Awkward questions you've always wanted to ask someone who works in a specific job...

[PinocchiosLeftNostril]

I thought this would be a good way for us to get answers to those awkward questions we would never dream of asking someone to their face in their place of work.

These are questions relating to my life that i would love honest answers to.

Hairdressers - When someone with bad dandruff/psoriasis sits on your chair, do you shrug it off, or do you quickly have a look to make sure it's not lice? Are you able to tell the difference right away or does it need investigating? And do you really want to know what my plans are for the day, or would you rather work in silence?

Teachers - do you get annoyed when parents write in homework diaries that a specific piece of homework was too tricky for their child? Do you take it as an insult to your teaching skills?

Waiter/waitresses - do you expect people to offer to clean up their children's mess before they leave, or do you just shrug it off as part of the job? If you're busy and haven't had chance to clean a table yet, and a new customer came up and asked for a cloth to clean it, would you be offended?

I'm a trainee SLT so not quite sure if I'm qualified to answer any questions regarding that line of work yet.

But i have experience working in a Subway sandwich store, a library, a gym and as a cleaner. So i can answer any cleaning, book or sandwich questions that are burning away inside you all.

sugarbagpuss I notice of someone is wearing a particularly nice outfit, but I never notice what people wear day after day unless they smell.

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Oh Pinocchio I don't know about a neutral result. Hopefully someone who didn't just piss about in a few lectures sticking electrodes on their friends' fingers will know a bit more!

As a midwife, I don't find vagina's smelly very often, there's usually something interesting going on if you're looking really closely so it's not on your mind. Also usually postnatal when you have impressed the importance of good hygiene and if before, there are lots of options for cleaning or suggesting a shower/ bath.

Wee is the only bodily fluid that makes me heave, and the smell of umbilical cords just before they drop off.

No opinion on hair, possibly easier to suture if it is pretty short.

Bump size wise, I am always shocked by the uniformity of bump size when women are laid down, they do tend to follow the 'correct' no of cms top to bottom pretty well.

Adiposity definitely means what you suspected PP, also 'maternal habitus'. Palpation, scans and epidurals all harder I'm afraid.

Just watching Midwives and a woman having an emergency c sec has her eyelids taped shut during the GA. Why?

Ex nurse here now working in big pharma.

Re: vomit/shit/sputum, big grin, the muscles used for grinning help suppress the vomit reflex. Just a tip.

Me personally the above didn't bother me to much unless I was a bit delicate anyway. Eyes though, ewueeeee.
Again I loved wound care the smellier, and ickyier the better.

midwives what's the most ridiculous or PFB question you have been asked by a preg woman or new mother?

Thanks for answering mine so far, everyone. I feel very educated.

Nurses, would you judge or say anything to a parent who brought their 7 year old in to a vaccination clinic for jags that are normally given at 3yo? My friend is putting off going with her son because she doesn't want to be told off.

Chuggers, are you trained to target a specific 'type' of person? E.g. approach someone who looks like they're a bit of a pushover?

Vets, do you really love all animals? Or are there some that scare you/you dislike/think are icky?

Teachers in schools without a 'lunchbox rule' - do you notice/judge what children bring in for snacks/packed lunches?

And for those in schools that do enforce a lunchbox rule, do the staff follow the same rule? No cakes/biscuits etc in the the staff room?

Long shot, but, airline pilots. What do you DO for hours when there are no checks etc to do and you're just in the cruise, on autopilot?

Nurses/healthcare people - when a person dies, and, for example, you need to move them or do something, do you still talk to them? My granddad died recently and it makes me sad thinking he'd just be handled like a "thing" and not a person after he'd gone.

DH works in IT.They still do tell people to 'turn it off and turn it on again',but it is now known as 'power cycling'.

I know an aniethetist who hates having overweight patients too.

I always talk to people when doing last offices. They are still someone's loved one and even if they are beyond help peoples family like to know you cared right till the end and that they were treated with dignity and respect and most importantly were not alone.

Banking - I worked in this industry and I never understood how bonuses were structured. I know its on total package, not just the actual bonus but it really did appear to be arbitrary as to how much people got. Can you put a good case for bonuses here please? (Genuine curiosity here not sarcasm) I really would like some knowledge not just media hyperbole.

Very sorry about your granddad lolli

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To Head Teachers - are you/were you a good/outstanding classroom teacher? Does it matter?

Long shot, but, airline pilots. What do you DO for hours when there are no checks etc to do and you're just in the cruise, on autopilot

mile high club, blatantly

*disclaimer not a pilot

I love this thread

midwives what's the most ridiculous or PFB question you have been asked by a preg woman or new mother?

My friends have asked me this and variations on the theme before and while I see why they are interested I don't answer, I couldn't offer new parents' experiences up as entertainment (really not meaning to sound stuck up!). But the truth is that I can never think of anything because no question seem daft to me when you are in the moment of caring for the family. If it's of enough concern that they've asked, it's important to me too and might give me wider information. If it sounds really daft I have invariable misheard!

I am a RMN so don't encounter most bodily fluids very often. They don't bother me except sputum. I used to hate suctioning patients (during my training I had to do critical care placements) and collecting sputum/sputum pots. That makes me gag although Herculean efforts were made to hide it.

Not a vet, but would say I like most animals I have worked with and have a healthy respect for them all.
But the ones I don't like include....
Jack Russells
Squirrel monkeys
Octopus

I also talk to dead patients during Last Offices. Again I don't do it often (The last three occasions have been for my own relatives) but I talk and treat dead patients no differently to the living.

Victoria line Tube drivers - when the doors won't close because someone's coat/bag/leg is preventing them from closing and you ask nicely and ask again and again, then it gets sorted, how much do you swear once off the speaker? I always imagine it must be lots..... And why are the doors so much more sensitive than on other tube trains?

Civil servant here if you have any questions....

pinocchio your friend won't be judged, tell her to take her dc if she wants him to be immunised, it's an important decision and any additional child ionised is a bonus!

Phlegm/Sputum - the only thing that gets me is this, worst scenario when I had to collect sputum pots as a student on a ward, and you could feel it slopping against the side of the pots

lollipop
I am a nurse. When handling patients after they have died I talk to them, explaining what I am doing and why just the same as I did when they were alive. Also take the same care when moving or dressing them.
Sorry for your loss x

University lecturer - mature students are normally great in terms of their work ethic. Actually they tend to be quite nervous and self-deprecating, always explaining how they've returned to higher ed. Honestly no, don't find them intimidating at all, and I've taught people of my parents' age. They bring great life experience.

Anaesthetists why do you have to take nail polish off before an op? I've never understood how that could make a difference!