What perks did you have because of your parents job?

[SanFranBear]

My dad worked in Air Traffic Control and finished his career working at Heathrow. I was lucky enough to go on several visits to the top of the tower and see the incredible work that happens there... the radar screens, the dishes out on the roof and the best view of planes taking off in the airport. I cannot imagine that this would be allowed today (it was 30 odd years ago when I visited) and it was a genuine treat!

My mum managed a dry cleaners which was ace as it meant I could buy whatever really - most of my friend weren't allowed dry-clean only clothes

What sort of perks or treats did you get because of the jobs your parents had?

My dad owns a haulage firm. We used to get the refused/goods that went to insurance claims where no party wanted them. They do things differently now so it’s not so much. Once had several boxes of walkers sensations as they were refused due to being close to use by date. We’ve had cereal and shampoo, alcohol over the years. We do get free passes to bath and west and other truck shows when he takes the vintage lorry. And if I had a diesel car I’d have have access to vat free fuel. Tho it’s more of a hassle as gotta go in when it’s quiet in the yard. I don’t pay for my phone contract… tho I don’t work for him anymore he’s never cancelled it.

Dad worked for a bakery. We got bread at a nominal 5p a loaf. When he was made redundant, Mum had a fit when she discovered the real price of bread!

I worked for a building society when I was younger. We had a full office refit one year including new carpets. 9 months later the company was rebranded necessitating another refit. I was allowed to take up the old carpet to fit in my new home. It was lovely carpet, 100% wool, very soft but heavy duty in a muted mid blue with flecks. It did our entire two up two down house including stairs and also all of my BILs three bedrooms. It’s still down in two of the bedrooms and still looks as good as new 30 years on.

My Mum was a cleaner at a high school and during the Summer holidays still worked doing the 'deep clean' me and my Sister used to go with her and run free round a high school. I was into art and she made friends with the art teacher and he ordered us stuff on the school art supplies budget.

Dad - clean windows!

My dad was a teacher, so I got a regularly topped up, never-ending pile of a4 paper to draw on...which had photocopies of his handwritten science worksheets on the other side.

Also sometimes he had to go into school on the holidays and I'd go with him. I then got to draw on his whiteboard and blackboard and nosy around in his lab at the strange apparatus.

Free milk 🥛 dad was a dairy farmer.

Learned to read age 3/4 - mum was a teacher.

M’y dad retrained as a psychiatric nurse in his 40’s: we have a lifetime supply of pens and sticky notepads branded with very heavy-duty anti-psychotics drugs, which can be a good conversation starter. 😂

I worked part time at Asda, and one time we had a load of packets of grated parmesan reaching it's expiry. They let staff buy it for a penny a packet; I bought 20 packets and froze them-they lasted me a year!

I got milk straight from the cow too! My parents had a mixed farm and my earliest memories are of watching my mum hand milk the house cow into a bucket and carrying into the pail into the house. I hated warm milk then and still do.
I also got to hand rear lots of tiddling lambs, and bucket feed calves which I enjoyed.

@jarviscockatiel

My dad was a milkman and occasionally used to bring home stock that had been damaged by the forklift. We especially liked the individual trifles and cheesecakes. He'd also bring a crate of Corona fizzy drinks at Christmas. Happy days...

Funny! My Dad was (is....as you never retire) a C of E vicar. Only perks were free pens with funeral directors details on!

Ops wrong quote! Meant to quote the funeral director's daughter!

Still relevant.. my mum has a cleaning company so I get cleaning stuff for free... including a ton of bog roll. I got shitty looks when she dropped that off during lockdown.

Dad used to work for the London Underground, so we had really cheap tube and train tickets until we were 18. Wish we took advantage of them and travelled more outside of London, though

Erm... free lightbulbs? Dad was a sparky

My dad worked for British Rail and had (still has) free train travel. As a student, I used to spend the holidays travelling up and down the country, one summer visiting North Scotland, East Anglia, Cornwall and Cardiff all for free. As a child we would regularly pop up to London for an hour or two and pop back again, Now my children travel for £1 (so long as my parents take them).

My brother works for a car company, so I get discount on cars.

