Sure, there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ job with no stress, but that’s not to say that all of them are equally good. Some professions are far more emotionally exhausting than others. And they aren’t always what you think of straight away.
There are lots of hidden aspects and layers to doing any job. But not all of them are pleasant surprises.
Workers took to a thread on AskReddit to spill the tea about the creepiest parts of their professions. It’s the kind of stuff most people don’t talk about, unless they’re anonymous.
Scroll down for their stories and to get a new perspective on the job market. Meanwhile, check out Bored Panda’s interview with the author of the thread, u/Raiseyourspoonforwar. Just keep in mind that some of these stories can be triggering.
#1
Am a nurse. I’d say it’s probably the fact that people know when they’re going to die. They will straight up tell you “today is my last day, thank you for being kind” and you reassure them because their vitals are good, they are taking to treatment well, nothing happening that would indicate a drastic decline. Then, inevitably, you will hear a flatline on the machine and run in and sure enough that patient has passed away.
If it hadn’t happened SO many times, I would chalk it up to a few people who just didn’t have the will to live anymore, but I’ve seen it enough, I know that’s not it. Really creepy when you think about it too hard.
Image source: 100percent_thatwitch, DragonImages/Envato (not the actual photo)
#2
I run pools. We make sure our swimming instructors have good training in spotting the signs of child a**se because we see so much more of your kid’s body than most other folks in their lives. Bathing suits don’t do much to cover up suspicious bruising.
Image source: go_Raptors, seventyfourimages/Envato (not the actual photo)
#3
I work in college admissions. We are forced to admit kids who pay full price over more qualified kids. Talking about kids as “full pay” or “need” as they’re trying to better their lives is horrible.
Image source: anon, Image-Source/Envato (not the actual photo)
#4
I drive trains. Statistically speaking a driver in my country will drive over two humans during a career. What really haunts you is the sound. It’s a loud thud.
andyjim17:
In Britain I think the train company will retire you after you run over 3 ( could be 2. 3s the max) due to the emotional stress.
Image source: Silverkedja, jacksonnick/Envato (not the actual photo)
#5
I work in an ‘eco-friendly’ importer who imports, well, eco friendly products that replace disposable or single use products, especially plastics.
The amount of plastic involved in production, shipping, storing, and packing those items is insane. It’s just all stripped from the finished product before it lands in the customer’s hands. There’s also issues with ordering from abroad – everything from factory waste to the fuels to get it here. It’s really, really sad, and nobody addresses it. Ever. It’s not talked about – we just strip off the plastic and toss it before shipping to the customer.
Not really ‘creepy’ but sad, and so very obviously ignored.
Image source: loopsdefruit, StreetOncamara_From_Twenty20/Envato (not the actual photo)
#6
The amount of dead bodies you have to deal with/walk in on. Property management for 5 communities with 2400 people. 95% college students, 60% of those in high stress, high octane majors. I’ve walked into 4 s**cides in 5 months, and these have been people I’ve gotten to know, toured, worked with to cater to interests. I couldn’t imagine it was going to be like this, but I probably should’ve.
Idk how to fix any of it, but it makes for a hard time now and again.
Image source: Defiantly_Unsure, Hoverstock/Envato (not the actual photo)
#7
Hospice nurse here. We can smell death coming. Also we can tell, with eerie accuracy, when. Every now and then we get surprised but ultimately, we’re able to tell what’s up and arrange things so the family (if any) can be close by them. If they have no family, we stick close to them. Nobody deserves to feel alone at the end, but also…. people tend to die when nobody’s looking. We can leave the room for 3 minutes and not be surprised a bit if we find out pt has passed in that short window of time. Happens with family too. My great uncle asked his wife to go get him a cup of coffee. In the 2 minutes it took for her to do so, he passed. Some folks just don’t want to be stared at as they die, and I don’t blame them.
Image source: f*ckinFRANCHtoast
#8
How many 911 calls that come in with screaming or other horrid noises on the other line, where we can’t make voice contact to confirm the location before they disconnect.
There are a lot of things we can do to find where a call came from, but every now and then there’s a perfect mix.of variables where there’s nothing we can do. And it’s heartbreaking. 😞.
Image source: Sarothazrom, YuriArcursPeopleimages/Envato (not the actual photo)
#9
Sometimes when we deliver a stillborn baby that passed a while ago the head may come off in delivery.
Fortunately it usually doesn’t.
Image source: TheNightRumbler, YuriArcursPeopleimages/Envato (not the actual photo)
#10
Probably too late for anyone to read this but I work for a social media “influencer” who everyone praises for “keeping it real” and being such a nice and lovely person.
Reddit, she’s a huge bully and a total psycho. What you see in her posts is so fake. It’s scary to me that so many people look up to her and even say she has cured their depression or made them feel happy again. I’m glad that those people feel better about themselves but this girl is not a good person and has contributed to the mental breakdown of more than one person IRl. I wish people wouldn’t believe everything they see on social media. It freaks me out how she’s able to make herself look like such a saint when she’s so nasty.
Image source: Eva_Luna, MegiasD/Envato (not the actual photo)
#11
The amount of s*****e rates in the veterinary profession. Eight years after graduation and 2 of my classmates have committed s*****e.
High stress, not fantastic pay, poor coping mechanism, bad clients, etc will wear anyone down after a time.
Image source: theunraveler1, AnnaStills/Envato (not the actual photo)
#12
Worked 10pm to 8am shift at a gas station. The number of construction guys, factory workers, big truck drivers, basically “heavy machinery” guys who buy two pints of vodka (one for each pocket) every morning at 6am in their way to work is quite scary.
