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.

Vets: do cats and dogs have periods? This is something I've always wanted to know. I imagine they do but I've never noticed it on my pets....

vintage what do you mean by 'turn them'? sorry if that's a thick question

Theincidental - well, most government policies / jobs are not on top controversial subjects for a start. You choose what policy areas you work on, so you are unlikely to suddenly find yourself working on something you passionately hate. And in general, I think it's rely important for any government, of whatever political colour, to have high quality, evidence-based policy advice, which is what I provide, and then it's up to the democratically elected politicians to decide what to do with it.

I have worked for both the previous Labour administration and the current Tory -Lib Dem coalition, despite having only voted for one of them. I do have political views, but it is surprisingly easy not to talk about them at work - everyone IME takes the duty to be politically neutral seriously.

Lollipop the main incision from a post mortem is concealed by the shroud, so don't worry. The only noticeable thing would be if the person didn't have hair then the scalp incision would be visible. But the mortuary technicians are fantastic at making people look their best. Sorry for your loss; I saw my granddad in the chapel after he died and I'm glad I got the opportunity to say goodbye.

I'mabadgirl yes definitely see a PM, most people find it fascinating and I've only had the odd one faint or have to leave.

Mignonette thank you for your kind words re the profession :)

Twiddlebum Tue 08-Oct-13 21:55:08
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???

Time taken to look up results on the system: 5 seconds
Time needed to ring the lab: 5 minutes

We only ring the lab if the result isn't there to see on the system. Its too faffy and the phone in the lab often just rings out.

I have worked for both the previous Labour administration and the current Tory -Lib Dem coalition, despite having only voted for one of them. I do have political views, but it is surprisingly easy not to talk about them at work - everyone IME takes the duty to be politically neutral seriously.

ginger what do you think of the pedestrianisation of norwich city centre?

Waferthinmint - I can answer your question. No I never find clients boring. It can be frustrating if they don't want to get better but never boring.

who asked about therapists involved in care for a long time? That's me, although it has to be said I do acute care at the moment, but have done more long-term stuff in the recent past. I always say to the patient that they have done it, not me - and that's how it is - I feel admiring, if anything, because I know what I ask them to do is not easy (I'd hate to do it myself). However, I do know that if things have changed, I have been there at the right time, saying something that clicked and giving some advice that has been helpful - and that feels f*ing GREAT if I'm honest, absolutely addictive (retrained in midlife after decades of jobs that made no difference to anything). I particularly love working with families - the relief in their voices/on their faces just to understand what's going on, whether you can actually help or not.

Dermatology nurses - are you sporners? isn't it the best job in the world? do you have to do a lot of easing enormous whiteheads gently to a conclusion?

Uni lecturers: do you hate mature students who ask lots of questions? When I was an undergrad I did but now I am one! Distance learning though.

hairdressers

How clean do you expect a person's hair to be? Let's say I phone for an appointment and am offered a cancellation so you've a space today. Should I say no if my hair's not very clean? (my hairdresser advises I wash it twice a week so I could be on day 3.)

that was to ethel! [joke passed emotion]

to ginger though, any slebs?

This thread is really interesting, lots of stuff I'd never thought of.

Only thing I can contribute is if anyone wants to know about working in a high street photographic lab?

Ginger, have you read any patricia cornwell books and do they drive you absolutely insane?

murder dirty pics?! Pre digital I imagine though...

Fascinating thread :)

My question (well, the first one anyway) why would anyone want to be a dentist?? (other than the money of course!!)

PS: Thank you to all of you who answered the various 'post death' questions. I did want to know the answers, but didn't want to ask the questions incase I didn't like the answers but very happy with them when I had very little choice but to read them x

For whoever asked whether checkout assistants played Ready Steady Cook with the contents of baskets... I was behind a woman tonight buying six bottles of gin and three fresh chickens .

So so many. The worst were always on rolls of film brought in by rugby players. It was only about 7 years ago, so we printed digital too. A lot of people didn't seem to realise that the machines were manned.

Worst/most amusing one was just after I'd started at a new store, had a disposable camera that the customer had paid to be hand processed - which meant I had to go photo by photo correcting colour/contrast/etc - and the whole roll was of people sticking the camera down their underwear and taking photos. Once I'd finished correcting you could see the veins on the penis in all their glory . What made it so funny was when one of the staff approached me later and asked if I'd dev'd that camera and had I seen the picture of them. Turns out that was their friend and there'd been another camera with no genital shots. For a horrible moment I thought I'd seen this guys dick before learning his name!

urgh

what do the rugby players do with the photos

mignonette Hmm.. weirdest was a guy who used to bring in the same 4 photos every week, get them scanned and reprinted. Then repeat. You couldn't make out what the images were they'd been reproduced so many times. That was always a mystery.

And yes, I'm pretty certain that some people sent in dirty stuff just because they knew someone would see it. We actually noticed a difference in how many dirty images were sent through when I was working compared to when my male assistant was manning the lab. Had a few try to use their photos as a way of trying to chat me up

Some really interesting questions and answers! I'm a youth worker/centre manager, doubt I'll be asked anything!