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

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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.

Thelabradoodlesaunt - do you like Ferrero Rocher?

Unfortunatedischarge - no parent expects to deal with the death of a child. There are no life assurance policies for children. When a family finds themselves in this horrific situation you just want to help them get through the formalities as best you can. It is our way of giving back to the community who use our services at other times.

IsleofRight - no my tastes are not that plebeian. My chocolate of choice would be Mary's, followed by Pierre Marcolini or Neuhaus, in that order. The only diplomat I've known to have a tower of Ferrero Rocher at a reception was Russian. I expect he didn't know any better.

Beauticians - when you were younger, did you really think you'd grow up to be the person who removes people's pubic hair?

I'm a nurse, phlegm, vomit, poo etc no problem at all.

Love sorting out big smelly ulcers.

Only time I've ever gagged was when I was pregnant and put my hand in someone's ejaculate, took a sec to realise what if was, boak!

Midwives/ obgyn people- have you heard of/ dealt with a failed EMCS before, or am I every bit the freaky situation I've been led to believe? Does dealing with so many labours put you off having your own? Do you laugh about the daft things people say during labour (such as asking you to buy them a trombone, or believing they're competing in the Olympics)?

Counselling type people- do you ever drift off whilst someone is talking to you and just think about things like what you fancy for dinner?

IT professionals- does "have you tried switching it off and on again?" basically translate to not knowing how to fix something?

Daniel how do you manage to stay calm when people are ridiculously rude to you?

SCBU staff and childcare providers- when you ask parents to keep in touch and tell you how Little One is getting on, are you genuinely interested or just being polite?

Yoni as a SAHM do you ever get to drink a hot whilst the DCs are awake?

Beauticians - how would you react to a parent who brought their 7yo in for a leg wax? And how often does this happen? not at all inspired by another thread that's given me the rage. Nope. Definitely not

Diplomat...are you diplomatic outside your job, or do you find yourself saying things in the way you know you can't when doing your job?

Retailers...if I refuse your assistance and say I just want to browse, do you think I'm up to no good? Are you more likely to suspect me if I do a very fast lap of the store and exit (my lunch break is short and I know what I'm looking for and don't want to waste time if I don't spot it...but always feel 'followed' when I shop this way)

Wednesday
Rarely. However I do find time for when they're not looking

Yani smart move on the cake front!

Really interesting thread.
I am a probation officer, I worked with high risk of harm cases, mainly domestic violence and sex offenders in prison and the community, if I can answer any questions?

Sort of related to someone up thread who mentioned chatting to her surgeon during an op - I was surprised during my c section how gossipy all the staff were. I had heaps, as I was a complicated case, and it was a bit of a crowd. I found out afterwards that I'd lost a huge amount of blood and the surgeons had spent over an hour taking turns to put pressure on and I had absolutely no clue. So, two questions: are you always chatty during surgeries, and do you have some sort of code you use so as not to alarm patients?

Ggirl.......

INR tubes are filled with a specific amount of anticoagulant and so if you under-fill the tube, the sample becomes over diluted with it so the results will be incorrect!! (You are checking for coagulation speed)

And no, we NEVER send out a result as under filled or labelled incorrectly when we have lost a sample. The booking in system is so strict (we have to have 3 points of identification on both sample and form with NO exception!) and samples rarely go missing (although this does happen) and frequently we run out of sample as for things like gold tops, the sample is spun and we only use about 1/4 of the sample or less and the analysers require a certain amount.

And re people phoning for results rather than looking up on the system.... It's a bugbear of ours as (although TBF its mainly the dr's) phone the urgent bench (where surprisingly we are trying to deal with urgent stuff!!) instead of logging onto a computer or phoning reception for non-urgent results!

dick, do you find it hard to treat the people you work with (like the sex offenders or DV offenders) normally when you know the things they have done? Did it take some getting used to working with people like that?

Duck what's the best way someone tried to beat a drug test?

Twiddlebum Im a med tech too :). Im in the usa though

Well hello there fellow science geek!!
It's funny how the word 'technician' over here is somewhat an insult whereas in USA its the norm!! I suppose its the whole pants/trousers thing all over! Lol

In answer to the 'turn it off and on again' questions for IT, it depends on the type of computer and the problem. For example, turning off and on again won't cure a virus. If a process (or program) has run out of control and is taking up all of the RAM then turning it off and on again may be the only thing to fix it.

In large business systems you generally aren't allowed to turn them off, or turning them off might cause even more harm if you don't know what you are doing (eg 12 clustered computers "servers" might have a specific shutdown order and shutting them down incorrectly might corrupt a database for example).

In terms of the type of computers, Windows PCs seem to need a reboot to keep them tidy/do post update installations while a Linux host would be pretty unhappy if you just turned it off.

Matilda re. obstetricians and elective sections, about 15% would chose ELCS for an uncomplicated first delivery. This rises if baby is expected to be v. large 40% if predicted to be over 9lb, 65% if over 10lb.

Re. bodily fluids, I am generally unphased by pretty much anything, but did gag a little as a house officer when an old chap presented us with a margerine tub full of sputum on a ward round.

And I know this was asked of Dermatology types, but I love lancing abscesses. So satisfying. I would video it if I could

Surgeons! What happens if you need the loo during a long operation?

In the bit where the theatres are there are staff loos and a coffee room. If an op is scheduled to be several hours there will be a built in break, the surgeon has to take off gown and gloves and rescrub before starting again.

Something requiring many hours would probably entail a team of surgeons.

So, two questions: are you always chatty during surgeries, and do you have some sort of code you use so as not to alarm patients?

There is no code, but a particular kind of silence and looks at each other. I can tell you it is scarey when you are being operated on and you hear 'that' silence and see the looks on faces. It lasts a second at most.

I waited until they were chatty again before asking what had happened (broken needle - half stuck in me).

DickCrack

Are SOPOs effective? Do you think there are crimes /8 situations that should not lead to being on sex offenders' register?

I'm a teacher, but in FE so 14+ to adult including some of those courses people are sent on by the job centre. Ask away.

Nobody has any zookeeper questions?

People who do MRI scans - what happens if someone is to big for the machine? Do they ever get stuck or do you have to guess before if they will fit?

I'm a nursery nurse, if anybody has any questions?!

Wish do you say "oh we really like him" about all the children or mine genuinely special?

wish not in a 'favourites' way, but do you have days that you look forward to/particular children you look forward to coming in?

I am a university teacher & researcher. The chatty students I LOVE because they make the seminars so much more enjoyable. There's nothing worse than asking a question/setting up a discussion and getting tumbleweed or them looking anywhere else but at you. I have some groups where there are people that will chat and I really look forward to. My peeve is when no one has done the reading/prep.

Some of my modules, I teach dentist undergrads and in my research role have a lot of contact with dentists in secondary care.

The current lot of dentists are at first motivated by money & the idea of being in the medical profession. Many come from families of dentists or doctors. Some of them are quite shocked when they go out on outreach and learn how manky mouths can be and that not everyone prioritises brushing their teeth twice daily. Their views seem to change over time.

The specialists are so interesting. The orthodontists are obsessed with symmetry and love watching patients go from being unhappy with their teeth to making their teeth straight and making them happier. The paediatric dentists are all of a particular type - they all have a lovely demeanour.

I am fascinated by the breadth of work of surgeons. I met one chap who repaired cleft lips on children and performed breast enlargements.

Not sure if its been asked as haven't read entire thread yet, but teachers, do you really judge a child by its name???