Image source: anon, kegfire/Envato (not the actual photo)
#13
The number of deaths and injuries. Industrial Maintenance isn’t a really safe career path. I personally know 4 people that have been seriously injured and 2 that were k**led on the job.
Image source: Buwaro, eakkachaih/Envato (not the actual photo)
#14
The smell of burning Human flesh. I’m an industrial welder and occasionally have a molten blob of steel land on exposed skin. We don’t mention it outside of work because of obvious reasons.
Image source: BushPig00, Freepik (not the actual photo)
#15
The amount of teachers who sleep with students. Every school I’ve been at there has been a story of “Mr. so-and-so got fired for having s*x with one of the students a few years back.”
I’ve talked to teachers who make remarks about 15 year old girls’ bodies that would be embarrassing to retell. I’ve heard rumors of students who get a little unwanted attention from some teachers.
Improper stuff happens far more than you hear about on the news.
Image source: duck_duck_grey_duck, CarlosBarquero/Envato (not the actual photo)
#16
The fact that human organs are shipped like regular packages at FedEx. I see them almost everyday, its most a company called Cryolife I think. It’s for organ donation. But we are very professional and careful with these packages in particular for obvious reasons.
Image source: tkool73, kckate16/Envato (not the actual photo)
#17
IT security at a lot of places is a joke. You’d be horrified how at some high profile/hold a lot of your personal data there isn’t really an emphasis on security. Sure they do just enough but it’s more aimed at protecting their image and whatnot than your data.
Image source: Revolutionary_Dingo, seventyfourimages/Envato (not the actual photo)
#18
I worked as a Marine electrician for a while (fishing boats mostly) and no one said anything weird for 3 months. Then one day my coworker told me about how he had been on a job where a boat crew member fell into a machine that was on and it crushed the guys hand, the captain came around to see what the commotion was about and told the guy to get back to work.
The whole crew said they would walk off the boat if the captain didn’t get the man medical attention.
I heard stories of people flipping breakers while people were still working inside switch boards, which makes the switchboard effectively explode with lightning and fire k**ling people.
Stories about people throwing themselves down flights of stairs to collect unemployment or LNI.
Or people jumping into the ocean because of depression.
Those boats were nightmare inducing. Rusty and disgusting.
Theres no OSHA if OSHA isn’t physically there with their eyes on something. Captain would get tipped off OSHA was coming out or the fire chief and they would cease dangerous activities. Captain would order a welder to weld up a guard rail on a set of steep stairs for when OSHA would show up. As soon as OSHA would leave the captain would tell someone else to cut the guard rail off with a grinder. It was never there for safety, but for the illusion that safety protocols were being followed.
Image source: lemondemon333
#19
I’m a dog groomer and I can’t tell you how many men ask “how much to wash me?@ that s**t isn’t funny.
Image source: 420FLgirl, wirestock/Envato (not the actual photo)
#20
Honestly, the fact that most stuff we deal with causes cancer. Generally, you can be quite safe as a chemist, but it’s the long term exposure that’s an issue. Being somewhat not safe over time causes lots of issues. Sure, you always hear of someone who got a litre of solvent to the face, or got a toxic powder on their arm and was fine, but it’s the sum of all your exposures, not the day to day stuff that k**ls you. Be smart and be safe: wear gloves, wear a lab coat, don’t breath anything in, and work in a fume hood with everything.
Image source: ChrmistOnMath, prostockstudio/Envato (not the actual photo)
#21
I’ve been working as a waiter for years now. And whew boy lawdy are there a bunch of issues that are simply not addressed. Workplace sexual harrassment of women in the industry is f*****g rampant, both from coworkers and customers. D**g and alcohol consumption and a**se amongst restaurant workers is insane. The huge racial and gender disparity that exists in earnings due to tips. It’s a pretty toxic business behind the scenes.
Image source: el_pobbster, seventyfourimages/Envato (not the actual photo)
#22
From the veterinary field: animal waste doesn’t have any special rules about proper disposal. More often than not, if you were to dig through the dumpster behind a clinic you’d find whole body parts if not entire bodies.
Image source: majestic_alpaca, Gerain0812/Envato (not the actual photo)
#23
This isn’t necessarily creepy, but unsettling. I used to work in the travel industry. You’d be surprised at how many people seriously injure themselves or even die while on vacation. People tend to think they’re invincible when they’re abroad. Spoiler alert: You are not. Buy travel insurance.
Image source: showmeyournachos, monkeybusiness/Envato (not the actual photo)
#24
All of us including the biggest toughest ranchers all have a baby voice they use when talking to livestock Weird but totally adorable!
Dlgredael:
Jesus Christ thank you, this is like a checkpoint in a horror game.
Image source: Ranchergirl89
#25
Not really creepy, but I work at a woodshop, and it is an absolute OSHA disaster. Safety guidelines are rarely (if ever) enforced, and corners are cut constantly to get stuff built on time. I’m talking fire extinguishers buried behind scrap wood and other things, almost zero use of safety equipment, and just a general disregard for what should be standard practice. Really the only reason injuries are rare is because the vast majority of people who work here are experienced and know their s**t.
Image source: sable-king, Mint_Images/Envato (not the actual photo)
#26
In education as an administrator. The reality of the frequency of child sexual a*****t or child a**se and lasting trauma resulting from it is enough to make you drink.
It is so shocking the level of incompetence in parents. This is across both private schools, well off demographics and high needs, high poverty districts.
It is really hard to come to school each day and mask positivity some days.
