Secrets from Behind the Scenes! Do you have any?

[strawberrisc]

I usually wonder all kinds of shit late a night! For instance:

I was watching Long Lost Family last night and I wondered whether, when they tell people that parents/siblings have passed "off camera" do they still visit them or is it just done over the phone?

For people who are TV extras, is it like the Ricky Gervais series. Are you largely ignored or to the main actors ever speak to you?

People who work in retail, e.g. supermarkets or clothes shops do you ever get given anything totally for free?

I think I need more sleep!

I used to work for schuh and got 1 pair of shoes at 70% a few at 50% and about 10% off anything after that. It was a while ago now so probably changed!

I'm public sector now and get nothing at all... can't even accept a bottle wine at Christmas form suppliers!

I worked in a sandwich shop at uni and used to take home up to 20 bread rolls at the end of the day if they hadn't been used. Glamorous!

Wetherspoons offers 25% staff discount on food and drink for up to 4 people.

I use to work in a fish and chip shop and at the end of the night we could take home anything left over... So towards the end we would deliberately cook more than needed so there was enough left. Pretty sure the owner knew but he was so lovely he didn't mind

A mate is a tv extra, he says it varies with the stars, many just ignore but plenty do come over and say hello to him.

Vikki Michelle in Allo Allo is lovely and when she was in the Allo Allo stage show used to nab the great big salami (or whatever it was) some nights and give it to my mate who was wardrobe mistress. Many a drunken night accompanied by a fine salami was had.

Hubby did some work with Derek Acorah at a creepy old castle and says the production crew had a meeting with Derek to arrange when he would hear noises etc . Hubby says some people attending treated Acorah like he was some kind of messiah. It made him feel a bit sick.

Not really behind the scenes but my mates Dad is an actor and was in an episode of Only Fools and Horses.

DH works in food manufacturing. He worked at a place that produces a certain type of cake and he said that there's absolutely no difference between branded ones and the shop label/cheaper ones, except the packaging and price.

He now works at a place that produces bread and the amount they waste is absolutely astounding. And if you knew how lax some of the hygiene is, you'd never buy it or eat it again.

Ooh my days of retail and customer service have come flooding back!

Little chef: free meal on shift, but kinda standard, was the same at Burger king too.
Little chef pancakes were well loved and we were asked to make them well done.
They came pre-cooked in a massive tub, so we just microwaved and put whatever topping on was ordered.

Hmv was a 30% discount.

Crabtree and Evelyn 60% discount which made Christmas easy!

That's it, although now I'm in the civil service, the best perk is 20% off at nandos!

I used to work as a manager for a couple of big well known American brands and used to get tons of clothes free and random things like bags and beach towels, also got Apple products, perfume and underwear etc

Airline staff get cheap standby flights, generally they pay 10% of full fare plus taxes. Staff can get as many standby tickets as they want for themselves and (usually) their partner & children. If there are empty seats on the day, staff standbys get on. If not, they don’t. Staff are sometimes entitled to free confirmed seats once a year.

It’s a fantastic perk, particularly for those who can handle a bit of uncertainty and can be flexible (ie not restricted to school holidays) about when they travel.

Theatrical costumes look amazing on stage with all the lights - when seen from a distance by the audience.

Up close, they are usually ancient, much-altered over the years, tatty and pretty grim. They don't get washed all that often either.

One summer I had a temporary job in a canning factory checking all labels were being placed on correctly by the labelling machine.
Like mentioned above so many of a certain product would be labelled for a specific Supermarket then the labelling would change (but not the product) to continue for another ... then another etc
Interesting to read (sometimes quite in depth) magazine reviews of which Supermarket brand was the best product and why ... when you recognised the labels and knew they were all one and the same product 😃

I’m a Veterinary nurse.
Every practice is different but I get cost price medication and generally I’m not charged for vet/nurse time. Also free vaccines.
Also, we talk to the animals like constantly... people really shouldn’t worry when leaving their animals with us, we seriously do love and care for them!

I work in the box office of a large theatre group in London. Even when we can see there are 100+ seats in our sister theatres, they will not give staff more than 50% discount for the shows.Tight gits.