Secrets of your trade.

[Confusedfornow]

I have worked in my current area of expertise for the last 20 years or so. It's in Aviation, can't say exactly what or for who as it's a relatively small community (for my role) and it would be VERY outing. Before this, my only other "job" that I did for a few years was dancing (yes, that kind ). So I don't have massive experience of the world of work.

But I was chatting with some people in a bar over the weekend and conversation turned to jobs and then to my role. I was telling them about some stuff which is perfectly normal to me, but was absolutely news to them.

For instance . .

When a plane is "parked" and everything is switched off, the aircraft is referred to as being "Cold and dark".

If a helicopter has engine failure, it won't just fall out of the sky. The pilots are trained in a procedure called "autorotation" and can usually land safely even if the engine isn't running at all.

All British Airways flights use the call sign "Speed Bird". It's unique and no other airline in the world uses it.

Last one . .

Pilots can't wear polarised sunglasses. They make the electronic displays on the flight deck appear black, and you can't read any information from them.

So, what do you know from your jobs that is mundane for you but which most people wouldn't have a clue/be surprised by?

• Footballers with niggling injuries (muscle strains, chronic knee discomfort etc) are regularly given painkilling injections and forced to play despite the fact that it will cause more long-term damage

• A professional footballer’s contract will be invalidated if he is found to have partaken in any high-risk activities such as skiing, skydiving, bungee jumping etc whilst under contract

• Footballers are often criticised for their boring and repetitive statements when interviewed, but they are very restricted by their clubs on what they can actually say, and anyone who goes off script in interview will be fined and disciplined

Lecturer who runs two degree programmes: contra to pps, it is perfectly possible to fail your degree - a small minority of our students do it with monotonous regularity! Yes, even at our relatively low-ranked post-92 institution. I apply exactly the same marking criteria here as I did in my former RG institutions, we do not 'up' our marks, let alone by whole degree classifications!

Also, despite running two degree programmes I don't get to see undergraduate applications unless they are 'non-standard' (e.g. from mature students). Admissions are handled by a separate,, central team who rarely deign to talk to us mere academics. I understand they really don't much care what you put in your UCAS statement, sorry.

Please don't ring me in fresher's week because darling Freddy hasn't called in 48hrs. But please DO ring me if Freddy has genuine issues and you have reason to be concerned. I won't even be able to admit Freddy is one of my students and certainly won't be able to give you any info (GDPR) but I can listen and I WILL follow up on genuine concerns and make sure Freddy is just hungover.

Also yes, we have students we like more than others but we would never let that sway academic judgement and mainly it's not the high-flying 'was always going to ace a first' types, it's the ones who flog their guts out and seize every opportunity they get (often despite truly awful backstories) and do much better than they dared hope (whether that's a first or a third).

Most contentious of all: most of us actually quite like teaching and don't resent time spent other than on research, despite all rumours to the contrary. And most of us actually quite like our students!

I'm a bit gutted my lovely cake has been binned by school though. Is there anyone on here from a school who would eat scones sent in when jam and cream as end of term treat for teaching staff or cupcakes I spent ages on?! Head actually stopped me and asked for recipe of a tray bake I made - I’m now gutted but impressed at her acting skills! What a waste of cash!!

I used to bake a lot and often used to drop cakes into my DD's school. They certainly were all eaten. But it was a tiny village school and we all knew each other well.
Coming from a town, I have found people far more relaxed in the country about eating home made food. It is absolutely relished.

I'm a midwife and some years ago with a different generation of midwives, someone would make a pot of tea on night duty and, we'd get together for a cuppa. To relieve a midwife, someone would pop their head round the door of a room to inform the midwife that "Mrs Brown was fully". Meaning there's a cup of tea waiting. Teamwork.....

@Liketoshop
We still make big pots of tea and all have a cuppa together when we can..... staple nightshift behaviour 😊

Care worker, both in care homes and in their own homes.

The carer who is giving out medications, dressing cuts and generally carrying for the elderly is on little more than minimum wage.

In care homes, the death part had been covered by others upthread.
Residents without families and regular visitors have the worst rooms, no ensuite, no view, tiny room for the same fees as the better rooms because nobody complains on their behalf. Staff try, but get ignored.

Home care, Carers won't be staying the full time at all calls, they can't. I was allowed 5 minutes to travel 8 miles. It's not possible. I used to start earlier and finish later than my rota said.

With both, the families who were persistent either with visits or phone calls were the ones with the best quality care. I know everyone should have top quality care all the time, but with limited staff it just isn't possible.

This is so interesting and heartwarming to read, even though I cry everytime I click back onto it - especially the posts from you amazing vets and nurses! Thanks for starting this thread OP :)

I've loved this thread but must go to bed now, but I've remembered a biggie I need to share first.

I've worked in online training for years, and back in the midst of the PPI scandal we had to design a training programme for the department of one of the UK's big banks that was dealing with the thousands of mis-sold PPI claims.

It was basically a questionnaire to ascertain how 'influential' a claimant might be, rather than how deserving. So middle class, educated people with well paying jobs and many followers on Facebook etc got paid back in full, while the poor, uneducated and more socially isolated ones, who needed the money most, were refused, as the bank figured there'd be little comeback from them. I was shocked.

