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We might think that the worst job for our mental health is the one that we hate. But, according to research, there are actually some professions where depression, burnout, and people taking their own lives are more common than in others.

In 2019, Business Insider wrote how veterinarians, first responders, doctors, and childcare, construction, and restaurant workers are at a higher risk for the above-mentioned ailments than the general population.

Recently, one person on the Internet asked: “Which job has, hands down, the worst impact on mental health?” And while some of the answers from people reflect statistics from the article, others might be quite surprising.

Bored Panda reached out to the author of this thread, u/VenkyFromAnakapalli, and they kindly agreed to tell us more about what prompted them to ask other Redditors about mentally exhausting jobs. Read our short conversation below!

#1

"I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have It’s not the worst (see: First Responders and, apparently, veterinarians) but being an inner-city public school teacher broke me.

Look, again, not as bad as those others but I’ve seen and read enough that my decade in has been enough. I’ve had students murdered (one kid was shot for twelve dollars worth of weed. I also taught the murderer), I’ve called DCS on many parents because my student came in beaten or starving (I paid for one of my student’s lunches because she was pregnant and couldn’t afford school lunch), seen brutal fights that have ended with hospitalization and have also been hospitalized due to breaking up fights. You watch brilliant students discover d***s and overdose, you see kids with bright futures get pregnant and refuse to go to college because they “will be supported” by the baby’s father who skipped town the day she gave birth, and you see kids fall through the cracks in the system to never be seen again. I’ve also reported two f*****g pervert teachers; one didn’t have enough evidence but he was still let go while the other currently enjoys prison.

My first year, a few of us teachers started a “club” that would have lock-ins at the school because some of the kids needed a place to get food, get clean, and be away from the danger of home. I’ve never played more Monopoly in my life or eaten more Papa John’s and I really didn’t like doing it but it was worth it at graduation when one of my students that never missed Club thanked me because, “it was the one night her mom’s boyfriend couldn’t get her.” I still cry about it. I’m crying now.

There were amazing positives. I have a few students that are now doctors that were once told that they would never graduate. Getting kids who couldn’t read at the beginning of their freshman year to graduate with a full ride to college is a feeling that I can’t really compare to anything.

But, at the end of the day, the lows are too low. I left the first school that I taught at six years ago because we had an “incident” that definitely *wasn’t* a school shooting that failed only because the kid turned the corner directly into our school officer and, out of fear, the kid killed himself instead of the kids on his list. I should have left then but I thought it would get better; that I could handle it all.

I can’t. I’m tired.

classroomcomedian , Katerina Holmes / pexels Report

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Evan not Hansen
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm so grateful for teachers like this, and it's so devastating to see what they go through. Good teachers are so crucial to students' growth and futures and, at least in the US, don't get paid or supported nearly enough and are often mistreated but students, parents, and administration.

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    #2

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have The FBI evidence sifters in child s*x cases. Weeks of freeze framing children's faces during abuse videos and matching that to databases to identify the kids against other videos, missing children, etc. then putting it all in a timeline for prosecutors.

    Edit to add: they have to watch these videos looping back over and over to record audio, names, places, numbers, background noises, and any other evidence that might connect persons to acts or cases to other cases.

    patdashuri , Pressmaster / envatoelements Report

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    RedRose
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    One of my family members spouse did this job (and was considered one of the best at it), my respect for her-there are no words.

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    #3

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I don’t know if it’s the worst, but maybe. I’m a retired detective. In the latter part of my career, I was tasked with running our Special Investigations Unit. One of our responsibilities was computer crimes. 95% of those were child sexual abuse media investigations, child p*rn to the lay person.

    I trained and got certified in computer forensics. As a result I spent many, many hours poring through thousands upon thousands of child sexual abuse images and videos.

    The seething, white rage that would build up inside of me would necessitate an occasional break to go punch a wall or other inanimate object. The other detectives outside of our enclosed lab got used to the occasional outbursts by my other computer forensic examiners and me.

    Most of the time I could endure it, but sometimes certain acts or victims would trigger rage in me that still affects me to this day. This in spite of the mandatory and regular therapy for our examiners that was established by policy. There is no redemption for people who abuse children.

