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 mum used to work for a department store who had staff sales of make up and perfume testers, discontinued items, returned clothes that couldn’t be resold that sort of stuff. I had the best perfume collection of any 14 year old I knew! My dad’s office used to have a Christmas party for all the staff kids each year with really good Father Christmas presents. We would get the train into the city to go and it felt a real treat.

Mum is a teacher, A in A-level Maths purely due to the free tuition when I needed it for my Mechanics module.
Dad is a scientist. Used to being home dry ice and the chemicals to do some cool experiments in the kitchen.

Dad was a builder, despite being retired he still fixes my house, he can do nearly everything himself (learned before the days you needed certificates for electric etc)

My dad was a miner so we got a few sacks of coal delivered every month, either free or very cheap. It lasted for years after he stopped being a miner, as we had a huge cellar to keep it in.

We were fortunate to have unlimited heating and hot water in the 1970/80s when it was something that many families at the time couldn't afford.

The main perk from my dads job was really cushy part time jobs and summer temp jobs. They were hard work but paid so much better than my friends jobs.
My Mum worked in a pizza restaurant for a time and we would Get free pizza, that was also a great perk.

My father was a headmaster - used to practice driving on the school grounds ( things like three point turns, reversing and parking ) long before I was old enough to go on the open road. My DH is still in awe at my parking skills.

Also much chalk and sugar paper !

Dad worked at a major mining co that was starting to sell itself as a clothing etc brand - I was kitted out head to toe in their clothes, industrial boots, caps, beanies etc, and I think Dad has a full collection of their scale models of mining equipment - we had a room devoted to them when I was growing up.

DH now works for a large tech company so there are lots of top-secret prototypes around the house and we've all had to sign NDAs. It's the sort of thing that techy lovers would give their eye-teeth for but really they're here for us to test them in the real world and they're constantly crashing and failing to communicate with each other because they're still being finalised. I do giggle when the CEO does his glam press conference each year with the latest products and we've spent the year swearing at them, though.

This thread has made a memory surface that I haven't thought of in decades.

My dad was a 'bus conductor and the 'bus corporation put on a Christmas party for employees' children. I vividly remember the amazingly boring 1000 piece jigsaws given as presents. This would be mid-60s.

Mine worked for the electricity board, so we always had the latest electrical gadgets courtesy of their staff discount - crimpers, rollers, hairdryers, microwave, VHS, clock-radios - sounds like the Generation Game conveyor belt lol. More obscure items were a yoghurt maker and an egg boiler!

Free parking in central London, in various work compounds, great for days out.

Free tickets for the Ideal Home show, and access behind the scenes at the company stand, where we'd leave our coats and all the freebies.

My dad worked in IT for a bank (millennium bug- remember that anyone?) so he can make computers/tech work and fix things. We also had the internet before a lot of my school friends, 1997 I think.

My dad was also having the be careful what you message your boyfriend chat back then too (justifiably) . And the whole internet safety talk, the same as I am doing now with my DC, but more than 20 years ago.

Mum used to get free old headed paper for drawing on when I was little. She was a secretary.

My friend's dad worked at the Payne's Poppets factory so they always had loads to share.

I’m not sure whether it was a perk or not but it certainly broadened the mind.

I was born in the UK, but because of Dad’s job, l spent all my teen and some earlier years in Paris.

Photocopying and occasional office services (his secretary typed up some of my GCSE coursework - this was before the days of home computers)
Lots of business class aeroplane freebies (toiletry bags etc)
Occasional trips away either using his thousands of air miles or when, I was an older teenager, staying in his hotel room when he was on a trip somewhere he could drive to and I could hop in the car.

My Dad worked for a radio station so I had an endless supply of blank cassettes to tape the Top 40 on to, and he brought home massive comfy headphones for us to use to listen to the stereo. Actually, the cassettes were ones that he had used to record material on to for news programmes and I still have a few which have his voice on them- he died nearly 25 years ago.

My FIL was a cruise ship captain. DH tells a story if how the school trip one year at primary school was the whole class visiting the ship in dock in Southampton, then all the other kids went home and DH and his siblings waved goodbye from the deck as they set off on the cruise .

Talking about dry-clean only clothes, my mum worked for Bendix when automatic washing machines came out and she was always very clear there was no such thing as dry clean only.

Although I didn't put my suit jackets in the washing machine back in the day when I wore suits. But everything else you can.

Other than that it was the mini shampoos and soaps from hotel stays.

Companies have done away with a lot of the perks now, I don't think the fact your family member was a lifeguard would get you into a pool for free now!

Dad's a farmer - so lots of space to play and a pony. We had to help out at weekends though! Didn’t realise how lucky I was!

My DM worked in a pub when I was little and I occasionally went to sit in the holidays. Always had a roll,crisps and a pop which was a treat.
I worked out you could get a free go on the machines if you turned them off and on again so I won quite a bit of cash in 10ps!
Later on she worked in a building society so we got used paper and stuff to draw on and she got special mortgage offers for staff but we were too young to take advantage of that one. They don’t do it now though.
Can’t think of anything from my DF’s jobs.
You really don’t see the same sort of perks anymore that people are mentioning. My DH’s DF was at the Railway and he had free travel card until he was 21 lucky blighter. They also travelled in Europe on special holiday trains put on for the staff of British Rail one year all free.

My Grandad worked for Kelloggs so I got all the really good stuff that you would normally have to save up tokens for.

SanFranBear I could have written your post exactly. I used to write out the flight strips and spoke to ground traffic, gave weather reports. I loved it. For me it was 50 years ago that I first started going to work with him on a Saturday to LHR!

My mum was a PA so o was never short of stationery! She also used to type up my assignments for me in later years at school and even my dissertation. She was so fast and home computers weren't a thing so it saved me hours in the computer lab at uni.

My Dad was a truck mechanic so my car always got fixed. We also got the odd jolly out on a weekend in the trucks. Free entry to the truck racing too

I also learnt to drive in an articulated lorry, he taught me how to drive in the yard, and would also have me driving and reversing with a trailer on so when it came to my driving lessons I knew how to drive and parking has never been an issue for me. All this when I was 14 (I'm sore he'd have been sacked if we'd have been found out)

Free housing, car and school fees. I feel very poor in comparison.

Oh another one, he used to work for a supermarket (still fixing the trucks) and you could buy a bag of tins for 20p on a Friday, most damaged with no labels, so we used to pick one to have with tea, either for mains or pudding, we'd often end up with baked beans for pudding or tinned peaches for tea it was called the 'lucky dip tea?

My dad is a retired builder which is brilliant now especially as builders know lots of other people in the business - used to love playing in the building sand and with the spirit levels

My dad worked in IT and I was one of the first to get dial up internet in my school/area. I even had my own computer! My mum used to work in a crisp factory and always ended up getting free golden wonder crisps by the bucket load!