Image source: anon, svitlanah/Envato (not the actual photo)
#27
I work in Marketing. We know so much about you that we purposely tone it down as not to freak you out.
Image source: Patty778, seventyfourimages/Envato (not the actual photo)
#28
In the work comp insurance industry, each body part has a predetermined monetary value. So if you lost, say, a thumb or a foot on the job, they just check their price list and cut a check. Sometimes there are different values for the same body part depending on if the part that was lost came from your dominant hand or side.
Another fun fact is that it can be cheaper to insure roofers who work on 5 or 10+ story jobs than those that work on lower structures because the insurance companies figure in the event of a fall they’ll only have to cut a simple check for a pre-set death benefit for the high rise workers – it’s when someone falls from just a couple stories that leads to years of expensive medical treatments and disability payments since they’re much more likely to survive.
I’ve always found it a little bit creepy how easily our lives and body parts can be reduced to just a few numbers and dollar signs.
Image source: leeloo627
#29
Pilot here.
It is possible for an aircraft at high altitude to depressurize fast enough that nobody has time to put on an oxygen mask before losing consciousness. In this case the plane will continue to fly on autopilot until it runs out of fuel. At that point the aircraft will descend. Once it’s low enough everyone will wake up (edit: I did some more research. Waking up is extremely unlikely.) disoriented onboard a doomed plane minutes from impact with the ground.
Here’s the kicker. There’s a rule that at least one of the pilots must wear an oxygen mask at all times above 35,000 feet. I have never met a pilot that follows this rule.
Have a great flight!
Image source: DonnyGreene
#30
I work for a student loan company. A lot of people’s ‘repayment plan’ is to pay the absolute minimum/defer their loans as long as possible and then die. It’s usually for older people but I see it with folks in their 20s/30s also. Their interest is sometimes more than they make in a month. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve had to reassure that their kids won’t have to pay the loan if the parent dies. It (usually) can’t be discharged with bankruptcy either. It f*****g sucks that DEATH is the only way out for people, we literally have to have a protocol for how to handle someone threatening to commit s*****e so they don’t have to pay it.
Image source: skellyclique
#31
A small percentage of people getting tattooed have HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis, etc. and they are not always honest on their release forms. I was taught to always treat every client as if they have Hepatitis C, so everyone gets the same precautions, safety measures, and equipment sterilization. It’s tough though, because we’ll have sketchy people that probably use d***s, or come in wanting their house party tattoo fixed and we have no idea if they were sharing needles. We either make a judgment and deny them service, or treat them like everyone else and use precaution. I’ve only had one person be honest and tell me they had HIV, while they filled out their paperwork.
Image source: TheApprenticeLife, Javanng/Envato (not the actual photo)
#32
The ethical implications of being a programmer.
I used to work in the financial sector, but I had to leave because I heard too many serious discussions about how much it cost to buy a governor without getting arrested.
Image source: anon
#33
The amount of s*****e among doctors.
Physicians have among the highest rates of s*****e worldwide, but I didn’t understand how significant it was until I was in the field. I assumed it wasn’t a big issue – the career seemed great with prestige, high job security and income. And it is great, but I didn’t know about working 60 days in a row, operating after being awake for 72 hours on call, cutthroat competition in training bottlenecks, the constant expectation and pressure to be the best and know it all from seniors and patients alike, the harassment and bullying from colleges that eat their young.
Now that I’m working in hospital networks, I don’t go more than a couple of months without hearing about another doctor who attempted or committed s*****e. There is more open discussion about the crisis, but most remains unspoken. Many doctors in my country won’t disclose or seek help for their mental health problems out of fear they’ll be reported and have restrictions on their license.
And if you are taken to hospital for the s*****e attempt, the field is small enough that your colleagues and friends will hear about it, no matter how much staff maintain confidentiality. I visited a friend in ICU who attempted s*****e, and he was mortified that he had been transported to the hospital he was employed in. Everyone knew and he moved across the country. And you hear about funerals for an ‘untimely passing’ of a 30 something year old doctor, while nobody talks about how or why they died. We are very uncomfortable talking about s*****e.
Image source: manlikerealities, DC_Studio/Envato (not the actual photo)
#34
As a teacher, we know (but don’t talk about it) how many of our kids have very f****d up lives. We know which kids have emotionally a*****e siblings. We know which kids have no friends. We know which kids’ parents pay no attention to their accomplishments.
When it’s something that crosses the line (sexual a**se, unsafe living conditions, etc), we will report it to CPS. Hell, as far as I am aware, we are required to in every state (certainly are in mine). But, there are so many horrible, horrifying, things that kids have to go through that don’t cross the line in to reportable territory.
For example, one of my students two years ago was the only boy out of five children. His mother, her husband having walked out after baby #5 was born, took all of her aggression out on my student. It was never a*****e, to our knowledge. But, he confided in me that his mother just didn’t care about him. Any accomplishment of his sisters’ was praised and celebrated. His accomplishments? Ignored.
The kid was one of the sweetest boys I have ever taught. All he wanted was to make his mother proud of him. She couldn’t have cared less though, because to her he was just a reminder of the man who left her. The kid was emotionally neglected and starved for positive attention.
We also know about the kids who have had seriously f****d up s**t happen to them (r**e, molestation, severe physical a**se, even t*****e). One girl I taught was r***d by her father and her uncle for years. Her uncle moved out of the country and her father is in prison. The situation has been “resolved” legally, but she is still facing years and years of psychological problems.
So, to end my rambling…the creepiest thing about my profession that we don’t talk about is how many of our students are messed up and facing years of therapy because of things beyond their control.
