Insurance loss adjuster, I don't tend to elaborate on the job as I see people glaze over when I mention insurance. I never planned to work in this industry I just kind if fell into it and I think most peoples general opinion is the insurance company are the bad guys and as I'm at the sharp end I get more grief then I get thanks, but it's a job

Really? I would never have thought that?

I know, right. Are people (clients) ever openly hostile to your face?

I think so - we've got a full house!

No Bells, I was talking about your day job.

More tea?

G'wan (I couldn't resist).

in terms of heroes, read this thread

Outstanding courage, expertise, resourcefulness, quick thinking and professionalism - PPRuNe Forums

(I hope I'm allowed to link to other sites , I couldn't find the news article to link to)

long story short , helicopter SAR crew , flew BACKWARDS in order to make the save

I was in DSS - latterly DWP.

Whenever I told people they usually brought up some NI contributions issue they had but that was the other side of the house and not my area. So separate that it later become a different agency.

It used to bemuse them that I didn't know and I used to wonder if someone said they worked for, say, a brewery were they asked about brewing if they worked in sales.

Once NI was out of the way it was the usual heartless, faceless bureaucrat nonsense.

Not at all. Having to read lawyer jokes or postings on the internet is about as bad as it gets.

The type of clients that I believe they need help so they save their vitriol until a Judge makes a decision that they are not happy with, then it is all my fault

Outside of my work environment, I make no reference to the fact that I am a lawyer, just as I didn't when I was a carpenter, prison officer, soldier. Lots of people react in a very strange way when they learn that I am a lawyer. Some people become immediately deferential, some become immediately hostile.

As you are likely aware, I became a lawyer completely by mistake. I left school at 16 with an armful of O levels and decided that I wanted to be a chippie. A few changes of occupation later, I was discharged from the Army upon becoming a diabetic and, when I looked for work in civvy street, I became sick of people assuming that I was thick as I didn't have any A levels or a degree.

I went to the nearest university and asked them what, in their opinion, the most difficult degree was and I was told law or medicine. I have no idea whether this is true, but that was the answer I was given. I needed to be able to work full time, which ruled out medicine. They offered the LL.B. as a part time course so I enrolled. I never intended to practice but, in my immature way, I reasoned that having a law degree would get rid of the "thick" tag.

I obtained a position working for a local law firm to gain an insight into the work of lawyers and, to my surprise, discovered that I enjoyed it.

Like most people, on a day to day basis I find my job OK. There are things I hate about it and things I enjoy about it. The older I get, the less I enjoy the constant pressure of people counting on me to "sort out" the situation in which they find themselves. I suspect that I would find myself in the same situation if I was a thoracic surgeon.

These guys do the extraordinary and make it seem routine. Even Novo and dbd might have a hard time to be negative about their actions

My kids go to school near the airbase here and one morning we arrived to find a big yellow SAR helicopter parked in the middle of the playground!

They had been out searching for a lost plane all night and had returned to Trenton to find the base fogged in. As fuel was running low a slight break in the fog occurred and they saw the football pitch and chose to land there while the opportunity was open to them.

Despite working in miserable circumstances all night, the crew of this aircraft were absolutely amazing. They let the kids check out the helicopter, answered all their questions, signing autographs even (no really!). I was so impressed with their positive cheerful attitude, even though you could tell they were tired and it has been a stressful night.

Eventually the fog cleared and after waiting a couple of hours for a tanker to come from the base that never showed () they manually checked their tanks and decided that they had just enough fuel for the short hop back home and went on their way, with the whole school of new fans out to wave them off.

That's refreshing.

I can relate to that. Plus, as one gets older it's not so much finding themselves in a situation so much as being the bloody cause of it.

You got next weeks lottery numbers by any chance?

You mean like not keeping track of your cheque book register !

I never realised that lawyers were disliked until I read stuff on this forum. The same with some of the other jobs. I do find it odd that people conflate the job that a person is paid to do with the personality of the worker.

In the main I like my job, I do dislike being asked "is this all you do all day?" and "don't you get bored?", or being berated for things out of my control. Such as their doctor or the time it takes to get the results etc.

I used to know a surgeon who told people he was a butcher as he was weary of people telling him about their varicose veins.

With the important difference of not demanding somebody else sorts it out.

I did. And then, when one of my children became a lawyer and married a lawyer, himself the son of a lawyer, I came to see that dislike is not inappropriate. That wedding, with its guest list of lawyers, could not have involved more people holding themselves in high regard had it involved gay Hollywood stars. I think it fair to say that contact with such people has dragged that child down, she's getting rich but at the cost of her integrity.

By contrast, another child lives with a surgeon. He works in an emergency department by day and at night flies on an helicopter to accident scenes, "is for charity, is for fun, is helping people". She's a nurse by trade but is, half by accident, managing the efforts of an NGO in an African country. They're an odd couple but I admire them both, neither money nor status seem of direct influence to them (though, of course, they're not poor) they're driven by an obscure, non-religious, compulsion to do good.

Had I my chance again I'd wish to be like the latter but, of course, act like the former.

I only ever met the latter, but I'm sure the former isn't as bad as you make out. Although I also have a close friend (or rather one of the daughters of a close friend) who is a nurse but married a lawyer.

Yuch.

I'm a Counsellor and get very mixed reactions when I tell people.

The one that irritates me the most and I hear the most often (especially at parties) is "OOh does that mean you are going to analyse everything I am saying" to which I normally reply "no - I'm not at work - where's the beer?"

A lot of people say that they think my job must be very interesting and they would love to do it but it's a long road to get to it which puts a lot of people off. A lot of people think talking therapy is a load of old sh**e and that's fine too.

I often get told I don't look like a Counsellor. Apparently I'm too trendy to be a Counsellor and I don't wear Jesus sandals and cardigans...

I wouldn't change my job - I'm very happy doing what I am doing.

If someone tells me they are a cop I always want to find out more - it's a career I seriously considered and they have some good stories too. Utmost respect from me for the armed forces.

If someone told me they were a plastic surgeon I wouldn't be impressed - another type of surgeon yes but plastic no.

Plastic Surgery includes a lot of things including fixing parts of the body damaged from accidents, burns, and other reconstructive surgery and of course cosmetic surgery, but its not fair to lump all plastic surgeons into one category.

I personally have a lot of respect for plastic surgeons and their abilities to reconstruct parts of the body so people can live a more normal life after illness, injury.