Popular Misconceptions About These 30 Jobs That Are Nowhere Near The Truth

Breaking age-old beliefs

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• March 21, 2023

Everyone has certain opinions about specific jobs. It’s the same way people have opinions about other people.

However, like with people, until you get to really know a job, you can’t understand what it entails.

Some jobs, like teaching, are seen to be prestigious in some countries, while in other countries, they are seen as only for those who couldn’t get a different job.

Other jobs get the heat in every country, while others are considered the easiest ones ever. 

Some jobs, however, are misunderstood, and as a result, the people who work in those fields don’t get the appreciation they deserve or, worse, get a lot of hate.

Jobs like bartending and cleaning are often considered less strenuous and low-income jobs. Yet, that’s not always the case. 

One Redditor looking to clear some of these common misconceptions about different professions asked, “Which profession unfairly gets a bad rap?” 

Professionals and employees from different fields didn’t hesitate to share their two cents. And a lot of them were pretty insightful, while others completely changed how we saw some jobs.

We bet some of these comments will leave you stunned. We were undoubtedly surprised while reading them ourselves.

Scroll down for a mind-blowing and informative read! 

1. Fast food work is still work

Working at McDonald’s/fast food. People always say c**p like “you better work/study hard or you’ll end up working at McDonald’s”. Work is work, and I honestly have far more respect for fast food workers than the CEO of pretty much any major corporation.

2. Desk jobs aren’t all that

I was a cleaner. People used to treat me like furniture and assumed all kinds of things about me. That was the best-paying job I ever held, with the best benefits, and most vacation! I went back to school for a more “dignified” career, and my “dignified” job sitting at a desk ended up being worse in every way.

3. Respect the people with the keys

Janitors. Give them respect, people, unless you want to empty your own trash and clean your own work or school space.

(Seriously, being nice to the janitor saved my tail one time when I was locked out of a room that contained some vital work material. The big boss didn't have keys to that room, but guess who did?)

4. Social workers deserve better

Social workers. We are underfunded, understaffed civil servants attempting to help populations of individuals with multiple overlapping problems (poor, mentally ill, criminal records, substance use issues), get their lives back on track. The people others walk by on the sidewalk or avoid eye contact with on the subway; we seek them out, try to help them, and usually no one is happy with what we have to offer. Also red tape....lots of government red tape.

5. Plastic surgery isn’t for beauty only

Plastic surgery, they don’t just do cosmetics, they do some live saving procedures for people in accidents, car wrecks, etc.

6. Veterinary medicine is not the money-making machine many people think it is

Veterinary medicine. 110%. Extremely low wages, very high suicide rates, everyone thinks we are in it for the money, or don’t know what we’re doing. The burnout and turnover is truly unlike any other profession.

7. Nurses should be paid more

Nursing.... Especially now

Sweet jesus so many staff are burnt out, understaffed, its just horrendous. its even a giant s**t show at uni learning nursing.

8. Plumbing requires real professional skill

Plumbers. People always assume they’re gross greasy old dudes but really they’re extremely skilled professionals.

9. Some garbage disposal workers actually love their jobs

Garbage disposal workers.

I've heard many times from many people that if you don't go to college, that's the type of job you get. But my dad f*****g loved that job more than building fridges for amana. Not only was he paid more, but if he found something cool there, he got to take it home with him. My mom eventually had to tell him to stop bringing things home though, because it was a lot hahaha.

10. Child care workers. We work our [butts] off all day long, receive horrible pay, work horrible hours, get little to no respect, get little to no PTO, are guilt-tripped for taking sick days, are told to do more and more random things day in day out by management, are expected to follow routines parents don’t even follow at home, and still show up to work. We take care of your children, please be respectful.

Child care workers. We work our [butts] off all day long, receive horrible pay, work horrible hours, get little to no respect, get little to no PTO, are guilt-tripped for taking sick days, are told to do more and more random things day in day out by management, are expected to follow routines parents don’t even follow at home, and still show up to work. We take care of your children, please be respectful.

11. In case you didn’t know, not everyone can be a bartender

Bartender.

Everyone thinks they can do our job because of that one time they opened Bud Lights at a company picnic a few years ago and that there's no skill involved.

My idea for a reality show is to take those types and put them behind a bar that's three deep in the weeds while Karen screams at them about slow service because she think's it's the ideal time to order craft cocktails and closes out after every round.

Not to mention the c**p us "lifers" have to deal with. Even people in our own families thinking we're losers, alcoholics, and drug addicts because we chose this over a more "respectable" career. Nevermind that plenty of us are college educated only to realize we actually make more doing this than the more respectable career we intended to go into.