Image source: anon, Pressmaster/Envato (not the actual photo)
#35
I work in tv news and some viewers can be veryyy creepy. People subconsciously feel like they know us, because they see us everyday, in their homes. Some of the mail my coworkers receive is so questionable. Like one guy (a well known and beloved weatherman) regularly gets postcards from the same dude that hates him and berates him. Another guy acts as if he actually knows one of our weekend anchors, in his letters talking about how they used to go to various concerts together (nope). Once I opened a package with all these random objects (bandaids, leis, a pair of socks, conversation hearts) and five valentines each detailing how the person would storm the building.
Once I did a story vaguely related to vaping and within minutes a guy tracked down my personal facebook and sent me three videos cussing me out and a long rant about how I was a “p**s ant w***e” and a “f*****g moron”.
Image source: jadecourt, DC_Studio/Envato (not the actual photo)
#36
That we’ve been hacked. Repeatedly. Any data you trusted us with is out there now. Either for sale or just to freely download if you find the right site. The only reason your identity has not been stolen is that the thieves chose to steal someone else’s today, and there are orders of magnitude more honest people than there are professional identity thieves. Pure random luck is the only reason your credit rating is not in tatters right now.
None of this is publicized, because the laws were deliberately written in such a way that we decide what constitutes a breech and that decision is never meaningfully accountable to anyone. So … surprise! We have never declared that any of the times that we were hacked constituted a “formal breech”.
Image source: xmagusx, JulisarmiJSX80/Envato (not the actual photo)
#37
There are a lot of nasty a*s bugs in shipping.
f*nFRANCHtoast:
Oh yes. Silverfish! Centipedes! Cockroaches! Scorpions! My personal favorite was when we’d get product in from China and some bugs just come hauling @ss out of the boxes to go start a new life or what the f**k ever they do.
Image source: aliveinjoburg2
#38
My previous job was at a canine lodging/training facility. The training was 0% positive reinforcement, only negative. One of my coworkers walked in on a trainer choking a dog out on a prong collar until it passed out. Trainer followed her out and said “there’s a reason why you don’t go in the training room” like he was out of a mafia movie or some s**t. SPCA was called on this place at least twice, but someone there is buddies with the owner and always gives him a heads up before they come investigate.
Not as creepy, but anyone paying for a large run during the busy season will usually just end up with their dog in a carrier crate. People will still be charged nearly $100/night for their dog to stay in a large run even if they’re not actually ending up in there.
All in all, I highly advise just hiring a dog sitter on Rover. Most upscale boarding kennels don’t have max. capacities and often lie/cheat their clients of money (they don’t ACTUALLY read your dog a bedtime story, or give them doggie ice cream, or give them pamper tuck-ins). If you INSIST on bringing your dog to a boarding kennel, smaller is better. Don’t let large upscale facilities fool you with the looks, it may LOOK nicer, but 100% chance the run-down looking one is more honest and likely to cater to your dogs needs.
EDIT: I’ve gotten questions from a few people asking how to tell a legit kennel from a dishonest one, and my best advice is to look at employee reviews on indeed/glassdoor/etc. Employee reviews will give you about 90% more insight than any customer review typically could. Key complaints to look out for is “profit hungry owners”, “understaffing”, or “overwork&underpay”. These typically indicate a poor employee:dog ratio, and no maximum capacity (in states that do not have strict laws regarding a capacity).
Image source: CliffLanterns
#39
The deli section is littered with frozen flies that couldn’t escape the coolers.
Image source: anon
#40
The company likes to pretend we do an honorable job making strategically important things for the United States military to protect us all with.
We make weapons. It’s quite possibly the most lucrative industry in the world.
Image source: anon
#41
Chemist:
In d**g discovery, biochemistry etc, where they try to find new d***s against cancer or finding treatments for other illnesses, usually your d**g has to be toxicologically tested by law.
There are contract labs for this, where they usually keep dogs (beagles because of their robust body) cats, monkeys (macaques) and other animals. Basically, the animals get different doses of the medics and they look how much the o******e would be. The Animals of these facilities never see daylight in their lives and they also die there, so they leave these labs only dead. And there are often issues because of low/no law enforcement resulting in a high grade of animal cruelty. When an animal is suffering, they should euthanize it, but when no one is on night shift, nobody can take care of this. And the monkeys also are often treated like small humans in a concentration camp.
The intention to find new d***s and treatments is good, but as soon as laws, economics and taxes play a role, things can go out of hand. There is a current case of a swiss company, which gave a test assignment to a german animal testing facility (most likely because it is cheaper) and Germany’s laws to protect these animals are less strict than swiss laws. An undercover animal’s rights activist got as an employee into the german facility and he recorded terrible things.
Image source: UltraMario93, wosunan/Envato (not the actual photo)
#42
Some of the people who go missing in the woods just aren’t found. We don’t know what happens to them. Forest rangers are always wary about missing persons in the woods.
Image source: rogue-wolf
#43
I used to do a lot of independent IT work in rural areas before I moved to the bay, and have endless stories about utterly f****d up people.
Yes, I always reported it if I could prove it was illegal, but here’s just some of the greatest hits:
Was asked to install a hidden web camera in a child’s room once, under the guise of it being for a baby, then find out it’s the room of a 16 year old girl.
I meet a retired judge who is like the nicest guy ever, instantly find insanely long histories of mock snuff films and poetry about severing female heads.
Went to a hog farm and helped install a monitoring system for a series of pens that included couches inside and real toilets. He stood behind me the entire time breathing down my neck while I worked.
Seriously, so done with the Midwest bruh.
