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.

Two members of my in laws family are doctors and apparently they used to take out the pacemakers. So DH has just told me anyway...

re liars.....often when someone lies they glance up to the left. but there is no real way of spotting a liar - tho most of my "clients" routinely fib!

sometimes its just obvious. to be a good liar you need a good memory!

im a cop.

Thank you Geraldine!
7.5 hours without the loo

Dare I say it.....I am an estate agent if anyone wants to ask anything.

are RL cops as stereotypical as every crime novel/tv show in the world?
Ie struggling to be happily married, hard drinking, sexist
have you ever contaminated a forensic scene?
do cops steal drugs/money from scenes ??

oooh vicarinatutu go on dish the dirt!

crutchlow35 -- when you get a cruddy damp hole to sell, does your heart sink!
when you present houses to you cover up flaws? do you actually lie or just cleverly avoid direct questions on the matter, ie will the chimney fall down imminently?

I'm a psychology graduate who took part in a lie detector test and passed Liars need to truly believe what they are lying about is true. I was lucky I was asked questions which I could convince myself I could answer differently from the truth. The lie detector measures heart rate and sweat levels. So if you can keep calm (meditation) and relaxed as well as try and convince yourself you're telling the truth then you're in with a shot. Or it could be we were all undergraduates and my fellow students couldn't work the electrodes!

Pinocchio - doesn't really bother me. There used to be a group of reception/yr1 kids that I took swimming every week and they always sang the cookie jar song
( who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?)
Who me?
Couldn't be?
Then who?
The bus driver stole the cookie etc etc

Then I'd have to sing the next bit.

Loved those kids, they were so little compared to the great big high school kids I usually drove, some of them even needed help getting on the bus as the step was too high!

It is slightly different in Scotland as we have home reports which means a viewer will know about all the bad points before viewing. So there is no reason to lie or cover something up.

Cruddy, damp houses can and generally do sell quicker than a lot of finished ones. The only bit that makes my heart sink is doing viewings at them in the middle of winter because usually there is no power and no heat making them utterly freezing.

I used to be a checkout assistant, and no, I didn't judge. Mot of the time I didn't really notice what I was scanning, I tended to go into a dream world - scanning repetitively is quite soporific! It was only when the customer said something like 'in case you were wondering, we're having a party' in an embarrassed way that I would look down and notice I was scanning bottle after bottle of booze

Regarding the points about tattooists mentioned above. I asked my tattooist if he minded when people came in with really fugly suggestions. (He had been to art college so presumably would have some opinions on what had artistic merit and what didn't). He said aside from the usual caveats about racist/inoffensive etc. designs, he did not pass judgement on what people wanted to have done, because it was something that meant something to them as an individual. I got the impression that tattooists bent over backwards to be non-judgemental because people with body art as so often judged by others.

FreeWee - I consider myself to be a good liar (ex drama student - another one if anyone's has any questions re drama) would i pass a lie detector so long as i stayed calm and 'acted' honest?

And how does one get a 'neutral' result? I've forgotten the correct term, but a result that's nether passed or failed.

Psychics - Are you really psychic or do you embellish a lot of generic findings to suit the client?

Vets - Do you judge clients who give their pets unusual names?

To the poster upthread who asked how long teachers remember stuff for....,yep, an awful long time, especially the entertaining stuff!

I have an additional theory about some male gynaecologists! I know a lot of doctors and I know lots of them went through stages of med student hypochondria. If you are male and a gynaecologist it is extremely unlikely you can have any of the stuff your patients have. Also, the sensible answers of the other posters seem a good shout.

This thread is fascinating! I'm a vet -ask away.

A couple of the doctor ones relate to us too -surgery -usually only one of us operating - I have had to scrub out to go to toilet or vomit several times while pregnant. Not a big deal but you do have to scrub up again which is a pita. Like the scrub nurse said, you don't normally notice if you're 'in the zone' (and nobody is trampolining on your bladder).

Dr Google is hated with a passion by every vet I know!! Usually because it takes twice as long to explain why their pet doesn't have the condition Dr Google diagnosed as well as carrying out my usual consult. I hate the Internet,with it's non peer-reviewed crap rather than the client who is obviously just trying to do their best for their pet though iyswim.

gussie yes I use all the 'gloop'.

3boys what's the worst thing you found in a dog

Q/ are RL cops as stereotypical as every crime novel/tv show in the world?

A/ no. There is a definite "culture" which is hard to stomach at times - but its as diverse as the population. we are just people so you get a mix. There is a saying that gets bandied about - join the force - get a divorce - its hard in as much as shift work takes it toll, it can be anti social, you cant really go home and talk about work, without doing it its hard for partners to "get" what you do and what you see. That said, i joined later in life and have been married for 22 years. happily. There does seem to be a bit of bed hopping among some though!

Q/have you ever contaminated a forensic scene?
A/no - i dont think so anyway. We have our DNA and finger prints taken so ours can be recognised at a scene if need be. Ive done lots of scene preservation and scene sitting. The most important thing is to identify a scene and then prerserve it.

Q/do cops steal drugs/money from scenes ??
A/ - god no! everything is very carefully logged - everything is auditable. there is always a paper trail. No one i work with would ever dream of doing that. There are some that get caught doing something they shouldnt be - but its usually something to do with outside of work - ive never known a cop take money or drugs while ive been in. The job takes honesty and integrity VERY seriously. The process to get in is very tough, with vetting galore. Anything that tarnished the reputation of the job these days would land you in very hot water, and probably out of a job.

hth!

X-post - I love the unusual names, it helps me remember people and is often a good talking point if you're on your twentieth booster appointment that day. I have judged a couple of people who gave their animals racist names though...

I work in kids TV! Any questions?

Re lying I usually recognise lies by the holes in stories/environment /previous contact rather than something specific. People I work with often believe they've spent all am playing with child/tidying( house says differently) , not been drunk for ages (recycling bin says differently ) so they'd probably pass a lie detector but are obviously lying.

I am a vet nurse and we love unusual names. I much prefer a name that stands out amongst the same 10 names we see all day!
I love animals to have people names like Dave.

I can answer some animal job related questions if anyone had any!

I always wondered about tattooists... Do you secretly laugh at some of the things people have done? I have seen some really rubbish tatts recently!!

A giant pair (truly enormous!) of granny knickers which the owner told me he had taken from her dirty washing pile. I'm ridiculously squeamish about people!

I'm a healthcare professional- the sort that deals with helping people get rid of their sputum- it's actually very satisfying- especially when I help them shift a particularly stubborn bit! I've no problem with wee, poo or vomit- weepy leg ulcers however do make me gag but never so the patient would notice.

Do people who work on a checkout in a supermarket pay attention to what people are buying and judge?

The same goes to those in pharmacies...

I have worked in various animal related professions, vets, rescue and zoo.

Would often have a giggle at pet names, the best ever was a dog called 'Brad' when we asked where the name came from the guy said 'Because he's a Pit!' Still makes me smile.

Rosencrantz, do you know Floella Benjamin and how does she look exactly the same as when I was 5 a loooooong time ago?