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.

*immunised!!

Estate Agents -
When an Estate agent values your house, gushes about how fab it is and how crazy you are to want to sell it, says they would dearly love to market it, and that they have swarms of people waiting to view and then two weeks later you have had no viewings at all do you think that we may have just fallen for a sales pitch and have no chance of selling it?

We are completely honest. If that loses us business then so be it. There are so few places that will still have swarms of viewers these days. My staff are not allowed to fabricate, lie or make stuff up. Complete honestly is our focus. It works for us and we have good clients who come to the market with full knowledge.

The threads on property about agents horrify me.

I asked for this to go to Classics - let's see!!

people at greggs /bakers - do you get to eat the leftovers? as baked goods generally only last a day? do you have to pay? what if all 3 of you want the last cream bun?
and therefore do you get cross with late-in customers snaffling the last doughnuts?

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!

boo, boring!

(actually you sound lovely, and I don't feel so bad about the daft stuff I have asked now )

Ooooooh I might know that one Revolting - it's something to do with the doodah they put on your finger, it doesn't read properly or something if you're wearing nail polish. Am I right? :)

lollipop

I am a nurse too and like lilac I also talk to my patients after they have gone just like they are still alive and I teach students to do the same. Really sorry for your loss xx

Danielmcspaniel.... Do receptionists phone the labs for results because they can't be arsed to look them up on the computer system of is the system really down???

Gin I'm a defence lawyer. I wouldn't refuse to defend someone, I would advise them on the strength of the evidence. If they chose to plead not guilty they'd be represented as well as possible at trial. If they told me they were guilty they would still be entitled to put the prosecution to proof. I would have to withdraw if they wanted to put evidence before the court that I knew not to be true eg to go into the witness box and tell a lie.

I thought the nail thing was so they could spot blue nail beds, a sign of deoxygenisation? cyanosis? possibly making that up

Choc chaffinch. I used to work in greggs a long time ago, before foot and mouth.

All the leftover cream cakes, pasties and sandwiches went to feed the pigs, which doesn't happen now.

We got 50% discount on everything and if there were any cream cakes leftover on Saturdays (didnt open on sundays them) we could take them for free .

Sometimes the leftovers go to a seconds/discount shop where they are sold at half price for not being quite as fresh.

Revolting, I think it's because if you are oxygen deprived your fingernails go bluish so the medics need to be able to see that . When one of my DCs was very ill the des were always squeezing her big toe nail to see how quickly the blood returned after the colour had blanched away.

I'm a dentist.

I don't judge, socially, but I do notice and objectively size people up, as it were.

I am not in the least squeamish (am a Sporner type) and am not phased by the grottiest of mouths.

Genuinely nervous patients don't make my heart sink, no.

I thought the nail polish thing was because the colour under your nails can tell them stuff, do you go blue under them if you are short of oxygen or something?

GIN lucky pigs
was that an arrangement with a local farm? or your own pigs? or did all greggs go to pig farms!! ?

x posts

Pilot answer, they check important things like charts and fiddle with switches chat, drink tea and flirt with the hostesses. Pretty sure they can alternate naps too if there are two of them. Source; a relative who is a pilot, though he only did short haul. I'd imagine on long haul there would be two flight teams. He did tell me that on most flights the plane can in theory be flown for the majority of the journey on autopilot. The pilots are there for the most part to reassure people who like a 'human being' in charge.

Will nobody answer my question!

Oh, I might've been told a pile of nonsense then - checking for cyanosis makes far more sense!

I like the name Last Offices, I'm not sure why but it makes the whole thing seem less clinical.

Another one for pilots/cabin crew/people who travel a lot, or even who work weird hours. Does the constant changing of time zones and odd hours basically break your body clock?

i can just imagine a little piglet munching on a Gregg's sausage roll while his mum chows on a choux bun. How the other animals must have judged!

amelia - the answer to your Q is yes! in my force we go on to a response group straight from training school - so you get a bit of everything, jack of all trades and master of none!

but it is very varied. ive been to murders, suicides, sudden deaths, car accidents, child abusers, drug dens, cannabis set ups, burglaries, robberies, arsons, fail to stops, sieges, fire arms incidents, serious assaults, as well as the run of the mill stuff like shoplifters, assaults, criminal damages and the dreaded public order on a fri/sat night.

in our force you do the first 2 years on response and then in theory you can specialise - but that said - A) i like the variety in response and B) its quite hard to specialise at present with the current climate of cut backs - we lost 500 cops this year and they havent been replaced, so the pressure is on. It can be stressful. Even getting attachments to other departments like traffic or DV unit is hard because we are so short of numbers you cant really be spared. But i get to drive a car fast with blues and twos, its exciting at times, stressful at times, and sometimes you see things you wish you could unsee. Its taken me a while to find my feet - longer than most i think, but im now settled and pretty fearless, it used to bother me that we are mostly single crewed (we work alone, so being first on the scene of a major traffic collision or first at a pub fight can be quite hairy!) but now i find i am often single crewed even at night, it doesnt bother me any more. You are very much your own boss. You just squeeze in your own enquiries in between responding to incidents. There are always people to ask, and back up will come if it really goes tits up.

im quite happy on response for now. One day i would like to specialise, but the more experience you get the better for when that day comes.

Revolting - I was told that it's because the colour of your nail bed can be an indicator of something (sorry, a bit vague, but I did ask after my EMCS 6.5 years ago!)

Banking bonuses - there will be a bonus pool determined each year by most senior management. People's performance/results will be reviewed and then a share of that pool gets allocated to them. There is a comparison between people who are deemed to be peers - if a bank works towards 'total compensation' then if someone has a higher base salary, their bonus will be adjusted so TC is the same. erm, that's about as scientific as it gets. There are various market surveys out there supposedly telling you who is paying what so you can keep up with/exceed the competition.

That's my experience anyway

Gunz your question has never occured to me before but now I want to know too!

Very interesting re nail polish. So what happens again in the case of emergency operations? Is the polish just left on, or do medical staff always keep nail polish remover close to hand?