12. Predicting the weather is more challenging than you think

Meteorologists. Lotta jokes along the lines of "must be nice to be wrong half the time and still keep your job". Do you know how difficult it is to predict the weather 2-3 days out, let alone a week out?

13. Dishwashers matter too

14. CPS workers don’t enjoy removing kids from their homes

CPS Investigators. Allow me to lay the rumors to bed. First, CPS does not *steal* or *kidnap* children. If you were unfortunate enough to have your child removed from your care, take responsibility for your own f**k ups and self reflect. Rest assured, the CPS worker did not *want* to remove your child, so if yours got removed, you gave them no other option.

second, CPS does not get a bonus for every child they bring in to custody (and they don't get extra for removing children of color). Believe me, they do not get paid enough to do their job as it is, let alone any bonuses. And where would this money come from? The government barely has the funding to pay/reimburse foster parents for taking in kids. Hell, the whole child welfare system as a whole barely has the funding across the board to care for these kids. Where are bonuses supposed to come from?

Third, there are no "quotas" on how many kids are removed. No nationwide adoption conspiracy to take children from their homes. Seriously, no social worker/CPS investigator goes into their work each day wanting to take kids from their homes. None. No power trips (cause that power isn't even in their hands, it's up to a dam judge). Nothing. It's a sad day for everybody when this happens. Sad for the families, sad for the kids, and sad for social worker too.

15. Dentists don’t deserve the hate that comes with saving your teeth

Dentists.

We really ARE just trying to help you save your teeth. And it’s really NOT fun to have patients immediately say how much they hate the dentist before they even say hello.

16. Teachers create millionaires and don’t earn millions. That should be illegal

Teachers. There are obviously good and bad ones, but most all of us got into this crappy profession because we love your kids.

17. Keeping animals safe is not a stink-free job. However, it’s a nice people’s job

Zookeepers.

Most people who have actually encountered them avoid them because they always stink so effing bad, but they're nice people :(

18. Embalmers are saving a lot of our asses

Embalmers. Thankless job people think they are creepy but who else would do that

19. In the stripping business, comfortability is key

Strippers/exotic dancers. If the person is comfortable enough to do that, then there's no shame in them doing that. Also they can make good money in just a night

20. Being an artist is a ‘real’ job

21. Gastroenterologists deserve more accolades

Gastroenterologists get a bad wrap because a*s holes are gross and who would want to spend time there, but these guys save lives.

22. Morticians never disappoint

Morticians.

Really don't get why; they're the last ones to ever let you down.

23. Massage therapists deserve more respect

24. Tattoo artists are not ghetto people or drug dealers

Tattoo artists. Ive been told countless times from others it’s a “ghetto” or “sketchy” job where they all sell drugs, but a lot of the ones I’ve met are really neat or chill. If it actually doesn’t have as much of a bad rap as I thought and I just know too many people who give it one my bad.

25. Being a customer service agent is hard work

Customer service agent. I get yelled at on the daily by customers. My co-workers and upper management are awesome, there's no pressure to more productive. I get berated and yelled at on the regular by people who may be simply having a bad day. The kicker is...I have to sit and take it with a smile on my face. We should get to throat punch at least one customer a day.

26. It’s important always to remember call center agents are human too

Call center workers. Yes, we know that you are not happy with (insert whatever you or the client did here). We know that you don't like having to do verification or to click through options when you dial in. No amount of verbal abuse, slurs, or sexual harassment will change that this happens.

Also, this doesn't include scam call centers ("your car warranty is expiring"/fake tech support centers/etc.), but *does* include legitimate outbound centers (ex. collections, sales) and outsourced centers in India/Mexico/the Philippines/other places.

Yes, they can be annoying, but that doesn't change that there is an actual human being on the other side of the phone who is just trying to do their job. They were probably placed on the other side of the phone because of a decision made by some freak in a suit who hasn't interacted with us peons in decades, not because they're actively trying to annoy you.

27. Mechanics aren’t always looking to cheat you

Mechanics. Everyone thinks we’re putting so much effort into screwing you over. In reality we’re too lazy to work on our own s**t much less put extra effort into doing more work on your s**t.

28. The best boy is more important than you think

29. Auditors have been saving companies since forever, but get treated like crap

30. Lawyers are really misunderstood

Lawyers, when theyre /your/ lawyer theyre good lol.

But yeah people often like, don't understand what the job of a lawyer truly is so people are quick to demonize them. Yeah theres some that truly are out there abusing loopholes and being scummy, but most lawyers are just doing what theyre supposed to. Making sure their client is getting charged fairly. Even if they are guilty, they still are there to ensure a just punishment and not overkill.

We bet you learned a thing or two about specific jobs. We know we did.

We have a newfound respect for people who do most of these jobs daily. They are certainly not the easiest things to do out there.

Do you have a job misconception you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Jesse