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I’m a big believer that your job has to be fun! I can already hear some of you mumbling, “But work isn’t supposed to be fun—it’s work,” so let me clarify. You spend a third of your day at work which is a huge time investment, so what you do needs to be engaging and challenging, something that you’re passionate about, and a vocation that makes you grow as a person,

Of course, money is always an issue, but in the long run, you should strive to find a purposeful calling that also pays well. However, many jobs that people think are very enjoyable turn out to be fun only on paper and can be complete nightmares in real life. Reddit users have opened up about the dark sides of their seemingly ‘fun’ jobs in a viral thread on r/AskReddit, and we’ve collected some of their best answers.

Have a read, upvote the answers that you agree with, and let us know if we’ve shattered any illusions about some of these vocations. Want to share the main pros and cons at your own job? Drop us a comment at the bottom of this article.

#1

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Working in an animal shelter. For sure, it’s probably less intense than zookeeping, but the amount of people who apply or volunteer expecting to come in and play with cute puppies all day is absurd. We’re basically animal maids. You deal with animals of all sorts of behavioral and developmental stages [pooping] and pissing everywhere and then you look over and this dog named Chumbawumba swimming in his water bowl so you gotta fill that up six times and dry his kennel out and then you go and mop up the cat room around 10 kittens who want to eat your mop and also four children who are all yelling that there’s puke in the floor and I MUST clean it, NOW. Not to mention all the extra behind the scenes work that the public never sees. How in the summer, during kitten and puppy season, the shelter built to house 500 max has 750 and I didn’t take a lunch or sit at all for any of my shifts for the past six days. How the courts force us to put down animals that we know can be rehabilitated, but we don’t get enough funding to fight it. How animal control just showed up with the fourth pregnant stray of the week but intake is full and even double stacked in some cases, so your coworker fosters the cats on her own. Not even to mention the [awful] people who do dumb [stuff] and end up getting bit or scratched and the animal is the one who bears those consequences. I am the proudest shelter worker in the world. I adore my job, even at its hardest. I didn’t sit for 9 and a half hours today and I found a cat turd in the cuff of my jeans but it doesn’t matter because a bonded pair of adult cats got adopted today. I took six applications this morning and the cat in bank 4 with the goopy eye is already looking better, and we sent a mama out to foster. The hard work is always worth it for these babies.

highschoolvevo , velveteenviolet Report

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Kira Okah
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will say that having worked both zoo and shelter: zoo was easier on the psyche, shelter easier physically. Don't get to sit at all for either, and vet situations for both were terrifying; but zoo work might have you on the receiving end of larger flightier animals that will not hesitate to do you in, whereas shelters (I worked in a no kill) can have overcapacity animals forcibly taken away to a kill shelter and there is jack all that we could do about it.

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#2

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Teacher. Children are psychic vampires.

queer_no_evil , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

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Friday
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Teachers deserve much more money for what they have to put up with

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#3

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Professional photographer.

Not like, hobbyist, but business-owning photographer. Sucks the love right out of your work.

Because you started the business to take pictures.

Then Karen doesn't like the way she looks in one of them so she wants the whole set for free plus a reshoot for free plus those images for free.

Then the two high school kids getting into a very ill-advised marriage at EXACTLY 18 years old wants to book you for their wedding but their budget is only $50.

Then Karen calls back because she loves your work and wants to pay for another shoot, but only if you agree to do her friend's daughter's destination wedding for free.

Then you get a call from your last bride. It's been two weeks since their wedding. WHERE THE [HELL] ARE HER PICTURES?

Then you get no leads from a bridal expo.

Then a client finds out you don't support their candidate and tries to take you to court to get her money back.

Then some insta thot who thinks she's influencing people offers a "collab" where you take pro photos of her and she adds insta filters to it and claims her friend took them. And she's not gonna pay.

And then you get some entitled mom who wants you to photograph every day of her newborn's first year of life for $100.

I went back to being a hobbyist.

