any circumstances, and also ensure that they don't get so fed up and complacent flicking through stories of minor upset that they inadvertently skip past a truly deserving case.

I can however weed out those who are really just trying it on; the students who have not attended class all year or who have failed every module then turn up on the morning of the exam telling me about stomach-aches or dead grannies and ask me to help them wrangle a pass.

This is really what I mean by if an upset seems genuine, it is not for me to tell the student they are not affected. We can however explain later that the board took everything into consideration but ultimately decided not to make any adjustment.

When someone dies during surgery are they sewn back up differently? I've wanted to ask that for years

Womban... Do you ever bump into your clients in the street and if so, are they embarrassed to have recognised you or you them?

So so many questions in my mind for a lap dancer but that one is the most awkward I can think of!

Thanks, Summer, really interesting.
do you think that it is fair to be so inclusive ("if a student thinks it affects them, it does") about special circumstances? Because that puts the decision about where to draw the line into the hands of individual students who will of course apply it differently - you will get a struggling stiff upper lip type who might have had a week in hospital just before the exams asking for nothing, and someone else who is getting special treatment because their hamster died. Don't you have to be more objective than that to be fair - in other words tell the hamster-whiner to sling their hook?

Womban - how long did you do those jobs and why did you stop?

Ooh Womban I can see why you would NC

Do the customers mainly arrive in groups, or on their own?

Are they intimidating or just pathetic?

Does your dancing arouse you too or is it just athletic?

Is it possible for a stag do in a strip club to be innocent fun or will someone manage to negotiate extras?

BoffinMum - no... but I probably will now!

Must admit I have name changed for this particular admission:

LAP DANCER / STRIPPER

Feel free to ask away....

awaits flaming...

Youretoast - no it has definitely not always existed. There has always (or at least for a long time) been a Student Counselling Service with trained counsellors and psychologists available but they expanded the provision of student welfare around 6 years ago to put in lay-people to provide a sort of triage service as the demand was really too high and they noticed the counsellors often needed background knowledge of the university procedures. I was hired at this point as I already had a background in university admin but was (and still am) also studying Counselling part-time with a view to going down this career route in the future. The job has really grown in 6 years and often I, or one of my colleagues, are the first point of contact for students with a variety of problems; on any given week, I have students come to me because they are failing courses, have money worries, problems with their families, problems with accommodation and/or flatmates, are having trouble coping with managing their workload and more serious things such as eating disorders, mental health issues, physical illnesses and suicidal thoughts. The more serious issues are fast-tracked to those who have the training and qualifications but in many cases our students are just happy to talk to anyone who is willing to listen and help them work through their problems. I also run courses on study skills and how not to get overwhelmed and seminars for academic staff on recognising problems and pointing the student in the correct direction. Other colleagues do similar things with regards financial issues.

Over the 6 years I have been employed here, there has been a dramatic upturn in students claiming special circumstances at exam time with just under a third of students making a case last year. We are still trying to find the magic solution to ensuring that only very serious and deserving cases go forward for consideration without hiding the procedures to the extent that someone may suffer in silence. We also need to bear in mind that just as with the midwife thread - if a student says they are affected by something, they are - even if we might view it as something trivial. Unfortunately, These committees are now costing the universities in time and money as they frequently have to be two or three-parters over several days, such is the volume and this has resulted in academic staff becoming suspicious and jaded - hence my involvement to ensure fair hearings.

Summer, do you ever look at scruffy students and mentally put them in the correct size of bra, etc.

Thanks Ginplease for answering all those questions.

Summerremembered, is your job as a full time paid member of university staff?
has it always existed?
how long have you been doing it, and have you noticed any changes in trends for student problems over that time?

Loving these threads. Not sure if I want to own up to this given MN's collective interest in the area but in a previous life (c. 12 years ago) I was a bra fitter at M&S. Nowadays I'm a Student Welfare Counsellor at a University - I deal with all issues but specialise in academic affairs - what to do if failing coursework, unable to progress etc and the effects of these on students' physical and mental health. I also attend the exam board sub-committees where extenuating circumstances are heard so that I can ensure correct policies (e.g. data protection) are followed and decisions are fair. In between times, I've done a fair bit of waitressing, general retail, secretarial/reception and call centre work.