    Greenman333 , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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    Savahax
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Seeing some disgusting f*****g paedophile rape a child would be more than enough to send me on a killing spree. Again, respect

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    Sometimes, your job might be stressing you out so much you start thinking: "Are other people living like this, too?" The author of this thread, u/VenkyFromAnakapalli, found themselves in a similar situation. "I was inspired to ask other Redditors this question because my job at a molecular biology lab was stressing me out," they told Bored Panda in a message.

    "I found myself feeling more and more reluctant to go work, so in frustration, I turned to Reddit. I wanted to just see how other people's jobs were affecting their mental health." And Reddit didn't disappoint. People pointed out many professions where people have to sacrifice their mental health, like trucking or air traffic controllers.

    #4

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Care giver😩
    1. the racist : It’s very hard to go on your day taking care of someone who spits in your face and calls you dirty while you’re trying to help them wash up.
    2. The way people just die, after you’ve finally had a relationship with them and cared for them for months and how fast that empty bed gets occupied. You don’t get any counselling or therapy but you’re expected to go on normally with your work shift.

    NoExplnations , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

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    Rachknits
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Definitely, it's job that's incredibly demanding and horrendously unpaid and underappreciated.

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    #5

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I mean, being a nurse during the pandemic was pretty s**t on a lot of people’s mental health.

    signaturefox2013 , Jonathan Borba / pexels Report

    #6

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have My dad is an oncologist. He handles it well but that has to be up there.

    Every time you meet a new patient it’s during one of the worst (if not THE worst) time of their lives. And it’s up to you to break it to them/their families if the toxic treatment you have been administering is working or if they should give up hope and get their affairs in order.

    On top of that you have them attending appointments telling you the kind of toll the cancer is taking on their marriage **(SO MANY people walk away from their “beloved” partner of 30 years rather than support them through this)** not to mention their finances.

    f**kandfrolic , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels Report

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    Scotira
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is true and at the same time not. I am a radiation therapist and in addition to that I do counseling for patients when they don't want or can't go to our psychologist. Any person working with cancer patients has to take very good care of their mental health however this job is so very rewarding. Yes I meet people in a very dark phase of their lives yet I get to walk that path with them. I am part of the sad stories and also all the victorous stories, the little things, their achievments and also their setbacks. I get strength from the knowledge, that I got to help someone in the fight for their life. I will remember my patients, those that won and those that lost. That said if you choose to work in this field you need a really good personal network to hold you up or you will burn out.

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    u/VenkyFromAnakapalli tells us they work long hours at a lab, making it a pretty mentally exhausting job. "It can be fun at times, but with paper deadlines [and] grant proposal writing, as well as routine/repetitive experiments, it gets tiring," they admit. 

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    "Add to that a stressful PI, as well as colleagues who don't always want to help, [and] it gets demanding sometimes." After reading the many answers from people, u/VenkyFromAnakapalli feels lucky to have the job they have. "I feel more blessed that my job never got as bad," they say.

    #7

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I have a friend who works for CPS. You wouldn't believe the number of times she's tried to get a child taken out of a horribly abusive home. Clear physical evidence of sexual abuse etc. but the case falls through because the police won't provide a detective who is good with children then the child won't repeat accusations for official testimony. It's gotta be up there with first responders.

    cockOfGibraltar , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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    Emma London
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    These cases should NEVER be dependent of a child's testimonial. They might not say a word in court, or tell anything they think the interviewer wants them to tell, no matter if it's true or not.

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    #8

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Combat soldier. Nothing destroys the human psyche like the constant stress of combat and being in combat zones.

    Hydraulis , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

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    Cool crow
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Funny, isn't it, that the people who instigate wars are not on the battlefields?

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    #9

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I’ve been I cop for only 2 years. I can never see people the same again and I’ve experienced more stress in that time than I have my whole life. And I’ve already seen way more than you would imagine. Everything about the job sucks. The schedule is terrible, I never see my family or old friends. I go from zero to 100 on stress about 10 times a night. Unfortunately I also work in a big city. EVERYONE hates me and for some reason it’s become socially acceptable to be openly racists towards me. EVERY person I talk to is constantly lying to me - even the people who called me for help because they want someone to get in trouble badly enough. When the 1 out of 10,000 cops does finally make a mistake 5 states over - I have to pay for it with everyone’s hate.