[deleted] , Hans Report

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AzKhaleesi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And sadly it's true. During the pandemic when it first hit I put an ad out on fb to do FREE pictures for graduates for families that lost their job during the pandemic and to families that got pics done but never got them because the studios shut down. I made it very clear that I have a full time job as well and they would be processed in order of taken. 30 min to an hour session and about 50 free photos. F-R-E-E. Omg the entitlement that reared their ugly heads. Most of my clients were amazing and patient. Then I had some that wanted pics because they didn't "like" the pics they got from another company and demanded I do them. Umm nope you got pics, sorry . Then within a week or so getting blown up where's my pics. Listen Karen and Karen Jr. I got over 100 families that responded and I shot probably 75 of them due to scheduling issues. I need more than a week thanks.

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Explicitly sick
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I did it for 10 years. Create your boundaries and expectations. Do not budge on price but over deliver on product. It was a wonderful 10 years ended by disability. Now activist disability podcaster and kids book illustrator

Sakeena
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m gonna get downvoted but cmon women. Women can be really impossible to deal with.

Sandra Charlot
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

100% agree ...6 years as photographer resumed by horrible kids & parents, delayed payment, " I have a great idea of picture!" and " give me special price and I'll promote you"

Id row
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People will make you hate what you love if you let them be involved in it. They ruin everything.

John Baker
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not a pro, but this is why I only do nature photography. People suck.

Amanda Panda
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My first degree was in photography. Degrees aren't cheap in the US. I lasted 6 months in the business. Photographers who get to create art are in the smallest percentage. The rest is just sales. If you aren't a pushy salesperson... keep on moving, it's not for you. Also, every soccer Mom with an Canon Rebel thinks she can plop a kid down on a bed sheet and she's a photographer. Do NOT waste your money on a photography degree.

Dre Mosley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had an ex GF who did photography on the side. She dealt with some of this. Also, many people apparently think photography should be cheap. I'm a hobbyist and will probably stay that way.

Amelia Bedelia
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is why I no longer shoot weddings, and switches to landscape photography. I will never make much selling prints, but it's 100% worth it for Karen-free photography.

Johnny
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a friend who was a professional photographer, he said the best decision he made was making his wife his "receptionist" to take all of in the incoming calls. They don't share the same last name, so anytime someone asked for some freebie or unreasonable request, she'd just "Oh no, I'm sorry, Mr Smith doesn't allow that".

Salma Hernández
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looks awfull. I like photography and I am a hobbyist. But now I don't want to be a pro.

Paul K. Johnson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a work friend who does pro photography on the side. The contract she uses deals with a lot of that stuff. For example, the customer is not allowed to put filters on the photos and post them anywhere. She never works for free or for "exposure". She does have her share of Karens though. Typically it's when the mother of the bride wants to totally control the entire wedding or make it all about her.

Navin Kumar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

doing what you love as a career is definitely overrated. agree with OP on it sucking the fun right out of it

Mark Heston
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here's a concept you must've never learned about. Say NO. it is easy

Miss Frankfurter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't blame you. It's amazing how something you love doing and so turn it into a job you think you're going to love turns into a nightmare. A shame.

J Sizz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The power of the word "NO" when you have your own business.

QuotedPrawn7490
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My dad is a professional photographer (not business owning, works for a sports company and takes the pictures for the catalogs and some product pictures with people, such as Fernando Tatis Jr. (this is true) and Peter Sagan). The como any has really nice owners and both of them care a lot about their employeed

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John C
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Going pro sucks the fun out of almost anything. I have people constantly tell me I should open a bakery or restaurant. No thanks. Right now I cook when I want, what I want and answer to no one. That's how I like it.

Eric Mac Fadden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes. A nightmare. Loving your art is not enough in Brazil, I'd rather a paying job...

Steve Wilson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a friend who has had dozens of photos published in several magazines over the years but she will not accept a photo job . “Every time I’ve been paid to photograph a person or event I take terrible photographs. So I just take pictures on my own & submit the ones I like. If the editors like them they pay me”.

Don't Look
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

90% of photography is running a business. I learned that my freshman year of photo school. I also learned that a degree in photography (fine arts degree) was pointless for me. However, it takes real talent and training to be a pro photographer - and yeah we can take a consumer grade camera and lens and take better photos than the average user - but what we want to do is take the photos. And then there's the editing process. All the different types of photography (wedding, portrait, sports, birthday, other event, maternity, baby, pet, boudoir, commercial, real estate...) require different techniques, different editing and they usually don't have the same reception.

