GOGSoc Episode VI: The GoG, the Bad and the Ugly

Out of interest, do you guys talk much about your research with family members?

I'm very quickly working out who out of my family is/isn't receptive to conversations about research/uni/science etc. Strangely, my identical twin sister (who took the same undergrad degree course) is the least interested- not that I blame her. My Dad, on the other hand, seems genuinely fascinated. We send each other cool () articles on statistics and issues in scientific research My grandparents try hard to keep up with what I am doing and can handle the 'bigger picture' side of things, which I really admire.

It's funny how just mentioning a PhD changes how people interact with you...

Hm mine tends to be divided thusly

"I study the Classics"
"Oh like Jane Austen?"

or

"I study the ancient world"
"like Dinosaurs"?

Oooh I think I would have been very tempted, but I'm not sure how the whole travelling/conference thing works yet.

The ones I go to are industry conferences not academic ones, but economics/finance is a field which lends itself very well to conferences where you have both academics and practitioners presenting. This way I feed my innate nerdiness (I've met a Nobel prizewinner and have him sign my book, inter alia , as well as some other top academics*) while being able to justify my company paying to send me

*For those who know Reinhart and Rogoff, I am inordinately excited that Carmen Reinhart is coming to present at a conference here next month. I can't wait to have her signature next to Rogoff's in my book . I know the conference organisers and am desperately hoping I get invited to a dinner with her!

Not necessarily about my research (because I'm not doing any ) but I do get A LOT of comments when people find out I'm in the War Studies dept.

'Girls shouldn't study such topics'
'Oh. So you support wars then?!' (they then proceed to go on a rant about why war is wrong)
'Ugh, I always hated history at school'
'HAHA! What do you do?! Repeatedly learn about WWI and WWII?! They are the only wars that have mattered, right?!'

Or if I tell them my course name, it's all:
'What's that?'
'Oh. So you're a naive pacifist then?!' (cue rant about how ridiculous I'm being in 'my views' and that wars are inevitable etc. etc.)
'Why would you study about PEAS!?' (alright, they most likely misheard me but still )
'You going to work for MI5/MI6 then?'
'So...you're going to bomb violent people?'

I've taken to telling people that I work at McDonald's now and watch them struggle to swiftly change the subject

Aaahhhh so jeeeaaalllous. Serious question - if I sent you a book would you get one signed for me too?

Haha, I'm not even doing my own research yet and I'm starting to feel this. When asked at work by customers what I do other than this dull job, I tell them about my MSc in a cancer related field I get
"Ooooh! So you're going to cure cancer?!?!"
My response "Oh, no it's more a focus on how cancer works. It's actually just Molecular Pathology and Genomics."
"huh? In English?"
"I'm going to cure cancer"

It does irritate me when people come in to stores, just assume you have failed at life so ended up as a store assisstant and proceed to treat you like a moron.

Luckily my sister is interested in the same field so I do have someone to talk to about it

Oh gosh I can relate to the whole store assistant thing! I've had people ask me how old I am and when I tell them and confirm that I do have a degree they tend to roll their eyes and say 'Well, it can't have been a very useful degree if you're working in a shop!' Then when I tell them that I'm only working there to fund my MA they say that I'm being a snob...well, ok then. Some even accuse me of further wasting taxpayers' money by doing another 'useless' degree - the amount of effort it takes to not just yell at them/kick them out of the shop/shove whatever items they bought up their arse...

Oh, don't even get me started on the fools who think I'm wasting tax payers money. I'm working because every penny is coming out of my pocket. I don't claim any benefits/loans from the government, which they don't seem to understand.
I've yet to have anyone call me a snob, how did they work that one out? Most of my colleagues joke about me being a snob, I'm from Oxford and I work in inner London now, so apparently I'm posh

I've mainly just had people who think a lot of themselves and therefore feel that anyone who works in a store is not worth their time and effort. Just wait until I do cure cancer, they'll know then...

This is turning in to a right old moan, sorry!