Now my mind has gone blank of all the questions I really wanted to ask...

I used to work for a company that made magnets, if anyone's curious.

I have a questiong for vets: How important are annual boosters for cats and dogs, really? Are they really essential, or are they just money spinners? Or does it depend on other factors, such as the area you live, eg city / country?

I'd also like to know the answer to a pp's question about gum disease: If you brush, floss, and use Corsodyl and your gums STILL bleed, what can you do about it? Is it irreversable gum disease? Will all my teeth drop out? I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

Ignore the first post above. I clicked before proof reading.

BoffinMum I find people's crimes interesting but can't say I have been told many interesting techniques. I have heard many crime stories that stand out for me as interesting but not so much in a clever, ingenious way. Though there are some. Without saying too much some ways of trying to avoid being found for murder is very interesting. Also some that stand out for me are the things that led a person to commit the crime.

BoffinMum I guess depends on your classification of interesting. I have heard many crime stories that stand out for me as interesting but not so much in a clever, ingenious way. Though there are some. Without saying too much some ways of trying to avoid being found for murder is very interesting. Also some that stand out for me are the things that led a person to commit the crime. Sorry to be vague.

Ginplease, sometimes I work with information security people and it's very interesting to hear about crime techniques as I don't naturally think like that. Do you get to hear any interesting crime stories in prison, or are the ones who end up there the ones who are not very good at it, or criminally creative?

Thanks for starting another thread. The last was fascinating.

I have experiences working for a few local authorities in adult social care, in mental health service management (social care), addiction counselling and in a number of large high profile prisons including Category A. Happy to answer any specifics. (Outs self with that combination!)

My take on a few questions asked so far....

Prisons-
is the food completely terrible?
Some days yes, some no. Prisoners have perhaps 3 choices of menu. Some things smelled terrible and judgement was always poor on fish. Food it transported in hot trolleys so pie or anything that coped well with that would be ok. The thing that to me made them awful was that prisoners would pile dinners high with carbs. Say 10 potatoes or a huge pile of white bread. That made the meal not so nutritional but filled them up. Especially if they didn't like the food on offer.

do people constantly abuse each other or does it settle down and can it be an ok, friendly place to be?
Abuse is not constant, prisons have brilliant security procedures in place with risk management to find if anise is going on and relocate people so they stay safe. Of course this is never fail safe but it should not be happening for long. Unfortunately there are always the bully's and victims but awareness and action is in place. Prisons can be friendly. As a staff member working directly with prisoners I see it as it's own community with community rules and norms.

do people talk about their crime a lot, or just general day to day stuff?
Not much talk of crime in communal areas but it is a big thing in groups.

is everyone utterly miserable all the time and dying to get out, or can they just sort of settle down and get used to it?
Bit of both really. Some people really struggle. First time sentences are often very miserable and short sentences where prisoners know they will be out soon so don't engage in anything offered to be productive. Most I'd say though do get on and find a way of coping.

do people do a lot of useful stuff with their time? Do you find that nearly everyone has a thing, like, they are gym bunnies or learning a language or something?
Most people have a thing but that isn't always useful. Lots of purposeful activity is offered and encourage and jobs are very much encouraged but some prisoners thing is to watch tv in their cell.

Are things very different in men's and women's prisons?
Yes. As was said before by another poster the issues are very different. The women's prison I gave experience in is more like a hospital feel and emotion is on the surface. Men put their heads down more and get on. Women have far greater pain on show.

do you constantly watch your back?
Yes. Absolutely. It is basic training and if you didn't you would be vulnerable to not only potential attacks but conditioning and manipulation.

do you get attached to some prisoners?
In my opinion yes. Like you do in any job or situation you get on better with some people more than others and in prison the stories can pull at you. It is vital however to remember the situation you are in at all times and not let that attachment sway you from your role or environment.

Gosh, that is a long post.

Wando I used to work in a bookshop so can't answer the bit of your question about jumpers, but it definitely used to annoy me when people would look at a book then put it back horizontally on the shelf (unless the shelf was really full and putting it back properly would be a pain). I would also be annoyed when people would look at a book on the special offer tables but put it back on the wrong pile of books, particularly if the correct pile was next to it!!

Actually I used to get annoyed about pretty much everything in the shop, hence why I no longer work there