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Redditor Bwee21’s post on r/AskReddit was incredibly popular. The thread was upvoted nearly 90k times and even got the ‘Top Post’ award. What’s more, the intriguing question about which jobs aren’t as fun as they seem got a whopping 30.5k comments. That just goes to show how much people resonated with the post (and how much some of them wanted to vent about their jobs!).

Sometimes, it’s not the actual job itself that’s the problem but the stressful workplace environment that you spend your days in. Previously, I spoke with life coach Lindsay Hanson about what to do when they realize their workplace is toxic. According to her, we’re all responsible for setting the boundaries for what we’re willing to tolerate.

#4

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses I'm a marine biologist. I spent the last week measuring defrosted fish heads.

smileedude , Ian Kennedy Report

#5

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Nurse. Just kidding no one thinks that sounds fun.

slothurknee , Viki Mohamad Report

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#6

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Video game tester.

You aren't spending your time playing completed fully realized games. You are playing the same level of a game over and over seeing if there are bugs.

Mr_frumpish , Les Orchard Report

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TmKhr
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I prefer playing games for fun, working in game industry is definitely not for me.

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"If you feel that there's nothing you can do to change the situation and the company or people involved are unwilling to change, then you have to decide whether you're willing to stay in that environment or not," coach Lindsay explained to Bored Panda earlier.

"A good question to ask yourself is, even if this toxic situation were to change, would I still want to work here?" she said that the ball’s always in your court and you make the final decision about whether to stay or to move on.

#7

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Being a chef. All the flare and awesomeness they show on vice and Netflix is far from what actually happens in the industry. It’s not all fancy plates and tattooed/cool haired guys doin their thing. It’s a drug infested, law breaking work environment that only benefits the owners of a restaurant

Bestspacecadet2 , Lester Guijarro Report

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Eslamala
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Absolutely. A large percentage of chefs have either cocaine/opiate addiction, or alcoholism. The ego thing is HUGE, the daily work is stressful and there's usually a lot of screaming and name calling involved. You're usually overworked, underslept and underpaid, and if you get to be sucessfull, you'll still be overworked, underslept and underpaid, plus you'll have to deal with clients and other crap. It sounds a lot like the lyrics to It Never Rains In Southern California.

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#8

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Programmer.

People see it as an anonymous figure typing a few lines of code and gaining access to top secret files.

In reality it’s 10% coding and 90% searching your problems on Stack Overflow.

[deleted] , Pexels Report

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#9

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses FLIGHT ATTENDANT. 1) You are on call (on reserve) forever, have a terrible schedule, have no life, and make no money for 5-10 years. 2) While you work for peanuts, you can’t afford to use your flight “benefits” in any substantial way. 3) Then, when you finally get a chance to use your benefits for a trip, you have to fly standby which means you aren’t guaranteed to get on the flight you want. 4) Then, if you do make it out of town you better have like a week off so you can make damn sure you’re back in your base city in time for your next work shift. 5) Did I mention there is an act of US legislation (Railway Labor Act) that allows airlines to exploit so you don’t get paid for certain work hours that you actually need to be working? For example, FAs don’t get paid for boarding, or any time the plane is at the gate. WORST JOB EVER.

y0r0bin , MIKI Yoshihito Report

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According to Lindsay, everyone has two options available to them. The first is choosing happiness (or at least contentment) in the job position you’re in. The second is searching for a way out of your current predicament.

“The idea that you can't change your situation due to the pandemic is very limiting. There are still companies hiring. There are still ways to make money on your own. There is always a way to change your current situation—telling yourself you're stuck feels very limiting," the coach said.

"Again, it comes back to what you're willing to tolerate. You can do everything in your power to bring attention to the toxic situation and attempt to change it. And at the end of the day, you always have control over your own mindset, how you're reacting to the situation, and how much you let it affect you.”

#10

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Veterinarian —

TRULY shocked that nobody has said this one yet. We have the highest suicide rate of any profession.

It’s a lot more talking to people about money and a lot less doing medicine and saving animals than people hope going into it. Not all of the animals are grateful, some of them want to bite you because you’re hurting them and they don’t know it’s in their best interest. Clients can be hugely manipulative jerks. There’s lots of student debt. And don’t get me started on near constant exposure to low levels of anesthetic gasses.