PRSOM

Not necessarily about my research (because I'm not doing any ) but I do get A LOT of comments when people find out I'm in the War Studies dept.

'Girls shouldn't study such topics'
'Oh. So you support wars then?!' (they then proceed to go on a rant about why war is wrong)
'Ugh, I always hated history at school'
'HAHA! What do you do?! Repeatedly learn about WWI and WWII?! They are the only wars that have mattered, right?!'

Or if I tell them my course name, it's all:
'What's that?'
'Oh. So you're a naive pacifist then?!' (cue rant about how ridiculous I'm being in 'my views' and that wars are inevitable etc. etc.)
'Why would you study about PEAS!?' (alright, they most likely misheard me but still )
'You going to work for MI5/MI6 then?'
'So...you're going to bomb violent people?'

I've taken to telling people that I work at McDonald's now and watch them struggle to swiftly change the subject

When I learnt "Silent Night" in kindergarten, I thought it was "sleep in heavenly peas". For the longest time the carol gave me images of happy cherubs blissfully asleep in their big green spheres floating in the sky

Mine tends to get the response of 'so you're looking at stamps?' Or LOTS of questions about Antony Trollope. Who I barely know anything about and have never read of his work.

Haha, I'm not even doing my own research yet and I'm starting to feel this. When asked at work by customers what I do other than this dull job, I tell them about my MSc in a cancer related field I get
"Ooooh! So you're going to cure cancer?!?!"
My response "Oh, no it's more a focus on how cancer works. It's actually just Molecular Pathology and Genomics."
"huh? In English?"
"I'm going to cure cancer"

It does irritate me when people come in to stores, just assume you have failed at life so ended up as a store assisstant and proceed to treat you like a moron.

Luckily my sister is interested in the same field so I do have someone to talk to about it

Haha, I can assure you that the majority in the dept are definitely not pro-military (The ones that are get absolutely *******ed for it...and they're usually the American students - yes, they're Republicans too )

Also, the only people I've ever heard complain about taxpayer's money etc tend to...well not pay any tax to be honest and in fact cost us more and give back a hell of a lot let, so **** them.

Exactly! They still seem to think that the govt is giving out loans for PG study and just can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that students do often have to pay out of their own pocket!
I really don't know - I was being polite about it so Perhaps their argument was going down the pan and they said any old thing that came out of their mouth
Yep, there is always this 'I'm better than you' attitude that is really, really grating...sometimes I hand their change to their children (if they have any) as revenge...seeing the parents attempt to pick it up from the various places it has landed is entertaining to say the least

Occasional moaning is good for the soul...or something

Hmm.. I've never had the you-work-behind-a-till-and-are-therefore-a-lowlife thing. I've had rudeness a lot, but I always assumed it was just because the person was in a hurry and wasn't really concentrating, and that if you're in a uniform and serving stuff, you are the equivalent of a machine that people are meant to press in order to dispense what they want. Quickly! And perfectly.

Are you sure they think all that stuff? Or are you just reading it in.

How about "No, I'm on Cancers side!" for one hell of a reaction to that?

Also, the only people I've ever heard complain about taxpayer's money etc tend to...well not pay any tax to be honest and in fact cost us more and give back a hell of a lot less, so **** them.

Pretty sure. Some will perk up a lot when they learn I'm at uni but most will treat me like an idiot, such as ask another, more senior member of staff to do it instead of me. I've actually had a lady ask the manager to do the transaction because I didn't seem to know what I was doing, what was really happening was she was refusing to give me the information I needed to process her transaction Both me an my manager ignored her and carried on.

I hate how impatient people are these days. Some people do end up waiting an awfully long time, but I had one lady scream at me because she'd been waiting 10 mins for me to finish her transaction. I wasn't even standing still, she just had issues.

I also hate the "I-need-to-vent-my-anger-on-someone-and-you-are-closest-I-don't-blame-you-though-so-this-is-ok" mentality. I don't care who you blame, just stop screaming at me.