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?

Almost retired dentist .
Worked in own fully NHS practice for 30 + years.

Some random thoughts

I love my patients and genuinely see it as my job to deliver affordable quality pain free treatment to anyone who walks through the door.
I have never turned a patient away.

Patients who are heavily tattooed are usually very scared of the dentist . Needles in particular.

My nursing staff are just like a family.

Most dentists and dental nurses are kind and caring. I knew a few nurses who were neither kind nor caring. All worked in the large city dental hospital. One was a really unpleasant individual. She didn’t care about patients at all. She should never have been in that job ( senior nurse in dental hospital )

Many children behave better when their parent is not in the room. Nervous parents should stay well away. .

It’s a very demanding job mentally and physically. All day every day you are putting people at ease who don’t actually want to be there.

I have spent a lifetime fighting against decay and ageing of the teeth and oral tissues. It takes its toll.

Most dentists I know are unhappy in their work but have too many financial commitments to change career path.

Over the years , the external regulations and box ticking required has sucked a lot of the joy out of the job.

At least 4 times a year a patient will claim that their last dentist put their knee on their chest during a tooth extraction.
Patients occasionally claim that I did this during the last extraction.
The knee on chest story is completely untrue but patients still firmly believe it .

The only decent ( and legal ) tooth whitening is done by dentists. If you smoke, forget it.

Smokers are usually in complete denial about the damage cigarettes do to their teeth and gums.

Dentists nowadays are terrified of being sued.

I have loved my job most of the time. Many of my patients are now friends.

We are like the local priests.
Patients tell us all kinds of secrets and we will never ever disclose anything to anyone. I once had a patient tell me he was going to murder someone.
He went on to murder someone else and is now serving life in prison.

I can spot a difficult / troublesome patient the second they walk through the door and am seldom wrong . My most experienced nurse can do the same .

A mouthful of bad teeth in a young child still breaks my heart

My dentist looks like Voldemort.

The teeth whitening is interesting!
Do you think you will miss the job? Who does your teeth?

Cruddles that's really interesting. Do fewer businesses have back up sites (or smaller ones) now that so many people can work from home if needed?

Another vet here. I just registered for Mumsnet for the first time because I couldn't let this go unsaid.... In my 12+ years of working and 10 years prior of seeing practice during training (in Scotland, England and Canada) I have never ever said that I have "killed" a pet. Nor have I ever heard another vet or other colleague use this term. Mainly we say "I euthanised him/her....", sometimes "sent him/her to heaven" or "said goodbye to...". But never ever "killed".

Of course this may vary amongst other vets but I felt strongly about sharing this. To my ears "killed" (whilst being technically accurate) sounds insensitive and callous. Not trying to start a fight. Just wanted other pet owners to know this information.

Must just add that I haven't RTFT and some other vet or vet staff member may already have stated this. In which case I do apologise in advance for the repetition.

Such an interesting thread. I would like to ask re fostering. Through circumstances not choice I have no dc. Can't foster at the moment due to having to work and it not being a fixed pattern. Will hopefully leave soon and will then be around 51. Could I then foster and how can I improve my chances? Thanks. 😀

Glad to hear it Nutts

Left me a bit cold that and I'm known to have an ....alternative sense of humour.

I made comment on that previous sickery nuts having seen a lot of it for myself I found it a very odd and nasty thing to try to 'share as an inside secret', and said so.

There are bad nuts in every walk of life though, so maybe, but I think it was more likely a troll comment than anyone caring for animals and trained to do so, would actually behave this way.

It's really kind of you to take the time (and register) to make a good point. Welcome and beware of the trolls!

Well isn't that weird dentist that highly tattoed are scared of needles!!!

And the teeth whitening...big name toothpastes claim to be whitening though?! Either they're false claims or illegal then?

Work in TV/Film.

Everything bought for a Production office (so everything from photo printers, to furniture, to stationery, to coffee machines, to soft furnishings, to electronics etc) goes in a skip at the end of the Production. There is no time or budget to have Production staff deal with it in any other way. Everything will have been bought new at the start of production, and will go in a skip after (on average) 6 - 9 months. The worst thing I have seen go in a skip was half a ton of boxed spring water.
I am now quite brazen when i'm working in studios where Productions are clearing out and will fish things out of these skips either for myself or to donate.