Savesomeposts Report

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Eslamala
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once a veterinarian friend told me something rather obvious, but that hadn't crossed my mind: "we become veterinarians because we love animals, so we suffer half the time while working"...

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#11

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Dog hotel. Thought I’d get to play with puppies all day. Instead I cleaned diarrhea off kennel floors for 5 hours a day and stopped tiny dogs from humping each other for the other 3.

rafflesthegreat , Studio Sarah Lou Report

#12

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Librarian. It’s not all books and being quiet. There are also spreadsheets.

math-yoo , Kevin Wong Report

#13

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Zookeeper.

Don't get me wrong, it's awesome to be around so many amazing animals and care for them...

But the smells are ridiculously, insanely foul.

I have a really strong stomach and it's still tough for me...we've had some interns quit over it.

I was warned about the smells when getting into the field, but thought "oh I've volunteered at animal shelters, I know what animal stink smells like"

Nope. Not even close.

wekoo9 , Jimmy Chan Report

#14

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Being a Character Performer at Disney.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing perks and truly magical moments. I know I’m super lucky and tons of people would love to be in my shoes.

But the day to day work is EXHAUSTING in ways I never thought possible. Guests are ridiculously abusive...I’ve had things said and done to me I never would have imagined. The company isn’t always great - it highly depends on your leadership. And there’s so much focus on your body and face (good and BAD) that it can be incredibly depressing and difficult emotionally.

Plus, you have to accept that there’s very little upward mobility. Most people “grow out of it” and it’s rough to know that one day you’ll get “too old” or “too fat” and you will have to start all over in a new career field. So you constantly are thinking either, 1) what you’re going to do when you leave, 2) how you’re going to keep yourself there. I personally knew it would be temporary, and I now only work there seasonally while I have a “normal career”. But Disney has a way of sucking you in.

TheMarvelPrincess , Dan Belanescu Report

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#15

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Gamemaster at an escape room.

It's the same repetitive script, resetting the same stuff, giving clues and hints about the same things. The patrons are often competitive families who argue, obnoxious impatient 13-year-olds, college students who have been drinking, idiots who break [stuff] and touch [stuff] that I SPECIFICALLY TOLD THEM NOT TO. They never remember your initial instructions. If something gets broken during one group, you have to hurry and fix it before the next group.

[deleted] , Wikimedia Commons Report

#16

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Baker. Coming into work at 3/4 am so you can have a six am baked goods is miserable.

haireypotter , Tristan Kenney Report

#17

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses I'm a Forensic Scientist and it's literally the only thing people ask me about on dating apps. It's very technical work and it's extremely routine.

Altephor1 , jarmoluk Report

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Brian Bennett
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But oh! the feeling when something you did turns out extremely well!

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#18

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses programming. please help me. I need a hug. why did I need to be such a nerdy kid when I was younger.

[deleted] , Pexels Report

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#19

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Lifeguarding. Everyone expects baywatch, act, saving lives all the time. But It’s usually just sitting there blowing your whistle telling little kids to stop [messing] around.

Theholynun , Yoshikazu TAKADA Report

#20

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Well I’m a scientist. I don’t know if people usually think of that career as fun, but I think people think it’s a lot more “Eureka!” and a lot less “this data’s has to be manually processed for 600 hours before I can analyze it.

JeremyTheRhino , RF._.studio Report

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Navin Kumar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

but i think most of us realise the invention of a lightbulb was a 1000 step process

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#21

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Demolition

Everyone wants to break [stuff] with a sledgehammer. Everyone is tired of lifting that sledgehammer by 5 swings.

Nobody wants to load the broken stuff into bags or a wheelbarrow and take it to the dumpster.

Bill_S_Preson_Esq , Janice Waltzer Report

#22

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Paleontologist. You don’t get to work with full dinosaur skeletons and do all kinds of awesome expeditions. You’re mostly sitting at a desk looking at some pictures and logging stuff on your computer, maybe examining a fossil occasionally. If you’re lucky you can go on a real dig, and OMG SPEND HOURS IN THE HOT SUN DUSTING OFF ROCKS!!!