Image source: thatjohnyouknow
#44
I don’t know about “creepy” but A LOT of dietitians have/had eating disorders. It can attract people who are 1) obsessed with food and ‘health’ and 2) looking for better ways of staying as thin as possible.
Ekyou:
On a similar note, I studied psychology and every therapist I’ve met had some sort of mental illness. But really it makes sense that people would want go into a field that they are personally invested in.
Image source: -GrumpyDietician
#45
I wish I never new this, but I was a hair dresser for a while, and at one point was working in a not so good area. I had just started at this new salon, and the owner warned me to watch out for an older man who would come in after a young girl. That in and of itself was kind of strange, but nothing too jarring.
Its also important that we had almost no staff, do i work many 6-7 hour shifts by myself. Well, one day a young woman, maybe 25 years old, came in, and an older man behind her, who said absolutely nothing. I took her to the chair, and like everyone else, asked her what she wanted. She pulled me close to her and said “that man there thinks I’m getting my head shaved, he gave me $100, but just trim it.”
I look back at the man, and there he was, starting to m**turbate in the corner. I told him to leave and called the police. The girl started crying in the chair. It was by far the creepiest thing I’ve seen.
I never knew people had fetishes like that. I wish I never knew.
Image source: bitter_candi
#46
Military – a lot of people I served with were *really* f*****g dumb, including officers. Also, cancer rates among retirees are insanely high.
Image source: anon00000anon
#47
There are things about my clients I know that I shouldn’t, some of them don’t know that I know, and some of them know I know.
Things unrelated to the job I provide for them.
I’m a gardener.
Image source: whiskey_locks
#48
Starbucks, the amount of mainly men who decide that if a female barista does their job, she’s into him and he’s now going to make her really REALLY uncomfortable by either refusing to take a hint and leave them alone or really gross comments. Seriously guys, she’s paid to be nice. She doesn’t want your testiculars. Goes for anyone in the service industry. Good customer service doesn’t mean they want to see you romantically.
Image source: TinyTinasRabidOtter
#49
Sexual a*****t in the US Military is a huge f*****g problem. Everyone inside knows it and pretends to take it seriously. The reality is that it’s always treated like it’s a problem in another branch, another unit, another squad – never ours. We’re good guys! Those statistics couldn’t possibly apply here!
Roughly 80% of female service members report being sexually harassed and 30% s****************d. Male on male sexual a*****t is also significantly higher than in the civilian population, outpaced only by the estimates for inmate sexual assaults in prisons. A huge majority of this is never formally reported. Know why? Because more than half of the people who did formally report have experienced retaliation in some form afterward.
We have classes every year. We talk a good game. It’s not enough because we’re not willing to actually punish the perp and not the victim. It’s not just the brass either. It goes all the way down to the private who just joined. It’s a group mentality.
Image source: mbergescapee
#50
I work in the photography business for a corporation. A lot, and I am using that word lightly of older men love hitting on the young models so much that there is usually someone around to always distract higher business CEO’s who are around on set.
Its kind of weird cause I would never thought this was an issue till i overheard someone higher in the company ask a young 22 year old model out for dinner sometime…at first seeming like a joke, but then realizing he was serious.
He has a wife and 3 kids.
super weird.
Image source: SmallLine
#51
I’m kind of new to corporate life and find it really unsettling. As a friend put it: there’s something bizarre about a thousand people gathering together in a building for 9 hours a day, over and over, for their entire lives. Like think about it. Humans spend most of their time with their families which is pretty middle of the road for us as mammals and sentient being consumed by love of each other.
But in some weird Hunger Games arrangement, to sustain that wholesome natural life, we spend like a third of our time gathered in building with all these people. All the deep, intimate work relationships you develop… you and a thousand people only do that day after day because someone is basically taking your family hostage and will only let them eat if you go to this place every day to stand in a room alongside a thousand people.
And as someone’s kid put it when they visited the office: Do you all just message each other all day?
It’s a profoundly perverse thing we do for a third of our time that is alien to how we spend the rest of our time.
And then there’s all the cultural indoctrination. Sanitation of language and expression. Meaningless tribalism emerges between teams and these really hostile ‘us and them’ emotions contaminate your minds and you treat the other humans with more contempt than empathy.
And the pooping rituals! Where shoes are visible and through sound you learn that there are many different ways that people can scrub their a******s with toilet paper.
And whatever Causal Friday means after they switch to allowing jeans as part of business casual. The fascinating apparel double standards of male conformity and female individuation.
And they’re like ‘Here’s your allotted number of vacation days… and I f*****g DARE you to take them. Go on do it, you won’t. You gonna answer email and run your reports those days? Somebody’s gotta… you gonna make your coworkers work harder to cover for your filthy, slothful use of these vacation days that I insist you take? You gonna do that to them? Huh b***h? You gonna ask me if you can take them like a little b***h or have the AUDACITY to merely inform me when you’re doing it.”
But all the humans with their loving little baby humans don’t awknowledge any of it… that’s the part that’s creepy.
Image source: MrLongJeans
#52
I work at a geriatric psychiatry so imagine walking down a dimmed hallway in the middle of the night with schizophrenic people just sitting there whatching you, while you’re about to enter a room with a dead body in it.
After some time it feels normal but sometimes I still get the chills.
Image source: anon
#53
Teacher: if a person with guns entered our building we would be woefully unprepared and people would die. lockdown drills, putting locks on doors and having unarmed guards on campus aren’t nearly enough to prevent a tragedy.
