The Qwertyrash Blogs

Everyone knows about Occupational Health and Saftey (OH&S), but from my writer’s course I realised there’s more to OH&S than we realise…

OHS

I discovered there’s overlooked a different type of OH&S that many of us forget about: Occupational Hell and Sanity.

When telling other people our occupation – no matter what it is – all of us have our patience and sanity tested. It can indeed be hell telling someone what your occupation is. Doctors get shown boils on hairy bums; Computer nerds get bailed up over what computer to buy; people in movies or TV get the “I’ve got a great idea for a…”; mechanics get pestered with the question about why cars never make that clunking sound when they’re around; and so on through every occupation. God help us what prostitutes are asked – or shown!

For a writer, it can take the form of the eternal question all creative people are badgered with: “Where do your ideas come from?”. Another annoying statement is: “I’ve got a great idea for a novel”, as if to suggest you, the writer, would want to write it for them. Sheesh! And I discovered a new curse of being a writer recently, the “You’ve got to read this book. I’ll loan you mine. You’ll love it!” The first time you politely say “okay”, only to discover it is a genre you absolutely loathe.