MidwesternMonkey , James St. John Report

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TmKhr
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was my dream job when I was a kid, thanks to Jurassic Park movies and all other dinosaur stuff I had :D

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#23

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Acting.

All the ones we see on TV and movies are the 0.0001% of incredibly lucky and talented people who managed to thrive in a hostile and overcrowded industry.

And even when you are working, the actual job itself is 99% sitting on apple crate in hot makeup waiting for some grips to move a lighting fixture. Then you say three lines over and over again for an hour, and then you wrap.

Wazula42 , Sam McGhee Report

#24

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Lawyer, no it isn't like they show on TV.

Hey, finally case is before the judge, damn the other party didn't show up. Next date that judge has given is 3 months away.

Lousy_Lawyer , energepic.com Report

#25

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Google Street View driver.

You're all alone for 8+ hours a day, can almost never take a break, need to constantly be "on" and focused (lest you crash the $25,000 Subaru with $60,000+ worth of camera equipment on it), you end up becoming an amateur meteorologist to keep track of weather patterns and cloud cover, and in my experience there are a lot of people who just get insanely upset at you, at Google, and the job in general for a wide variety of reasons. I enjoyed myself when I did it, but it was nowhere near as glamorous or fun as I or my friends & family assumed.

Edit: Thanks to everyone who expressed an interest in my summer job from almost 10 years ago. I'll just answer the most asked questions here real quick:

Pay? $15 an hour, but contingent on hours driven, which were themselves dependent on clear weather to ensure optimal image quality

Why not drive every day no matter the weather? Google got around this problem by making you re-drive routes whose pictures turned out subpar. To prevent people double billing by driving the same easy route constantly, you also had a weekly quota of unique miles driven, so no double dipping.

What could you do in the car? As long as the camera and the napping software (Edit: MAPPING software, thanks for the heads up) was running properly I was on my own. I listened to music, the news, and lots of books on tape. I could stop for short bathroom breaks whenever I felt like it, and had an hour guaranteed for lunch whenever I wanted to take it, which usually amounted to eating in the car on the side of some lonely rural road 90% of the time.

Who would ever think this was fun or glamorous? All I can say is, back in 2012 most people I talked to were pretty excited, myself included, about getting the chance to do any work with Google, let alone this cool new project that would let you see what any place on Earth looked like at street level from the comfort of home. This was the era of Google Plus being a potentially exciting new thing, of Google Glass being the future of tech, and overall it was a different time. That's why everyone I knew thought this was a cool gig.

TheUnknownDouble-O , Wikimedia Commons Report

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#26

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Working in a music store ( musical instruments )

Your days are spent listening to 50 different people play 50 different riffs poorly simultaneously, as if they're all putting on their own concert.

InternetKidsAreMean , Bill Abbott Report

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N G
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's a reason behind that sign in the store in Wayne's World...

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#27

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Accounting isn't the adrenaline rush that most people think it is

PM_Me_Cool_Cars_ , jarmoluk Report

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Helen Haley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No one in the history of humanity has looked at accounting and thought 'now that's thrilling'.

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#28

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Farming. At least in my experience it's a rough and thankless way to make a living with no days off and no management to cry to when there's a problem.

You: My dad is in the hospital and isn't doing well, can I take a couple days off? The plants:

Also everyone thinks you have the cushiest job ever. Everything is automated now, isn't it? You get tons of bailouts and subsidies and whatnot, right? You get 3 months in winter off, right?

Maybe out west where they're growing a billion acres of corn in one field so the robot tractors can't really get confused and such a machine would actually pay for itself.

Only if you're in Iowa growing ethanol corn.

It's 3 months of building and equipment maintenance with no pay. It's the exact opposite of a paid vacation but it goes for months. No we don't go to Hawaii.

Farmbot26 , Nicolas Veithen Report

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Susan Green
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Farming is a really tough job. I can’t imagine why anyone would think it’s easy.

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#29

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Working in a thrift store? Well I always thought it sounded fun but it's basically just the retail experience but on top of that people think they can haggle with you. I specifically worked in a non-profit thrift store (charity shop) so it was extra infuriating when people tried to return things or talk us down from a $5 shirt. THIS ISN'T A GARAGE SALE.

red_death_at_614 , Brad.K Report

#30

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Cyber Security. Bro, the movies do us no justice. Hacking is not as fast nor is it as easy as the media makes it. It's a great field but you spend a lot of time researching or watching paint dry, especially in the gov side.