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#54
As an aircraft mechanic I can’t count the number of times I’ve pulled serviceable parts off of deadly crashes. It’s a common practice with parts that aren’t damaged. However it always makes you think when moving parts around from plane to plane what they’ve been through and how many lives they may have touched or helped take…. and now they’re keeping you or other people in the air.
Note this is specifically on vintage private planes not airliners!
Image source: mistahbossman
#55
How much s**t goes WRONG in surgery. Everything we do, every checklist, every precaution, is all to battle the biggest threat to our patient, human error. I’ve been doing it for ten years, and it’s amazing how you can do every single thing you are supposed to, and someone else can walk up and throw a wrench in it. A mislabeled item, a consent not signed, an implant expired, or a specific size missing and not communicated. These arent exactly commonplace, but they happen often enough to have experienced it, and also why new policies and procedures are constantly being put into effect to battle them. Everything we do is because someone has made the mistake before without it.
Image source: orthotraumamama
#56
I’m a mailman, and sometimes peoples houses just creep me out. Sometimes you walk up to a really run down place with their mailbox hanging sideways and you just get a bad feeling like “bad things happen here.”
It’s also creepy how bad some people’s houses smell, and I can smell that from outside. If you’re a hoarder with 20 cats I can smell all the cat pee and sweet rotting smell as soon as I go up your walkway.
Also delivering mail to sketchy businesses that are clearly fronts for something else is never really fun, can make you pretty uneasy.
Image source: albertagenuinedraft
#57
Patients’ perception of their doctors is almost entirely based on our people skills/communication, but this does not correlate very well to the quality of our medical decision making. The reality is that there is a huge range within the medical community as far as motivation to learn and improve, being up to date with the latest research, etc. And sometimes friendly doctors are terrible decision makers. Likewise, some have no people skills to speak of, but are some of the smartest and hardest working people on the planet. The best way to assess your doctor’s decision making is to go off the recommendations of other doctors, but even that is not 100% reliable because a lot of us are hesitant to publicly criticize our colleagues.
Edit: After reading comments, I would like to note that I wasn’t trying to say that nice doctors are less smart or that mean doctors are smarter. In general, people who actively develop their people skills and also actively developing other skills, and will be better practitioners on average. However it’s the outliers that creep me out, specifically because patients have no reliable way of knowing who they are (i.e. the friendly dumb doctors or the mean brilliant doctors).
Image source: kdawg0707
#58
Idk if it’s really *creepy* but d**g and alcohol use on the job in construction is a big issue that’s almost never explicitly addressed in the industry. To keep up or relax a little during the day some guys will use stimulants or drink on their breaks and lunch, and because max production is the goal on most jobs it tends to be left alone until it causes problems. It’s not nearly as widespread as it once was, but it’s still a big problem and the amount of supers and foremen (typically older guys, many of whom have done the same at a some point in the past and would definitely know how to recognize it) who are willing to look the other way for the sake of production when one of their guys is taking pulls of Jameson/snorting lines/popping adderall in the parking lot on their breaks/lunch is downright scary.
Image source: chabalajaw
#59
The entire consulting industry preys on businesses who think they’re hiring “experts” when really they’re spending 10x as much on randos who don’t know anything than they would on hiring/training their own randos who don’t know anything. Most clients of consulting firms even let their consultants expense ridiculous sums of alcohol & other sketchy behavior.
Seriously, how has no one picked up on this. It’s insidious.
Image source: apothicweeb
#60
I work for a company that (amongst other services) provides carpet cleaning. Vacuuming is one of the easiest corners for janitorial providers to cut so it rarely ever gets done to adequate levels. This means that office carpeting is absolutely FILLED with dirt, skin flakes, and literally any other nasty tiny thing you can picture. Carpeting is like a sponge/filter and if you don’t clean it out regularly it gets f*****g nasty and can majorly impact indoor air quality. Sick Building Syndrome can be caused by carpeting alone.
Also, people in general are nasty too. In one night, in one facility, my team cleaned up p**s, vomit, and blood stains on the carpet (wearing PPE of course.). The amount of skid marks we clean off office chairs is bonkers too.
Image source: Gjiofnwek
#61
In cathedrals, abbeys, or parish churches, sometimes there are crypts and vaults containing deceased notable individuals – even canonized saints.
There’s something eerie about practicing the organ at night in those dark, vast, reverberant spaces – especially when the sexton takes pleasure in commenting to the organist that he should “practice quietly, or risk waking the dead.”.
Image source: anon
#62
That your medical records, paper or electronic are not actually secure. Many, many people have access to them and you just have to trust their integrity.
Also, store loyalty cards give companies a record of every last thing you buy from them. That’s you with the condoms, lube and bunch of flowers.
Image source: Diplodocus114
#63
I am a teacher in Japan and it’s very common for Japanese teachers to f**k their students, nothing really happens, they apologize and then just get relocated to another school, seen it happen on more than one occasion.
Image source: Knigar
#64
The amount of threats we get (I work for an electrical company). We get a lot of threats to our main building and meeting places, as well as our worker’s building (where the work trucks are parked) because people just don’t want to pay their electric bill. I have had someone almost find me on FB, just from my first name.
Image source: Twiliggle
#65
I’m a CNA and for me the creepiest thing (more like unsettling) is we don’t really acknowledge the dead. By that I mean once a person dies we just clean out the room and we don’t talk about him/her. We just move on right away. It’s almost like they were never there. I understand that in the medical industry you can’t have deaths affect you TOO much so that it wont impair your work, but I still find it unnerving.
Image source: Nell8702
#66
I work in the healthcare industry as a data analyst. The amount of information I have access to is mindboggling.