    I just wanted to save lives - and I already have saved more than I thought I would. But it’s become so hard to put my vest on and get myself to work lately - and it crushes me to see some of my friends making 3x my salary - working 6 hours a day from home while I’m out here in the trenches every night. Every decision I make affects somebodies entire life and freedom or could cost me or my coworker’s life. The amount of red tape I have to go through to do my job is insane. Most of the criminals I break my back to capture get released the next day or get let go in court on some stupid technicality.

    Nobody wants the job I have anymore so there are never enough coworkers to help me - we are always understaffed and by the time I show up to the lower priority calls I’m met with hate because the response time is so bad. I get to hear Karen scream in my face about showing up hours later to her broken car window even though 15 minutes ago I just got done watching jimmy gurgle his last breath succumbing to stab wounds while his mom looks on in horror.

    Even if I quit tonight, I believe most of my naive innocence and optimism for life could be shattered and the mental health effects could last me for the rest of my life. And the weird cherry on top is that I’ve become kind of addicted to the adrenaline and activities that used to excite me in my non working life can sometimes feel mundane and purposeless now.

    Dustin_James_Kid , Kindel Media / pexels Report

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    Rachknits
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's one of those jobs where if you're good at it, it's probably going to destroy you which leaves the bad ones.

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    "I guess my life is easier compared to the answers I heard, some of which [were] hard to believe just because of how brutal and demanding they described their job as, but some jobs really are that hard, so I do think everyone was just telling the truth."

    "I feel like the question was a good way to gain perspective in the life of someone else while letting off your stress by sharing it with others," the Redditor added.

    #10

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Crime scene cleanup. Entire families murder s*icide. Seeing dead babies would wreck me. The smells...bodies turned to soup, brains splattered, blood, lots of blood, feces and urine, pets taking a chomp because they haven't been fed. Having to pull all carpet, pad and scrubbing sub floors. Extracting body juices.

    High probability of bio illnesses/bio hazards (blood/airborne pathogens).

    100% will affect a sane person.

    Tacos_always_corny , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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    Brittania Kelli
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think I would prefer this over a lot of other jobs. At least, if you have some sort of spirituality you could reason with yourself that the mess is not the person, their spirit is freed and all that's left is casing. It has shed its mortal body.

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    #11

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Veterinarians have some is the highest rates of s*icide. I'm going with that. 

    imlumpy:

    My vet cried with me when we put my cat to sleep. I was touched, but it was a bit of a surprise since I was apparently the second euthanasia appointment of the day.

    What I hear from vets is that the people are the worst part of the job. Seeing evidence of neglect or abuse, clients refusing to pay for necessary medical interventions, etc. Watching animals suffering is hard enough, but knowing you (or the owner) could do something about it but can't/won't has to be rough.

    headoftheasylum:

    Veterinary work, specifically animal welfare and rescue. The things that people will do to another living creature is horrendous. I dislike the entire human race. I think the world would be better off if we all just f****d off and died.

    reyrey1492 , Mikhail Nilov / pexels Report

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    #12

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have First responders will eventually watch a person die right in front of them more than likely.

    Intelligent-Box-3798:

    Definitely have seen multiple die, as well as plenty of already dead, brains on walls, etc.

    None of it was nearly as bad as responding to a dying infant then having to stand around while EMS is going through the motions for the sake of the parents.

    Vegan-Kirk , Allen Beilschmidt sr. / pexels Report

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    Savahax
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Saw a documentary about them. Lots of cocaine being used in that field. I get it, just saying

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    #13

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Social workers spend their days dealing with some of the worst people humanity has to offer and their victims.

    Lily_Hylidae:

    Social workers, particularly those in Child Protection. My friend has been signed off for months now. She said she doesn't think she can ever face going back. The thought of it is giving her severe panic attacks.

    Enginerdad , Kindel Media / pexels Report

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    Rachknits
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's hugely underfunded (UK) so often only the most horrendous abuse cases get picked up meaning you know of many families where a simply intervention would be potentially life changing for the children but your hands are tied. It's a thankless role too.

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    #14

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Police I would guess.

    Things I did in my career:

    Watched people burn to death in a car wreck.

    Did trauma care multiple times. Saved some. Lost more.

    Searched a house for a dead baby. Found her in a bag in a wardrobe.

    Searched another house for a severed penis and a testicle that a mentally ill man had cut off.

    Saw multiple murder victims and blood covered crime scenes.