[deleted] , Free-Photos Report

#31

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Working at a Charles Dickens fair is... Interesting, but not incredibly fun. It is hard to stay in character, and people get so mad when they see the Alice in Wonderland area. Yeah, we know it's not Charles Dickens, but we can't have a kids play area in the world of Oliver Twist, okay?

Foxwix , HarshLight Report

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El muerto
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

why not? a little physical labor wont hurt...come kids, se how fun is to be a Victorian chimney sweeper. or child worker in a textila factory...lower chances for survival make things more fun

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#32

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Trimming weed, Idk why people think working with weed is like working in the willy wonka factory, it’s not. You literally get to make tiny cuts with sticky scissors for 8 hours.

Ari_AK , Yandle Report

#33

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Working at Victoria's Secret. People think it's a lot of hot women coming in to buy underwear, but it's mostly Karens.

Ecila881 , Wikimedia Commons Report

#34

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Being a writer. I always thought it was my absolute dream job. But the only job I could get after college was working in a content mill as a blog writer. I used to work 70-hour weeks staring at the computer in a basement of an old bank writing nonsense articles about the dangers of mold, fence cleaning, and why you need a commercial awning and the dream turned into a nightmare.

While I still write occasionally, I am now working as a communications person so it is a bit less heavy.

Impossibly_me , ayustety Report

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Cip IESAN
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am a writer: each week I write some 10 humouristic short stories for an important newspaper and each 2-3 years I make a selection (with my editor at the publishing house) of the best stories, for a new book (some 350 pages each). I think constant writing is the best way to do it, but I must admit there are days when my inspiration is far, far away. Writing in some of these days is not a pleasure anymore (sometimes I pick one of my old texts from the archive, some 5-6 years ago, change it a bit and reuse it).

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#35

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Engineer.

I grew up loving planes and space travel and being interested in how things work. I loved cars and motorcycles and anything mechanical or electrical.

The reality is that you sit behind a desk likely making subcomponents at best, and dealing with issues that arise when it doesn’t work with another component for the final product. Most engineers will not use even half of what their degree was for.

Please note that of course there are exceptions, and many engineers get to do really cool things for their whole career, I’m just saying that most don’t.

StolenCamaro , ThisisEngineering RAEng Report

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howdylee
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My husband went to college for mechanical engineering. Left after 2 years because he could tell it would ultimately be a desk job. He wanted to be in the shop building and fixing and making it work by the power of his brain and hands - not the power of a computer. Most brilliant mechanical mind of anyone I've ever met, and he's happy in his own shop!

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#36

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses A pediatric nurse, being a nurse for children and adolescents. Everyone in nursing school talks about how much they want to work with kids. The reality is that a pediatric nurse sees more cases of abuse and neglect than any other specialty. Doesn't matter where you are in a pediatric hospital, it's the thing you see most.

I've seen so many DCS (Department of Child Services) caseworkers that I've gotten to know some of them and became acquaintances with them. Sure working with children and adolescents is great, but people don't think about the most essential piece of that puzzle which is their families. It doesn't matter how good of care you give to those kids, if you don't loop the parents in to that care you may as well just not be doing anything for them.

ZacktheWolf , MedicAlert UK Report

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Carol Emory
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is also true being a call center rep at Nintendo of America. I can't tell you how many times I've had a kid on the phone while their sibling was having the ever loving tar beaten out of them in the background. Or the kids that call late at night because they have no one else to talk to. Or the kids that need your help in getting the game system running because mom and dad decided to leave a 6 year old at home alone so they could go jogging. Worst one was a kid that called my husband up saying he was going to commit suicide and he and his manager were trying to keep him on the phone long enough to find out where he was so that police could be called and sent to stop him. My husband took the rest of the day off that day...

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#37

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Video Game Developer (non-Indie)

They're notoriously overworked, especially during crunch time. The field is highly competitive too, so I imagine if you have the slightest issue with work being your entire life, it wouldn't be hard to replace you.