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#67
Used to work at Sprint. There was a guy who had an archive of nudes he found on people’s phones.
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#68
I used to comb though the computers/drives of people being charged with crimes in the Air Force. A lot of times it would be someone who downloaded child p**nography and we’d have to find all instances so they could be properly charged. It was very frequent and caused me to quit because of how disgusting it got.
Image source: ZazaZyna
#69
A *lot* of attorneys are high-functioning alcoholics and addicts. Also, many of them are not very good and they represent some of the most marginalized individuals in society. It’s extremely depressing.
Image source: anon
#70
Some dentists are creeps. Most labor laws don’t apply to dental practices because they have less than 40 employees. So, creepy a*s dentists get away with mistreating their (overwhelmingly female) staff.
Dental materials are expensive, and some practices reuse things that should be thrown out. Some products are stretched longer than they should be.
Oh and root canals are like 80% effective if they’re done *well*. If I ever need one, I’m just having the tooth extracted and going straight to implant so I can save the 5k in between those two things.
All of the stuff that doesn’t go into your mouth, ie, pillows, blankets, safety goggles, tablets, whatever are cleaned whenever the dental assistant has time. I’ve never seen a practice that had those things being cleaned on a schedule. I bring my own sunglasses to the dentist.
If you trash-talk one dentist to another dentist, odds are, those two dentists know each other and your complaints will freak out the new dentist. No one wants to work on someone who is trash talking the last person who worked on them, you’re a liability.
The fluoride we put on your teeth is extremely helpful and good. It costs us, around $1 per little pot. We bill insurance like $25-$50 for it, though.
Image source: sketchapt
#71
Working in the theatre/comedy world. If you’re a woman (and even if you’re not), you’ll probably be sexually harassed/assaulted at some point. Not really question of if, more of when and how badly.
Image source: ValuableSwan
#72
Im in client relations for a largish logistics company, I know a lot of people who have slept with clients to get a contract signed and the hefty commission that comes with it. Ive been asked to do some weird favors for some of them before as they all come from out of town and we wine and dine them here in Miami and they treat it like a vacation and REALLY cut loose. However it is a subject that is always swept under the rug when it is brought up which is hardly ever.
Image source: anon
#73
The way that some patients with mental health conditions (especially schizophrenia) try to explain what it’s like having their condition. Things like “I’m playing snakes and ladders but there are no ladders.”
Or when they explain their auditory or visual hallucinations to you, those are usually pretty creepy too. But overall it’s sad that some people live in those realities.
Image source: NotTheCoconutCake
#74
The amount of male managers who groom young crew at McDonlalds. I was only 15 when a 21 year old manager took my number off the crew sheet and began to txt me. I was young, had never had a boyfriend before and was being teased for my looks by all the boys at school. The attention I was receiving from my manager made me feel special. We ended up dating for 3 years. For the first 2 years he made me keep it secret. When I turned 17 we finally told the Resturant Manager, who thought we made a cute couple and nothing else was done. Eventually we broke up, and to no bodies surprise he started dating another young crew person.
When I first started at Mcdonalds there was a strict non-fratenization policy between managers and crew. Managers where not allowed to drive crew home and could not hang out with crew outside the work place. If a manager and crew person become involved, this is what was supposed to happen: No changes to the crew persons rostered hours or position are to be made. The manager is usually moved to a different store. If another store is not available the manager will not be rostered on with the crew person AT ALL. Both manager and crew must sign a form to say that their relationship will not affect their work performance or behaviour.
I can not begin to tell you how lax this policy is in some stores. It definitely depends on whether the store is run by McDonalds its self or a franchisee. My experience is with a franchisee and in all the years I worked there, the amount of male managers who dated and slept with young crew, and the lack of action from the Supervisors was sickening.
Image source: loloebee
#75
Not exactly in the creepy category but it is something in the “hush hush” category:
The amount of money wasted by humanitarian organizations for the sake of a “score” (accomplishment report). Example, an organization donated 3 big cold chain (or fridge for vaccines) to a small village with no access to electricity.
Another waste of money they do is ordering a sh**load of medical supplies and half of them will be lost due to expiration.
Image source: thunderking45
#76
I wish that nursing school would prepare you for how many people you will walk in on while they are masturbating. Or full-on having s*x.
I have seen a grown man being given a hand-job while he had a Foley catheter inserted. That was not pleasant to remove later.
I wish I was joking.
Image source: Tiaximus
#77
How many babies/toddlers die while at child care centers. It is absolutely sickening, some were preventable, some were not.
Image source: I-Ate-The-Cake
#78
Apparently “your test results were inconclusive, we need a retest” means “we lost your biopsy”.
Image source: knitmeablanket
#79
Trucker here.
R**e by trainers, particularly men, on female trainees is kind of an issue that has only really started to come to light.
Image source: robexib
#80
Well, it’s pretty creepy that we don’t actually know how our inhaled anesthetics work. We know that they work, we know how to monitor people, and we know how much we need to administer, but we don’t actually know the exact mechanism of action.
We also get you naked before we prep and drape for surgery, sorry everyone. Oh and if you’re under general anesthesia, we tape your eyes shut to keep them from drying out.
Image source: anon
#81
Here’s a small sampling of what I can say about the legal profession:
* Personal injury attorneys who advertise are typically good businessmen and terrible attorneys. They will do a great job negotiating with the insurance company, but can’t litigate a case to save their life.
* Home cooking is a real thing. You are generally better off hiring an attorney who regularly practices in a certain circuit or district than hiring someone your friends recommend that would be considered an out-of-town attorney.