"The millennium bug was overhyped"

Maybe but it was real and still needed action but that doesn't make it scaremongering. There are numerous stories about actual issues including some horrid outcomes around people wrongly being advised about their chances of carrying a downs baby due to age calculations being incorrect that resulted in terminations and misdiagnosis of actual people carrying children with downs, amongst various other issues. If nothing had been done the millennium bug would have had an impact without doubt, due diligence shouldn't be mocked

If you cut yourself while chopping garlic it will always have a scar as it doesn't heal properly.
The fanciest hotels do the grimiest things to complainers food...

Well said woby

@buzzbobbly 2mb lines are still a thing for financials. Most of the worlds economy and everyone's payments and direct debits are still moving round the world on lines with way less capacity than your home broadband

Advertising here.

We're not allowed to lie. Adverts will never lie to you. Manipulate, present the facts in the best light, gloss over the downsides - never lie. If you see a product claim, it is based on truth.

Little Chef sausages cost less than 1p per unit.

Iceland are greenwashing charlatans - and on the same note, approach any 'This ad was banned...' with extreme caution. Ads costs hundreds of thousands to make, even cheap ones, and the media has to be booked ages in advance. They don't get banned unless you want them to get banned.

@Allergictoironing yes he bought extra years few years ago. He's Grade 7 so he's not exactly going to be an exec director! But with level of security clearance he has contracting would be an easy option for him

Environmental regulator here: Most sewerage systems will discharge raw sewage to rivers/the sea during times of heavy rain. This is legal and is the only way systems can cope with the extra water. If you flush tampons, wipes, nappies, sanitary towels or anything else other than per, pop or toilet paper down the toilet there is a chance they will end up deposited on a river bank or beach.

Generally small charities will achieve more with the same amount of money they are given than large charities.
All charities have Trustees/Management Committee/BOARD managing them, but in reality the senior staff are the ones running the charity. That is unavoidable when in most cases the majority of the Trustees are only involved in monthly/quarterly meetings and a few bits of work to help the charity. Few will understand the day-to-day realities of running the charity.
Mail shot advertising run by mainly national charities which ask you to sign up to a direct debit, usually only get enough money from those signing up in the first year to cover the costs of the mail shot. It is only the second years donations that are actually going to the charities services.
There is one national charity that is notorious in the charity sector for achieving very little with the donations it attracts. There were lots of rumours that the Charity Commission were going to officially intervene, then the rumours stopped. I personally suspect that the Commission did intervene, but did not do so publicly.
Any charity that says they spend hardly anything on admin or fundraising is either lying or not being run effectively. Admin is essential to making sure that services are well delivered. And without someone fundraising either by applying for grants and/or getting people to give, few charities can exist. But many people who give money do not want to give money to admin costs, so charities lie.

I haven't RTFT because, honestly, it's 12.46 and there has been wine and I'm sure someone has already said this but whatever trade you're in, the best kept secret is always, ALWAYS be nice to your PA because they know far more about you than you can ever imagine. And if you piss them off they'll think nothing about putting you on that SFO > LHR red eye and 'accidentally' forget to upgrade you to business class.

IT here. My most important skill is being good at Googling. That's all there is to fixing a lot of computer problems, Google likely stuff and find suggestions for things to try.

Also, Ethernet is almost always faster, more reliable, and less hassle than Wifi.

Another who hasnt RTWT but.....

what seems to be common sense to 99.9% of the population has clearly passed the 0.1% that want to retire and "run a little pub".

You dont get up at 11.30am and just open the doors. You dont just pay staff to do all the hours and stand on the other side of the bar with your mates. You cant just help yourself to the stock. It ist a license to print money.

My day starts at 9am, or 6am on delivery day, and finishes about midnight. I may not be on the bar all of those hours but I am working for most of them. I need to order stock, do the pubs accounts and my own, I need to sort a rota that means that I dont have to man the bar every hour we are open but also means I actually make living wage myself each week, I need to make sure that every pint taken is paid for because otherwise I will end up with a stock deficit that is charged back by the brewery.

If you want a nice quiet retirement that makes you a bit of money on the side I would suggest you take up something more relaxing than running a pub, like alligator dentistry.

Oh and dont sink your savings into said pub, because within 2 years you will have quit and be broke.

hth

...and Pyongyang how easy is it to pour the slops into pint glasses for serving? Is that a thing in pub circles?

Blatant placemark to come back later

Artist. It really does matter if you use student grade or professional grade materials.

PyongyangKipperbang

I wholeheartedly agree !
This is very true if you run/own a pub ( not so much if you manage a chain bar like Lloyds , weatherpersons )
It is very hard work and long hours. you can not 'pull a sicky' because you are already on the premises .
you must have staff that you can rely on and trust ,
they will always want you for something the second you get in the bath / grab a bite to eat / try to catch 40 winks .
If we want a drink we must pay for it , it is not free .

Smotheroffive .
In my experience this does not happen , most big pubs have one drip tray that is under several different draught beers/cider so you would get a mix. in small pubs they will have individual drip tray but you would be able to see the staff do this.
We dont want you to have a bad pint , keeping customers is hard , getting ones back after they have had a bad pint is almost impossible and word spreads like wildfire if the beer is off/ bad.

All that said a student bar that i worked in many years ago made a big thing about selling the 'last pint in the house ' this would be what had been sat in the drip trays ( sometimes for hours ) all the different drinks would be poured into one glass and we would shout out who wants it loads always did . we sold it for £2 a pint .
The average price for a larger was £1.50 at the time !

To all the Nurses, doctors, care workers , vets THANK YOU for all the kind things you do , it has been really touching reading that so many people out there genuinely care .