    Told multiple people their family members were dead, including telling a six and a seven year old their parents were dead because Daddy had shot mummy then himself.

    Suffered daily abuse from the public for 30 years.

    Got assaulted numerous times.

    Been to multiple autopsy's including child autopsy's.

    Watched videos of murder and sexual abuse including of children in order to prepare it as evidence.

    Worked horrid shifts and lives an unhealthy lifestyle for years.

    Got virtually zero support for mental health in all that time.

    Was massively overworked the whole time.

    Dealt with the stress of trying to keep people alive and carrying massive case loads knowing one slip up

    Yeah policing is terrible for your mental health. I can't imagine much worse.

    useful-idiot-23 , Kindel Media / pexels Report

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    Lil Miss Hobbit
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    These people should have our highest respect. They are only human but they deal with horrific things none of the rest of us even want to imagine. Thank you officers for your work.

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    #15

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Social media moderator. Imagine your job is watching videos of animals being mutilated and then having to decide if it violates the TOS as written; then moving on to a child abuse video.

    YetAnotherZombie , Yan Krukau / pexels Report

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    Beak Hookage
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    FB doesn't take down animal abuse videos any more. I've reported SO MANY of them only to be told "does not go against our terms of service etc etc". Because it's automated now. A human being would not have looked at that clip of a live chicken strung up as bait for a dog and gone "nope, nothing wrong with that!". It's so frustrating. But then what human being would want to do that job? The pay is probably garbage on top of everything else.

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    #16

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Mental health care for children. Especially when the parents don’t do anything we suggested. The kids work so hard to be “successful” in the sessions and when they came back again you can see the parents did NOTHING that was being taught to help the kids. It was frustrating and really sad to see.

    Nana212 , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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    Wren
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As someone who's been admitted to children's psychiatric wards 6+ times, and always ends up going back, this cant be more true. I don't mean to pity myself, but the main reason I was in there was years of abuse from my parents, and every time, the psychiatrists would teach them how to help me, and for awhile they would, but after a couple of weeks it would all start again, and I feel so bad for the nurses who had to deal with me, and them.

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    #17

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have It's not the worst but my mother used to deliver meals on wheels. It's a program in the good states to deliver food to the elderly or homebound. She saved a few people in distress and found her share of dead folks which sucks. She was often the only person some of those people would see each day. It was heartbreaking and she did it when she was even eligible to receive the meals as she was elderly.

    I lost her to COVID bc stupid people ran our country.

    JerseyGuy-77 , Jsme MILA / pexels Report

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    Elvira394
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    AND, at least when my grandma did it, delivering meals on wheels was volunteer. No pay.

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    #18

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have My doesn't deserve top ten, but I worked at an payday loans place for a few months. If that didn't feel like legally working for the devil I don't know what does

    Nobanob , Mikhail Nilov / pexels Report

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    Jane Jayne Jain Jeign Jein
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Currently #11 and the first entry that is actually working FOR the devil - the others so far have been tough on mental health but thoroughly worthwhile jobs.

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    #19

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Wildland firefighters, no one really talks about it but since it’s apart of my field of study, my instructor who’s been on a few hotshot crews and knows so many people in the wildland firefighting industry who have just ended their lives. You work 14 hours days for 2 weeks or more of some of the most physically demanding work anyone can do, usually can’t shower, you’ve actively watching nature including all its creatures being burned alive, moving their corpses, and possibly watching it destroy peoples homes and lives. Not only that but at any moment something can change and you’ll burn alive in the fire too.

    It’s not for the weak of heart, because even those who have the toughest hearts are struggling with depression.

    VexxFate , Pixabay / pexels Report

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    Donald
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2024/03/23/the-u-s-needs-wildland-firefighters-more-than-ever-but-the-federal-government-is-losing-them/ worth a read Pandas.

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    #20

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Maybe slaughterhouse worker...

    l337hackzor:

    Bit of a second hand story but I dated a girl, in her home town the slaughter house was a big employer that paid well.
    Apparently they had X number of what are basically mental health days (and this was 20 years ago before that kind of thing was more top of mind) because people would have breakdowns or just walk off in the middle of a shift.
    Rather than fire these people or have them assume they can't come back they just gave them a bit of paid time for it.

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    Rachknits
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There's a book called Slaughterhouse that everyone should read, highlights what an awful industry it is, especially for those working on the floor

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    #21

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have The people you pick up the phone when you call 911.