Often, if an (eg) TV series is unlikely to be renewed for a second series, the Art/Props/Costume dept will hold a sale at the end of Production and you can by everything from the kitchens and bathrooms installed in a house set, to the characters' clothing. I've got some really lovely high quality furniture and soft furnishings from productions that I would never have coughed up for myself!

Also, actors are generally awful selfish people and I have no tolerance for them. But the industry absolutely makes them what they are. The hoops you are expected to jump through for them is absurd.

Smotheroffive, yes the fearful tattooed never fails to amaze me.

Sometimes when a new patient comes in and tells me in great detail how afraid they are I ask them how many tattoos they have.

They look at me as if I am mystic meg (assuming the tats are hidden!)

3luckystars I am terrified that I will miss the job a lot

I once heard from a senior member of hospital staff that it was quite common for surgeons and other theatre doctors to shoot up with the leftover drugs after performing surgery. Anyone able to verify this?

@Olddentist can I ask a question? You may not have seen it but there is a Netflix documentary on a link between breast cancer and root canal. DH mentioned it the other day (I haven’t seen it). Have you heard / read any research on this? It seemed such a strange correlation but there had been a study on it

(It’s stuck with me and I’ve still yet to watch it and you’ve popped up as an actual dentist I could ask )

@Unescorted ha, my DH is in that team and he loves his job

I once heard from a senior member of hospital staff that it was quite common for surgeons and other theatre doctors to shoot up with the leftover drugs after performing surgery. Anyone able to verify this?

I cant comment on how things may have happened in the past, but it doesnt happen now! DD is a an ODP and gets asked this a lot!

A quote from DD 'There is no such thing as "left over drugs"'

There's certainly a.lot of chatter around amalgam fillings and the toxicity of heavy metals/illness, including depression.

Exact amounts of any drug are detailed very specifically on patient notes, each specific.amount logged from stock and stockstocks of.drugs carefully monitored. How could staff take drugs? Unless it's gas form?

I'm a teacher. I absolutely adore the teenagers I teach. I get particularly attached to form groups and when I'm phoning you for the third time in two weeks it is because I'm desperately hoping that nagging will get Emma to do enough work to see her through years 9 and 10 so when she gains some maturity in year 11 she isn't too far behind. Teachers who don't give a stuff simply don't contact home.

More generally, teachers HATE bullying and would mostly love to be able to remove the bully so the victim can enjoy school unimpaired. In front of parents we are professional and refuse to be drawn on sanctions and have to fall back on our legal and moral obligation to ensure the bully gets an education. But we simply do care about the victim and (particularly ordinary teachers) are hampered by our employers policies and left with our hand tied. It is by far the hardest part of my job - and on the odd occasion an older, nasty teenager has been picking on a younger, vulnerable member of my form I have made full use of the staff room for a huge vent of frustration and anger at being unable to protect the child in my care. The vast majority of staff will do everything we can to keep victims of bullying safe (physically and emotionally).

Final trade secret is backing up a point made earlier - most schools I've worked in are filled with gossip. Mostly about each other, but I've come across some shocking examples about parents too. I recently started in a new school and had to pull up a member of slt who tried to pass of a child's misbehaviours as "well there is a lot of children in that household". I pointedly said that I had 5 siblings and I didn't understand the connection - he backtracked pretty quickly.

I'm guessing everyone's had a 'go' at the entonox??!!

Oh and I just saw the post about doctors taking drugs. When DH started his residency (hospital training) in America the University Hospital had a posh dinner for all the new doctors and their significant others. It didn’t take long to get to the point of why we were gathered there, they gave us a presentation - with very graphic slides - of how doctors have a high rate of drug abuse and what to look for as close family members! There was a horrible slide of a young doctor who had been found dead from an overdose in a hospital supplies cupboard.

Part of the presentation was by the wife of a doctor who became an alcoholic and how it destroyed their family.

So the faculty was encouraging doctors to find other ways to cope with stress and families to step in if they saw danger signs. It was a very unexpected eye opener. This was over 20 years ago now.

Oh also he worked at the military hospital in Germany where occasionally the President would fly in to visit the recovering troops and give out medals. All the staff would try to flee the building if at all possible because if you were still there when when the President arrived you were on total lockdown and of course couldn’t leave until he did, which could be hours into the evening with no overtime.

I don't understand SLS?! Can you give an example. It sounds as if someone is suffering somehow because of awful circumstances and come to GP for help, there are ways of supporting that person with drugs or talking therapy, referrals for