* The s*****e rate among attorneys is incredible. The rate of d**g and alcohol abuse is terrifying. This is what happens where you work in an adversarial environment with no formal mentoring programs and are forced to work 80+ hours a week to keep your law firm partners happy or have to take cases you don’t know how to handle just to afford to keep your doors open as a solo/small firm attorney. I had been in practice less than three years before the first of my classmates OD’ed.
* Many solo/small firm/mid-firm attorneys can’t afford to retire. They have to work until they die. You’ll see attorneys in court that can barely walk, but they keep taking cases so they can afford to live. It’s very sad.
* The money isn’t there like people think. My first three years of practice I made less than $35k per year. I was in practice for six years before I made more than $50k (gross) in a single year. And I was not some sort of anomaly. I had classmates who have been in practice over ten years and still make less than $50k a year.
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#82
I’m a homeless outreach worker. You’d be surprised how many of your friends from high school end up homeless.
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#83
Working in law enforcement, the last thing I like to talk about is dead bodies. That is, the state at which they are discovered. The smell, the fluids, the bugs, the state of decomp… these are not things I like to talk about unless absolutely necessary. Bodies can do some really creepy things and take on some really creepy positions after death.
Ask just about any cop what was their worst “welfare check” call they had and watch their face. Those are the worst calls to go to because you know what you will find. I’d be willing to bet that cop will just say that they found a body without mentioning the state it was in.
Image source: SpicyMcHaggis666
#84
Not my profession really, but I am tangentially aware of it. Claims people at insurance companies are looking at your social media after a car accident claim. If you appear to be living an active life, that will be used against you in any argument that you need money for medical bills due to a car accident. ANY tiny little thing that contradicts what you say will hurt your case.
Image source: spartanburt
#85
Rampant p********a.
I work at a popular kids hangout type place. Think a Chucky Cheese-type arcade, but the majority of our customers fall between 11-15 years old. Meanwhile, all of my coworkers are **at least** 18. When I started working there, I decided I was too cool to befriend the customers, which definitely makes me a cold b***h, but at least nobody will ever call me creepy.
Most of my coworkers don’t seem to feel the same. Most of them hang out with these young kids outside work, befriend them on social media, text/call them. A bunch of them are dating younger kids. I can’t prove any of it, and neither can anyone else who matters, so it just keeps going.
Image source: CockDaddyKaren
#86
Teachers who a**se children, statistically someone in my district does and nobody mentions that.
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#87
Teachers know all about the s*x lives/d**g lives/intimate lives of the student’s families. The little ones especially have no filter and will tell us about daddy being in jail, about momma’s “boyfriends ” (read customers), about how grandma likes to drink and uncle likes to touch.
And we talk to each other, both to gossip and to vent to other people who understand the stress of being often unwilling witnesses to exactly how f****d up people can be. I’m afraid there are very few secrets in a school.
Image source: Whimsical_Mara
#88
How many people leave for mental health reasons. Where I work, a lot of people start their careers doing what is basically call center work. Just answering phones all day for 8 hours.
We have a pretty low overall turnover rate, but the most common reason we get for people leaving is “I’m resigning because I feel my overall mental health has declined since starting this job.”
That shouldn’t happen, and we do what we can to help prevent burnout and make sure people know that management has their back when it comes to abuse from customers. But, it never seems to be openly discussed.
Image source: ShoddyBiscotti1
#89
Not necessarily creepy, but I work for a gaming company and, if someone reaches out telling us they want to commit s*****e and we have reasons to believe that’s true, we send the police to check on them. Also funny just how much personal data we have access to.
Edit: I’d rather not say precisely which company, as I wouldn’t want my job to get hurt in any way, but it’s one of the big guys for sure.
Image source: Rukifer
#90
Creepy….knowing a patient’s diagnosis or prognosis before their physicians have discussed it with them.
It’s taught me how to keep a good poker face. Sad, but true.
Image source: RiaBomb
#91
I’m a graduate student in a STEM field. Your lab notebook is there for 2 reasons. Everyone says it’s for recording experiments so that later they can be reproduced or used as documentation in patent applications. But also it’s for your protection. Your advisor is the one with a reputation in the scientific community and has the prestigious position of operating a lab at a research university. They’re credible. You got your bachelor’s a few years ago and no one knows who you are, which means no one knows if you lie cheat and steal. Which means if your lab puts out something (a paper, a grant application, etc.) that is fraudulent, it wouldn’t be difficult to throw a grad student under the bus. If the accusation sticks, you’ll never be able to work in science again unless you can prove the fraudulent material definitely did not come from you.
This type of fraud is rare, but it does happen and you don’t want to be the one without a future in the field you got your degree in.
This power asymmetry also leads to the type of corruption that happen in every relationship between those of different levels of power. Again, it’s rare, but it’s a big world and lots of people, some of whom are bad people.
Image source: SconiGrower
#92
I work part time EMS on a reservation. I have my normal fire gig, but help out a department a few towns over that’s on a reservation that couldn’t staff their ambulance every day. My full time jobs runs 10 times the calls, but I see way more death on the reservation. Last shift we had a 7 fatality car accident, a hanging, and someone’s face smashed in with a piece of rebar. I’ve only ever gone 3 consecutive shifts without having some kind of r**e or sexual a*****t call. If it was in the town I live in the local news would have covered it, it would have gone around Facebook, etc. not a single person outside the reservation knows that it any of that happened. Not a single obituary in any of the newspapers near it. It’s a lawless, violent, cesspool or m***er and r****ts, but the only thing anyone hears is about the Casinos.
Image source: TFD436
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