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.

This is an epic thread IMO. Luffs MN. I did do some pondering but I actually dreamed about Bridget Jones last night

Toni

Meant Yoni, trying to type with DS3 disco dancing on me.

Boffin - no, not in my newsroom. I'm definitely not posh, nor from the SE and I didn't go to Oxbridge. In fact, I think only one of my colleagues went to Oxbridge. I don't work in London though, I think it might be slightly different in newsrooms there.

Thanks Fanny. Interesting.

If there are any opticians on the thread, I would like to ask if the answers to the questions your patients give during eye tests always make sense, eg which shape or colour is clearer with a particular lense, or do they sometimes give you contradictory answers?

I'm a complementary therapist working in a hospice if you want to know anything.

Hairdressers: is there any difference in resulting appearance of a) washing hair cutting and drying and b) washing hair, it drying naturally, re-wetting it then cutting and blow drying?

forgotlogin yes please. My dads currently terminally ill with a brain tumour, we've been told he only has a few weeks to live. However were caring for him at home not in the hospice. Would therapists come from the hospice to see him at home and would it be of benefit?

ohmeohmyforgotlogin are you in uk? I did my elective project in new Zealand in a hospice as a medical student and they used lots of complementary stuff, like aromatherapy, reflexology, and acupuncture, it was amazing. This was in about 2000 or 2001 so quite a while back. Is this sort of treatment now available on nhs, or is your post funded differently. I'd love to hear more about your job :-)

Btw someone asked some medical questions a while back and I don't think anyone answered.
Re hypochondria - I think we would approach this whole area differently now. Eg pain is subjective, if someone says they have pain, they have pain, even if we can't explain why. So if we can rule out a physical cause we would now call it medically unexplained symptoms (mus). We can then focus on treating the symptoms instead of trying to find an impossible diagnosis. MUS is often associated with other problems like depression, anxiety, deprivation, social problems etc. So we can also try to tackle these areas when possible. The problem is making sure people realise we do believe them and we are not saying 'it's all in your head' etc. It's a very tricky area

Also re writing cheeky acronyms in notes NO WAY!

badger different hospices have different ways of doing things but often have community comp therapy service. It can be hugely beneficial, we work very gently and it can help with general relaxation, circulation, contractions of the limbs that can happen sometimes with brain tumours. The power of loving touch can't be underestimated either. You can achieve a lot with just a foot or hand massage too, you don't have to work deep or for long to get some benefit. Pm me if you want more specific info.

fab many of the hospices have the service but a lot of them including ours rely on volunteer professional therapists giving their time. Some pay sessional rates. I am paid part time ( very poorly!) to coordinate the service and I do massage. We offer aromatherapy, massage shiatsu, reflexology, Indian head massage and reiki at the moment, it depends what our volunteers are trained in. We work in homes, day centres, Inpatient unit and I have an outpatient clinic which can be a gentle intro to the hospice for people. We do carers and bereaved carers too when we can. We do a lot of training to help therapists adapt their technique and learn about the conditions they encounter and what happens to the body with terminal illness. Mostly cancer but other things like motor neurone disease. Working in this setting necessitates dealing with the heightened emotions, family dynamics, terrible sadness that comes with it which can be tough but also very rewarding when you make a little bit of difference to someone's last days.

Forgot to say I am in UK

I have a question for nurses, in particular those who work in mental health, what is the scariest situation you've been in in terms of a violent or aggressive patient?

Also, hairdressers/beauticians, do you often have people who cry because of how nice you've made them look? I had my hair cut once after a bad break up and the hairdresser got it so right I felt pretty for the first time in a long time and just sobbed. Does it happen a lot?

(PS: I hope someone starts a second thread of this because its amazing!)

Boffinmum I can't bear playing The messiah. The uncut version is long enough. Luckily I only have to play it twice this Christmas. Not surprised the chorus were messing about!There are worse long choral works though....Elijah,Dream of Gerontious

FoamyBanana do you judge people who are neat but never stylish? (like me!)

Its0kToBeMe I work in an open-plan office. I've adjusted my computer monitor so I'm not continually making eye contact with the colleague opposite me. There's usually some chit-chat at the beginning of the day but after that it's heads down. I hate it when people wander over to have a chat when I'm trying to work but they seem to have given up on me. Work-related conversations are welcome.