    They have to endure mostly horrible calls, listen to people die, or people calling with someone they love dying in front of them. And when it’s over the hang up and answer the next call and start over. There’s some great YouTube videos on just how bad it is.

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    Brittania Kelli
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Emergency dispatchers. They are a very special kind of person and don't get the credit they are due.

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    #22

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I will say, that one of the worse I can imagine, would be mining cobalt in Congo.

    Everytime I try to hate on my job, I remember there are actually people that are force to labour this way for like a dollar a day and I feel less like I should be b**ching and have nothing to complain about.

    Recent-Stable-5375 , The International Institute for Environment and Development / Wikipedia Report

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    Shane S
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you show up to the hospital with a broken finger and they wheel somebody in having a heart attack, yes, one definitely would look objectively worse, but that doesn’t make your finger any less broken. It’s ok to advocate for yourself even if others “have it worse”.

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    #23

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Psychiatric nurse in the psychiatric inpatient hospital. In a state prison. Dealing with death row inmates.

    Amani329 , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

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    Elvira394
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's a very sad state of the world to imagine that the seriously mentally ill (SMI) could be on death row. Prison maybe, yes. But the truly SMI couldn't be fully culpable for their actions enough to put them to death. Unless your state prison has discovered a cure they aren't sharing with the rest of us....

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    #25

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Not the worst, but working in a high kill shelter would be awful. Underpaid, understaffed, and you have to watch innocent animals die everyday just because there’s no room. Like every day. Can’t get close to any of them because there’s a high chance they’ll be dead three days after they get there.

    I worked in a no kill shelter and it was still heartbreaking when one of them passed. These animals felt like mine, as I couldn’t responsibly have my own.

    Think-Plan-8464 , Irina Zhur / pexels Report

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    Donald
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Unless you need a certain breed for a certain job, just adopt. Treat that dog well and you'll have a ride or die partner for life. Cats are also very cheap when you get them from a shelter. My girl Lizzie was 9 when I adopted her and going on 17 this year, best 30 bucks I've ever spent.

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    #26

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I spent a summer as a legal intern in the homicide division of the Orange County DA, and much of my job that summer was to review and catalog photos of the victims and crime scenes. Disproportionately children, since it was a job that no one really wants to do (so it’s easy to pass off to interns). I have no idea how anyone does that long term - a few months was more than enough for a lifetime.

    djmax101 , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels Report

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    #27

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have My wife is a nurse on a labor and delivery floor and for being touted as "healthcare heroes" they sure do get mistreated. She constantly goes an entire 12 hour shift without restroom breaks or eating or drinking anything, all while taking care of not just mom but baby. She constantly mentions this to her bosses and they give her lip service and empty promises. All while taking verbal abuse from egotistical doctors and the occasional patient. Not sure how you can deliver top of the line patient care without being able to take care of your basic needs.

    allapologies0 , Cedric Fauntleroy / pexels Report

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    Jihana
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That is exactly why I wrote a loooong email to the hospital, detailing exactly how totally AWESOME the nurses were during my stay in the ICU. They probably only get to hear negative things like ever. Thought it was about time they get some praise too.

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    #28

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I work in customer service for insurance and I am told to kill myself/go f**k myself/stupid b***h etc multiple times a week. Also it is my fault that your insurance is so high and you have to choose between paying for insurance and paying for food for your kids…
    yep that’s my fault, not your 2 DUI tickets, crashed BMW, 4 speeding tickets, and bad credit.

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    Shane S
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Customer service for insurance must be extremely difficult. There are so many things you can’t control. It’s like screaming at the person at McDonald’s taking your order because the food is giving you diabetes. Or yelling at the mall clerk because the garments are produced in sweat shops. Sometimes people are just trying to do a job.

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    #29

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Corrections Officer. Nightmare all day every day.

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    #30

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Therapist. Listening to people's problems for 8 hrs everyday will be extremely taxing.

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    Rachknits
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As a therapist I disagree. I have a great supervisor to debrief with and a huge part of my role is making sure I take care of myself so I'm better able to support clients. Working in statutory mental health services without adequate supervision and an impossible case load is a different kettle of fish though.