Voice Acting is also pretty brutal. Voice actors generally don't get paid very well and they're straining their throats or whatever.

d0n7w0rry4b0u717 , StockSnap Report

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Requiem
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Will Arnette is more a voice actor now than anything else, plus his podcast

#38

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Bar bouncer. Hours of tension and boredom interrupted by moments of adrenaline fueled fear for your life. Then some [jerk] pukes cheap booze on your shoes.

Aggromemnon , Incase Report

#39

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses Flight attendant. I did it for a year.

Think you’re going to have a week long layover in Paris? Guess again! You’re working the red eye to Detroit! Don’t get too excited yet! You’re laying over in Cleveland tomorrow!

Couple that with the job being boring AF (you just sit around for hours at a time on the flights), and it certainly is much less exciting than you would think it would be.

TJeffersonsBlackKid , Delta News Hub Report

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Adam C
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My ex "Flight attendant is just skinny waitress in the air."

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#40

"Which Job Is A LOT Less Fun Than Most People Expect?" 35 Of The Most Honest Responses I always say the more fun it is to go somewhere the worse it is to work there like amusement parks and arcades

nightowlscrolling , Cicada Strange Report

#41

An artist, time management is very hard. And it becomes more of a job instead of fun hobby.

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#42

Florist. I owned my own stop and I can't tell you how many people would come in and say, "Oh! What a great hobby! It must be so much fun working here!" I'd just roll my eyes at them. Yes, it was fun, but it's also a lot of hard work.

Standing all day, every day. Getting carpal tunnel from the monotonous use of your knife for 8+ hours. Wrangling 30+ pounds of flowers up onto the table so you can strip them, cut them and get them ready for the cooler. Slipping all over the floor because you're walking on 5 inches of flower stems all the time. Always having green shoes and green hands.

You want a manicure? Not in this profession, baby! Your hands are always in water. Always! You have prune hands by the end of each day. In winter, my hands would get so cracked I could barely hold a knife to do my job.

Dealing with morons and asses. Yes, it's retail and I knew I'd be dealing with it, but really? You think I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart?! I'm doing this to make MONEY!! Flowers are NOT cheap and NO you are not getting a discount or freebies! There is NO haggling for the arrangement in the cooler. THAT is the price and if you don't want to pay that, well that's up to you.

Don't even get me started on dealing with brides and their obnoxious Mothers! Staying up half the night to get a wedding done (after you've already worked a full day) and then having to deliver it the next day early in the morning. Good times!

And all those holidays you want to spend with your family? Kiss those goodbye because by the time the holiday comes, you're so sick of it, you just want to throw up! I didn't do holidays with the fam when I had the shop. Valentine's Day is pure hell. The day is a blur and you don't get time to eat or pee. You don't have time! I've never gotten flowers on Valentine's Day. I did them for everyone else. Christmas is a month and a half of pine, pine and more pine (which I do love TBH). But you're covered in sap all the time and you smell like a forest. Mother's Day and Prom always seemed to be on the same weekend every year, so you'd be wiring flowers until you thought your fingers were gonna fall off.

Being robbed at gunpoint. That was the end of my shop. The stress from that cost me everything.

And, oh yeah. Floral shops smell great when you walk in, right? Well, we couldn't smell it. That was seriously depressing.

These are just a few of the things I HATED about being a Florist.

But, there was a lot of things I loved about it too. I loved being able to be creative everyday. I liked getting my orders out in a time crunch, loved that adrenaline rush! I liked knowing I was going to make someone smile somewhere. I miss the feeling of my knife in my hand. My shop was small, so we did whatever moved us after our orders were done. I miss smelling like pine trees too, but not the sappy, sticky fingers. I loved my loyal customers and I miss working with balloons!

I still do arrangements, just not with real flowers much anymore. I miss that. It was my job, my livelihood and my hobby all in one.

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#43

Casino Dealer/Croupier. That’s the place where the worst humans come to do their business.

Trancer1985 Report

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Elin Calliel
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

An ex roulette and blackjack croupier here. Roulette is tough because of the mathematical shenanigans your brain has to go through to calculate the payouts. Finishing work at 7am after spending 2 hours counting unimaginably vast piles of money was interesting. Free food and accommodation on top of good pay in an idyllic paradise was pretty good though. Truth is, the only way to make real money in gambling is if you own the casino. The odds always favor the house and the slot machines rake in the most money. Ive known of folks who’ve committed suicide after losing everything after a nights urge to feed the greed.

