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.

Apologies for monopolising the thread but I have a question for parents who look after their children and don't have a paid job.

Do you like the term SAHM/SAHD? If not what do you refer to yourself as?

Do you plan to go to work or are you happy and fulfilled in the job that you do?

I have no agenda nor judgement re anybody's choices. Just curious as I used to dislike the term Housewife and wonder if this is any better a reflection of what modern parenthood actually is?

Mine are postnatal tears.....

Just acutely aware of how old grandparents etc are becoming. Just makes you 'think'...

Mignonette I'm a SAHM, I just tend to say I'm a Mum who isn't working at the moment!

I absolutely want to go back to some form of paid employment and now the kids are getting older I'm actively looking around for work.

Stil18atheart, do you ever take all the balls out of the ball pits and wash them all?

Mignonette what lovely posts :)

Yourtoast Yep balls were washed regularly.

Beauticians: do you judge in regards to waxing at all?

Mignonette thank you for those posts, you must be a fantastic nurse.

Fabsmum, in answer to your question, it does get harder to enable fully informed consent as I think midwives spend less time with women than they used to, not because they want to but due to the constraints of nhs.

I think it's easier to be fully informed in a 'low risk' pregnancy as women rely on their own resource gathering plus that of a midwife. In a 'high risk' pregnancy not as easy to be fully informed as often influenced by opinion of obstetrician which isn't always fully informed eg breech presentation.
However, I think in our society generally women are well informed, but age/ethnicity/social background plays a huge part in how 'engaged' women want to be in their care. But this is a bigger discussion in itself

I would be tempted to take all the balls out and layer them - all one colour, then the next etc.

Waves at BionicEmu and TwiddleBum. Just graduated with a biomed degree, now trying to find some where to do my HPC portfolio

I used to enjoy cleaning the air holes on the air hockey machines with a pin

I'm a hydrocarbon accountant at a multinational oil company if anyone wants to ask me anything?!

Well yes wanksock. I want to ask what a hydrocarbon accountant is?

In a nutshell it's allocating the oil and gas that has been metered at export point back to fields and wells and then reporting it internally, to other companies who have a share in that facility and the government.

There is also stock accounting of how much oil and NGLs (natural gas liquids) are in tanks, which company it belongs to, when it is taken out etc.

I also do some environmental accounting - working out the CO2 emissions.

That probably doesn't make much sense, sorry!

With regards to sahm question. I am not one but am on mat leave so have effectively been a sahm this year to two children and what gets my goat is the description of me as a full time mother. I will be a full time mother when I am working too, just as their dad is also a full time dad.

Do we have anyone who works in a prison?

I want to know:

is the food completely terrible?
do people constantly abuse each other or does it settle down and can it be an ok, friendly place to be?
do people talk about their crime a lot, or just general day to day stuff?
is everyone utterly miserable all the time and dying to get out, or can they just sort of settle down and get used to it?
do people do a lot of useful stuff with their time? Do you find that nearly everyone has a thing, like, they are gym bunnies or learning a language or something?
Are things very different in men's and women's prisons?

thanks in advance!

kim Missed this all the way back, "What do you think when a man comes in and is buying stuff for himself but pretends its for his partner?".

It happened quite a lot in all of the clothes stores I worked in, so even if the staff were shocked the first time they noticed the novelty rapidly wore off. Only time I remember doing a full double take was at the bloke who came in with a full beard/manly man outfit, but what appeared to be a 1950s cone bra underneath it all. That was a look and a half.

Used to feel bad for the men that went to the footwear dept as we never had anything above a 7 (or below a 5 grr).

Thank you youretoastmildred, xaphania and letsgomaths for answering my questions!

Agree that this is a great thread and that Mignonette's posts are particularly fascinating and moving.

Mildred

I don't work in a prison but I have been to lots of them, so can answer some of your questions until someone real comes along:

is the food completely terrible?

Varies - It often looks bad and smells terrible, and is served a weird times, eg. 11.30 am lunch, but then some prisons try to teach the prisoners catering and grow their own veg, and this can lead to quite good food in some cases and one or two prisons have naice restaurants that are open to the public.

do people constantly abuse each other or does it settle down and can it be an ok, friendly place to be?

Can be both - vulnerable and very nasty prisoners are separated for their own/others protection. A lot of prisoners just want to keep their head down, do their time and get out alive.

do people talk about their crime a lot, or just general day to day stuff?

Guessing - some do, some don't. They have psychologists and rehab and stuff. I think a lot of prisoners sometimes make good friends in there so will talk about the stuff that everyone else does.

is everyone utterly miserable all the time and dying to get out, or can they just sort of settle down and get used to it?

I think a bit of both - some will miss their families etc terribly, while others get institutionalised and just go in and out of prison - if they have been homeless or struggling to cope on the outside, it can be seen as 'better' to be inside, as you get fed and a bed etc.

do people do a lot of useful stuff with their time? Do you find that nearly everyone has a thing, like, they are gym bunnies or learning a language or something?

There are lots of classes and workshops - literacy/exams, learning trades, gardening, catering, libraries, manufacturing and yes, gyms. I've even heard of prisoners doing call centre work.

Are things very different in men's and women's prisons?

In some ways yes and no - there's still the risk of violence and bullying, but a lot more women suffer mental health probelms and selft harm/suicide. But the facilities are similar, although women's prisons usually have a mother and baby unit, but I don't know if there are ever father and baby units in mens prisons.

The Prison Service website has a bit of information about how prisons work etc

www.justice.gov.uk/offenders

Sorry, forgot to say, as a visitor, not a prisoner .

Gin ..

Isle I wonder about that too, the 'Full Time' Parent thing because it is so daft when you think about it. Just like 'SAHM' because clearly you do not stay at home. Many parents do voluntary work, are carers, run clubs and activities, do PTA etc. They work but for no financial renumeration yet the skills and experiences from these are hard won and very useful when applying for paid work.

And I rail at the 'Just A' when parents describe themselves too. It is never 'Just a'.

I was a checkout assistant for my sins.I loved talking to kids if they were having a tantrum.Sometimes that would stop it.I never really judged anyone,though you would see the same people coming for their drink and loads of it.

Szeli Regarding being a festival medic. I've never assisted at a birth at a festival, they are very unusual. Unless the patient is in active labour and can't be moved they will be taken off site to a local hospital.

We generally have two types of festival goer needing emergency medical care - the ones who go completely mental, don't sleep or look after themselves and gets sick / hurt because of it or the type who are very sensible, do all the right things, are careful and take precautions but get unlucky. The latter account for most of the sprains and fractures.

The injury and sickness rate is generally high at festivals.