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    #31

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have The journalist and historical author Iris Chang, author of the book *The R*pe of Nanking*, went into a deep depression worsened by the subject matter that she wrote about and eventually committed s*icide.

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    KY dog mom
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This was the most difficult book I have ever read in my life. There were many times when tears would be streaming down my face as I was reading it. It took me over a month to get through the whole book because there were some days when I could only read a few pages and then I would have to put the book down for a few days.

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    #32

    Combat medics. First responders may see someone die in front of them, combat medics will see multiple brothers die in their arms. They always seem to blame themselves for not being able to save them, no matter how bad the wounds are. On top of that, they still have to engage and possibly kill enemies just to get their own guys back.

    "So others may live."

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    #33

    Any job where every day you are constantly being exposed to other peoples trauma. Second hand trauma day in and day out wears on mental health.

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    ROSESARERED
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    After the black Saturday fires here in Australia...we had people coming into store to get a voucher the businessi worked for offered any victim who had lost their home., the store/acting manager had told talk to them ti make sure it was genuine.....many couldn't cope with the stories. My store wasn't far away from some of the worst affected areas...Heard from customers how they escape, with only what they were wearing, and driving past cars, cars they recognised despite the fire damage...and seeing people they know that we're burnt to death. Only had yo deal with it for a month, but it took its toll on many staff. Take care of your mental and emotional health, and check on those who are too caught up to see the damage please

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    #34

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Customer Service of any kind.

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    Richi Weiss
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Who says customer is king or customer is never wrong - never actually met any customers

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    #35

    Call Center Rep.

    InflationLeft:

    I knew a guy who worked for a debt collection call center, and he said it was soul-crushing. I asked him if it was people screaming at him to "f*ck off" when he called them that bothered him, and he said those calls actually weren't as bad as the alternative. The more troubling ones were the depressing stories of how debtors ended up in crippling debt, often verging on tears as they're explaining this, and how they are struggling just to provide for themselves/their family, never mind to pay off whatever debt it is that they owe.

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    Aimee Stilts
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My biggest problem working in a Call Center (essential utility) was the abuse I heard being heaped on customers by the other CSRs

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    #36

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I’ve heard Trucking is really bad. Read about it in an article recently. They have to be away from home for days, if not weeks at a time. It’s really difficult to hold down a relationship or family in any way.

    A good portion of their time on the job is spent in a perpetual state of exhaustion. Coffee, redbull and other caffeinated beverages are being used 24/7 to keep them awake long enough to finish the trip. Never a good nights rest as you just sleep in whatever motel you find along the road, or just in the cabin of your vehicle. Not to mention that driving a vehicle for that long is physically exhausting. Imagine holding your arms up in front of you for 6-8 hours a day, every day of the week.

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    Rachknits
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The other aspect that doesn't get highlighted enough ( I had a client experiencing ptsd as a result) is that, due to the amount of time spent on the road, you're more likely to witness RTAs on a regular basis

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    #37

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have Literally any job where you have to deal with other humans when they are at their worst.

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    #38

    Anyone working in the NICU. Yes even the janitor.

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    ANN VALERYEVNA Sokolovskaya
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When my baby was in nicu (he survived fortunately) the nurse talked about how she Loved her job BUT she had never intended on having children so she said that's why she thought she found it very rewarding. She also said that her relatives would often ask her to help with their own babies medical issues and she always refused because she did not want to get emotionally involved. She was a great nurse.

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    #39

    Probation/parole officers. We get to know their whole families. We cheer them on when they succeed. We move heaven and earth to put things in place for success.

    No one talks about it but when they pass away to violence and d***s, it hurts.

    I don't know if people truly know how bad the fentanyl crisis is.

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    ANN VALERYEVNA Sokolovskaya
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Several nurses died at a local jail because inmates had overdosed on fentanyl and nurses had touched them without gloves and apparently the inmates had so much fentanyl in their system that even touching their skin resulted in absorption by medical.

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    #40

    Food service workers.

    Constantly dehumanized, treated like garbage even when service is damn near perfect, injuries are common but brushed over because you don't have time to be injured, and despite having s**t wages people will complain about having to tip as if we're just greedy workers.

    Had a genuine panic attack in the kitchen (open for customers to see with it being a cafe) because we (me and my one coworker) were rushed and everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. Customers were awful before I even had a chance to mess up. People often complain about the prices despite them being that way as a small business that almost went under during the start of the pandemic and because we are paid $9 an hour compared to the usual $2-$7 wages most baristas make everywhere else. However $9 is still not a living wage. I only afford groceries and some of rent because of the tip money I make.