My grandad was a teacher, so used to bring me home text books, stationery and the paper registers so I could have my own class and be teacher!

My other grandad was a cabinet maker and made me the most amazing doll's houses and all sorts.

My mum was a hairdresser, so I always had the latest haircut (not always a good thing in the 80s!) I've never paid for my children to have their hair cut either.

My dad was in the army, so when I was tiny, my toy cars were army issue, the sort used in battle planning.Probably wouldn't be allowed now, but at about 11/12 I was allowed to fire rifles at this fete & do the assault course & even once had a ride in a helicopter. By the time I was a teenager, he was running the officers mess, so we got to over dress & go to amazing banquets.

As a kid DM was a SN teacher & I enjoyed going into work with her at about 13/14 & doing art projects with the kids.
She later worked at Bettys tea rooms, so we always had fabulous cakes etc

Just spotted we're doing grandparents too.

When I was small, Grandad had a small holding where I got to hang out with his chickens, turkeys, horses & goats. He drove a horse & cart for his work & I got to go to work with him & drive the horse. His friends all had farms, so I always had animals to hang out with & lots of horses to ride.

My nana was a part time knitwear designer & she taught me a lot & I ended up in a very similar profession. She was also very good at maths & worked as a Bookie before they had computers. Unheard of back in the 60s & 70s. She was very feisty & ruled the very male dominated environment she worked in. I used to love to sneak into the bookie behind legs & what her in action. She was a real lady, but boy did those guys jump when she told them off for being drunk & rowdy, she was quite happy to double up at bouncer too & turf them out by the seat of their pants. She was a brilliant role model & I never once in my life, not even in the 70s, thought I couldn't do something because I was female

@AnneElliott

Mum worked for Mark's and Spencer and would bring home food that was going out of date - often for very little money.

Christmas was amazing - she used to come home with a trolley full for about £10! I worked there too while at Uni and that's how we survived and managed to eat well. It did mean eating odd stuff together but it was a great perk.

That reminded me of another one.

Due to some volunteer work DM did, they had 'family days' where we could all go on a coach trip and M&S donated the packed lunches (there was a time where they didn't reduce the food that was going out of date, this is what they did instead, they also famously refused to accept credit cards for a lot longer than the other supermarkets etc).

So we had M&S sandwiches, crisps, juice boxes etc, which was a real novelty and luxury in the early 1980s, we talked about it for months. Seems ridiculous now, but that's how it was at the time.

My dad worked for British Rail and we had free travel - maybe 10 or so journeys each year and after they'd gone a sizeable discount. Even better, when he got promoted it was upgraded to first class!

@SingingInTheShithouse, I love the sound of your nana!

My dad had six weeks leave a year at a time when most had only four. So it meant visits to grandmothers who were a distance away could be at various times of the year.

In the 60s we just about scraped by, living in a council flat in London, never went to any entertainments.

Then Mum got a job as an usherette --- at the London Palladium, then perhaps the most prestigious and famous theatre in the world. There was a TV show every week called "Sunday Night at the L.P." hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck and other comedians.

She was given free tickets for every performance and gave them all to me, so I got to see all of the most famous names in showbiz at the time, including American superstars including Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Diana Ross, and household names of the day, like Val Doonican, Cliff Richard, Cilla, Dusty, Bruce Forsyth, etc etc. The freebie tickets were always for the far end of the front row so I got really close, within feet, of the most famous actors and singers in the world. I was also given an unlimited supply of tiny ice cream tubs which mum and her colleagues sold from a tray hung round their necks.

Mum bought an autograph book and collected famous name signatures for me but when I took it to school the other kids thought I'd forged them all.

My mum worked at a bakery so free cake...daily

My Dad was a vicar. Discounted Baptism, marriage and funeral ceremonies! He also let his curious young daughter try the unconsecrated hosts when they arrived from the wholesalers!

@Tempusfudgeit

My Dad was a vicar. Discounted Baptism, marriage and funeral ceremonies! He also let his curious young daughter try the unconsecrated hosts when they arrived from the wholesalers!

When I was in the Brownies we went on a "Pack Holiday", and stayed in a convent school. They took us to see the hosts being made-they had engraved stainless steel plates, and poured the thin batter on them and stamped them out.