#44

Event planner, it’s hell on earth when you have a million things going on and your waiting for everything to come together

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Eslamala
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did it for years when I was a caterer. Not anymore. Not ever again.

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#45

barnes and noble, your job has literally NOTHING to do with books & it obviously attracts a lot of that type, myself included

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#46

Paramedic (UK). Long hours, nights and weekends. Missing your children’s landmark events because your working or sleeping. Being there when someone’s loved one has passed away and delivering bad news. Copious amounts of bodily fluids. Exposure to every contagious illness going then going home at the end of the day to your loved ones. Most call outs are to poorer parts of town where peoples health is worst. Posher areas have a tendency to feel entitled due to the lack of understanding on how the ambulance service works and expect to be seen quicker because they have called 999. The expectation that ambulances go on blue lights and sirens to every job in a few minutes (some people can wait (10 hours at times)

But you do get the odd free coffee and deliver babies sometimes which is nice

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Elin Calliel
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Paramedics save countless lives. The work you do is beyond valuable. Gratitude to all who work in health care.

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#47

Not a specific job but traveling for work. I’m in tech and a lot of people starting out talk about wanting to go to customer sites and get “out in the field”... I love to travel for fun but it’s hard to fit in the fun stuff when you have presentations and stuff to worry about and a lot of times your customers aren’t in the fun cities anyway. I also think I prefer the stability in day-to-day schedule of traveling less frequently.

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James016
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

100%, my old workplace was a tour operator, my job was to make sure the hotels' IT was set up and ready for the season. When I joined I though it was great that I would be travelling to different countries. I did see some great places and went to countries I had not visited before, the Alps with no snow is very serene for example. However it very quickly took its toll and the final straw was when I had to take 10 flights in 13 days. That was killer and I needed a week off to recover. The cherry on that cake was that due to a delay in getting to Athens, I missed my connecting flight to Lemnos. I got to the island at 10.30am, did my work and had to get the 5am flight the next morning back to Athens to take the plane to Kos.

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#48

I almost forgot, the bad back!!!!!!

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#49

Beer taster

So first of all, no-one actually wants to drink beer at 9.30 on Monday morning in a corporate office. But you rock up to a dozen glasses of beer in front of you, you make small talk about what your colleague’s kids did on the weekend, and then you’re tasting.

Things you’re tasting could involve:

stuff that’s come back from consumers because it “tastes weird”. Usually because they left it in the back seat of their car in full summer sun for two weeks, and cooked the [hell] out of it

stuff that’s come in from the breweries because something has gone wrong and they can’t figure out what

stuff that the R&D team are working on and haven’t gotten right yet

stuff that the lab team have aged well past the best before date. Just to see how bad it really gets (very)

Other problems (these aren’t all me, they’re a collection from a bunch of colleagues):

if you’re at the breweries, it could be 30 odd samples of exactly the same beer, just from different storage tanks you have to check is ok

if you’re tasting at beer festivals, there are 200 odd whack craft beer samples. Which means by the time you’re done, your palate is wiped, you’re too drunk to enjoy the festival, you have to network with the rest of the industry who are sober, and you spend the weekend recovering. Worse if you’re a small woman and the other tasters are faring better than you

if you go out to client sites to work on new developments, and there’s more tasting involved than you expected or it’s high alcohol content, you end up leaving your car in the middle of nowhere and have to get home and back again. Especially embarrassing when you’re a small woman and the other guys are ok to drive

there’s always one guy who spits and it’s gross

you go out to a bar on the weekend with your mates, and they all ask you for opinions on beer when you’re just trying to enjoy one. Or if you want to switch off from work and order a nice girly cocktail and get given s**t for it

the looks of judgement from the doctor when they ask how often you drink and you tell them the truth

if you want to lose weight, good luck calorie counting that

Don’t get me wrong, there are worse jobs out there. But I don’t even like beer

candydaze Report

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If I could I would live under water
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get that sometimes you have to take a job you don't want but honestly, why does someone become a bear taster if they don't like drinking beer?

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