    I like to think I'm a kind person who has faith in humanity because I know not everyone is mean or evil, but when you're exposed to such a general part of the population and constantly abused as a staff member by customers, it's hard to keep that positive worldview and has definitely sent me into mental health spirals. Maybe we don't have it worse compared to firefighters or specific FBI evidence workers, but I'm a firm believer that the world would be a kinder place if everyone was required to work 2 years in the food service industry or 3 years in customer service/retail.

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    Elvira394
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Working with dark parts of humanity, and working where you are dehumanized, are two different but equally soul-crushing things.

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    #41

    I've heard air traffic controller. I remind myself of that when IT gets hard.

    jakaedahsnakae:

    Long hours and constant stress of being in charge of the lives of hundreds of people where one miscommunication can be deadly.

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    Jihana
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Had a pretty big surgery earlier this year, and since I was not allowed to lift anything I lived a with my father for a few weeks. For some reason we watched Mayday and other series and movies about plane crashes almost daily. And every time one of us would say: don't know if I said that before, but air traffic controller is about the LAST job I would want to do.

    #42

    Farming. Trust me. Work as hard as you can, do everything as correctly as possible. Live frugally. Be resourceful as you can. Weather, pests, equipment failure/repair and commodity prices wipe out your chances of any reasonable profit or profit at all. Sit with your accountant and banker and be told again and again how much of a total failure you are and that if you’re going to get ahead in this world you’re just going to have to work harder. Meanwhile they go home after a hard 6 hours at work and you head right back to the field to work until dark.

    I was an automation engineer once. Worked a reasonable amount of hours and was well paid for it. Then for personal/family reasons I started farming. I had to do it. This is f*****g peasant work according to my accountant and banker but it’s infinitely more difficult than being an engineer ever was.

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    #43

    Customer service.

    I’ve never been more miserable than having people yell at me over things I don’t control or fix.

    People just blatantly looking down on you because you’re there to serve them, some people are just so rude and angry straight off the bat.

    I’ve been in tears before over the way some people have spoken to me, I’ve even had people say “I know it’s not your fault” and then proceed to keep yelling at me.

    I’ve taken to just saying “I’m here to help you and the way you’re behaving is making me NOT want to help you” that usually either gets them to calm down or gets a worse reaction.

    Honestly just the complete lack of empathy or human kindness, I understand whatever happened is inconvenient or you think it’s wrong, but I don’t deserve to be spoken to like a piece of c**p over it.

    I’ve even been threatened with violence.

    Obviously there’s first responders, nurses, veterinarians and sectors of crime stoppers that would be much more mentally taxing and traumatising than customer service ever will be and I’m so thankful for the people that do those jobs and take on that mental load.

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    Donald
    Community Member
    4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can't even remember the number of people who tried to fight me over a 10 dollar item that they can't return or something equally as trivial. I told someone that we didn't have a public restroom once. With no warming he leapt over the counter and grabbed me, he got a few shots in before I put him on his back. People will treat you as subhuman when you work in customer service, I'd rather be poor and live my parents than go back to retail.

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    #44

    Outside of like the serious stuff like first responders, in the white collar world I would say sales can be brutal.

    I am an account executive in the software space and it’s relatively common to see alcoholism and substance abuse as a way to cope with the stress. The highs are high but man can the lows be low.

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    #45

    I am a claims adjuster. People do not read or understand their insurance policies and I regularly have to tell them why their policy isn't paying out. Also explaining to someone why they are at fault for an accident when they are stupid is just painful.

    I know it's not on the level of a first responder but f**k if it doesn't grind me down sometimes.

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    cryssH
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Then write it in easier to understand language. We cover this... We do NOT cover this....

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    #46

    For me, it was being a service advisor at a dealership. As much as I loved gaining the knowledge on cars, as a young woman, I did not know how to handle, let alone process the extreme sexism I was experiencing from all sides. I could process the decision from the techs because once they saw I was capable of doing my job, the joking around stopped, and the shop literally became My hideaway.