I work in medical device regulation (industry side) if anyone has any last-minute questions on that.

ohme sounds like you do an amazing job, shame it's not recognised for how important it is and funded properly. I'm sure it's so beneficial to bereaved people too, didn't realise you can treat them too

MrsHoolie, we used to see how long we could go without actually opening the score, it was so tedious and we had done it so often.

Be fair, MrsHoolie, bits of Gerontius are absolutely delicious (hums "Lord thou hast been our refuge" in best basso profundo) or great fun (Dispossessed, aside thrust) and everyone in a choir should have done it once.

Ahem, once.

AndHarry, how the hell did it come to pass that the Persona machine was passed by the MDA as a contraceptive machine???

Doctors receptionists . - Why do you need to know why I want to see a doctor, when I am in a queue of people and you are sitting 10feet away behind a counter.? Or are you deliberatly making me embarressed and being nosey

Traffic Police .- Are you trained to be nasty from the first second of speaking to someone ? Going all out at 10/10ths aggression and keeping the blues on , even when parked safely on private property.

Clothes shop assistants .- Do you not tell the entire truth when selling innapropriate clothing to children and adults?

Chefs / Sous Chefs .- If someone sends something back are you personally affronted and mortified? Only because I used to have a friend who would order steak and always sent it back as it was never acceptable to her despite it matching the description exactly. Then does anything nasty really happen to the second repalced dish?

Fab thread, really interesting. The MN collective knows so much!

I'm a management consultant. To answer 2 questions way back up there^:

1. Sometimes clients don't take our advice but they usually do. I tend to work on phase 1 (identifying and scoping the project) then do the implementation. Sometimes we quibble with the client over details but we are very convincing

2. There is a huge variety of projects, from cost-saving projects, to creating new products to implementing new regulations and processes. I'm currently working on a bank merger (not in the UK) and we have consultants working in the legal, finance, HR, project management and customer streams. For the customers it's all about how to manage the merger for them, from products to communication to who will be their new advisor etc. etc.

It's fascinating work and you learn so much. Lots of people skills too as you have to adapt to new clients, new project teams and new managers (I average 2 projects a year, with new clients, managers and teammates as well as subject matter!)

This has been an excellent thread, so many useful replies

I used to work backstage in theatre if anyone's interested?

MrsHoolie

I love your reply. The idea of you all stifling giggles is delightful.

Olympic Thank you again. I have kept note of your kind offer and will get back to you. The chance to 'cross pollinate' will be most welcome as only seeking expertise and experience within ones own area stifles growth and creativity doesn't it? The NHS is so hidebound.

Fanny My DH left Psychiatric nursing to run his own building company. i know there are some dodgy bods out there but he is more likely to make less profit or even lose money because he does find it hard to price himself at market levels even though he is very good and an honourable man. (I know I'm biased ). He would advise you to seek references from former clients, to look at portfolios of work and a good indicator of honesty/reliability is a tradesman with plenty of repeat customers.

Grandpa I have had very few scary incidents because generally the way to avoid them is good assessment including risk. Get the assessment right and the rest should follow. This does take time though and the early observation stages are a risk as are DV's (domicillary Visits/at home) for either assessment, out of hours or with a client who may be relapsing. A few that are memorable- I have had a crossbow held at my head for a couple of minutes which I talked my way out of and I have had a shotgun fired at us (at a distance fortunately) from a farm dwelling client. The shots were aimed more at the Psychiatrist (we were attending to assess for section) but the Police Armed Response Unit had to attend and it was awful for the client who was very frightened and angry (and awful for us too).

I have had a few elderly patients get pugilistic too because of Dementia or other organic diseases. They can really injure you and you have to be so careful in using Breakaway techniques (NOT restraint, these are designed to help you break away from choke holds, hair pulling etc) with older people because their bones are so fragile. Doesn't stop them having a fearsome swing though . Sometimes they pinch the soft skin of your under arm as you are assisting them (walking with them as they hold on) and boy that hurts. They just don't realise their strength sometimes and they really cling on because they are unsteady and anxious).

AndHarry Do you go 'on site' to see how your equipment functions? Tell us about your job.

Shall I set up a new thread? OP) hasn't been back and don't want to tread on her toes and I did ask her if she wanted to do it. What do you all think?

Definitely set up a new thread in tribute to the OP! Who has kept us all informed and entertained all weekend!

Grandpa As an MUA/Media stylist I've had a few, actual tears probably happen maybe once a year. it's lovely, lovely. So long as they dab and don't rub at their eyes!