    Unfortunately, my position required me to be up front. Most customers were so blatant with their sexism that I couldn't believe most of them were married. I was told I didn't know what I was doing because I was a woman on a daily basis. Joke was on them, though, because my supervisor was also a woman, so then it became about me being a young woman. It didn't matter that I was online every day doing brand training on products (aka cars). My age and gender to most male customers (which is primarily who brought cars in and I soon learned why) made me immediately ineffective and unable to possibly know anything about cars in their minds.

    Now, my manager was a man. The sexism I experienced from him, along with lack of support, is probably why i ended up eventually doing what I did. He would constantly threaten to write me up for not wearing makeup while pushing his wife's Mary Kay products on me all the time. He also actively encouraged us to rip off our female customers whenever possible. I had originally been hired as a Greeter then got promoted. A porter was promoted with me as well, but this kid gave two shits about the job and eventually got fired. So I get told that now, due to his being fired, I'm no longer getting promoted but I can keep the hourly raise, no hopes of salary though, and they want me to do everything they trained me to. So essentially work the job without the pay.

    I did luck out there as most of my salaried coworkers ended up owing the car maker money due to how they dished out their commission pay once the economy tanked in 2008. However miserable I was at that job, though I never felt like quitting was an option. I was making $6 more hourly than minimum wage at the time and had amazing benefits. All it did to me was destroy my mental, got me into heroin and eventually, I tried to kill myself on the job. I'm doing much better now 15 years later. But yeah, any job that's got rampant sexism issues and are willing to abuse young, inexperienced workers is a recipe for mental health disaster.

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    Colleen Glim
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You don’t want salary. Salary just means that they can work you half to death and not have to pay any more money for it

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    #47

    Definitely not number one, but lawyer who does family law. Good friend of mine did it for a while. He said that all of his clients were simply deep down angry. And their anger and bitterness overrode their normal sense of reason. They won’t listen to the lawyers very much, and will behave totally irrationally at times no matter what.

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    John Austin
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Before I decided to become a chef, I studied law. Had work experience in a small firm in a small town and honestly, the sh*t I read in some family law cases made me wish I could bleach my eyes and erase my memories

    #48

    For me, funeral director/embalmer. The impact on my health was more from poor management and a complete lack of work/life balance than it was from any of the sad or gross stuff that I witnessed.

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    #49

    Medical work. Statistically I don't think anything else comes close.

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    Elvira394
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Oddly dentists have a higher rate of suicide than physicians. But yeah, no one can probably understand the burnout of physicians doing 16 hour days with a 36 hour shift every 4th day.

    #50

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I can think of 2 : AT&T customer service and S*icide hotlines agent.

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    #51

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I’ll step in on this… I can only comment, as a chef for 30 odd years, that a kitchen will eventually break your heart, mind, body and soul.

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    #52

    Construction has a horribly poor reputation for mental health.

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    #53

    "I Can't. I'm Tired": 30 Professionals With Terrible Mental Health Confess What Job They Have I found desk jobs with ridiculously long hours to be doozies. I've also worked in the trades. Working hard physically helps your overall health. Sitting in a desk looking at computers for 12+ hours regularly was the least healthy thing I've ever done.

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    #55

    Out of all of the jobs I had it was a help desk role. Knowing you are going to pick up a ringing phone knowing there is an angry person on the other side that you are going to be blamed for ruining their day.

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    Andrew Arons
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    End-user support is pretty awful. I started out supporting Compaq. And even worse, if the reason somebody called in was due to a software issue we had to charge them $35 to answer the question. It was that kind of c**p that made me realize I needed to go back to college and get my degree. I still work in IT, but I deal mostly with servers and system admins. And I have enough experience and leverage that I can quickly put them in their place if they give me attitude. The only drawback is "consultants". They're usually nice enough, but they need a lot of hand-holding.

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    #56

    Bartending has to be up there. 12 years behind the stick took an intense toll on me both physically and mentally. The casual d**g and alcohol abuse is almost necessary when you have to be on your feet and serving hundreds of strangers every day. Also your personal life is on full public display, and everyone has an opinion about it. I’m so burnt out in my mid-thirties now.

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    #57

    Pilot. One mistake and you could potentially wipe out 400 bloodlines.

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    Andrew Arons
    Community Member
    4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Be a private jet pilot. That way you'll only potentially wipe out one bloodline, usually one that's really just a drain on society.

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    #58

    Gambling industry is pretty rough.

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