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“What Career Seems To Attract An Unlikely Amount Of Idiots, Despite Being Intellectually Demanding?” (26 Answers)
No doubt, ever since you were a kid, you knew the job (or jobs) you aspired to do in life. And you knew very well how much you would have to work to get those jobs. Being smart was part of it.
Well, you can throw that idea out the window. As it turns out, some smart brainy people jobs don’t really need a lot of brain power. Well, in theory, they do, but in practice, that doesn’t stop the less brainy people from getting brainy people jobs.
Folks in this Reddit thread were sharing jobs, careers, and fields that seem like you’d need PhD amounts of smartness to pull off, but have surprisingly high levels of the opposite. Something’s greatly amiss here.
Bored Panda has siphoned the best of the best responses and highlights in the viral thread and has crafted a lovely curated list for you to enjoy. And while you’re enjoying it, would you find some love in your heart to also share jobs that you think fit the above description in the comment section below?
More Info: Reddit
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#1
sayhummus said:
Nurses. I've had few AMAZING nurses but most of the time, all the biggest bullies went to study nursing and now there's an actual problem of workplace bullying in that field.
bread-durst replied:
When I went into labor the first nurse I had to deal with was awful. She didn’t believe my water broke, as I have a puddle of fluid flowing out of me. Then when she went to check to see how dilated I was she couldn’t locate my cervix and got super mad at me for it. Uhhh…it’s not like I’m playing a prank and hid my cervix from you.
Kookamunga 3 years ago
The Case of the Hidden Cervix - wonder what Hitchcock could of done with this story.
Dirk Daring 3 years ago
I absolutely don't know, but I'm sure Tippi Hedren would want nothing to do with it.
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BadCat 3 years ago
I had a nurse get mad at me for not find a vein. I'm fair skinned that's slightly transparent. I see my veins in my arm easily. So she spent 20 min smacking my arm like she was tenderizing me for a BBQ.
Julie C Rose 3 years ago
I wish I could have all my medical treatments in a clinical trial facility. I’m in a trial at the moment and I didn’t drink enough water before my visit yesterday so my veins were even worse than usual. These people got a surgical glove, filled it with warm water and massaged my arm with it until the veins popped up. And whaddaya know, it took a lot less time than 20 minutes too. Someone should tell that nurse that you catch more veins with honey.
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Bill Evs 3 years ago (edited)
Most of the nurses I've encountered through my life have been amazing but there was one that sticks in my mind. When my son (our first) was born my wife was encouraged to breast feed which she attempted. However even to us pair of novices it became clear very quickly that he wasn't feeding sufficiently from the breast and my wife wasn't producing enough. However my wife carried on trying but after 24 hours of virtually no sleep and my son obviously being in distress we asked for a bottle. The nurse point blank refused and just kept saying to press on with breast feeding. After another 12 or so hours of the same we snapped and pointed out he clearly wasn't feeding properly and said if they didn't give us a bottle we'd bring our own in (brining in your own was for some reason frowned upon, still not sure why). She relented and gave us a bottle and lo and behold he slept solidly for the first time in almost two days.
Deborah Harris 3 years ago
I think most start off with good intentions until they realise that the work is not as rewarding as they thought it would be, changing grandmas poopy diaper for the umpteenth time makes them start to resent grandma, that then changes to a power kick .. grandma needs me lets make her wait ( in my nans case, in a now closed down nursing home the nurses left her so long unchanged she had urine burns and was in agony ). Negligence turns to bullying, they no longer see Grandma as a human being.
Your Neighborhood Alien 3 years ago
That's horrible. I'm so sorry that happened to her. 😔💔
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Jessica Wood 3 years ago
Why do so many awful people end up working as nurses or social workers?
Mrs. Jan Glass 3 years ago
Power over weaker people. This is the problem with "helping/caring" careers like healthcare, education, and even law enforcement: there are plenty of good people who want to help, and there are plenty of power-mad stupid assholes who want to feel superior over perceived weakness. Either/or, and not a lot of in-between.
Load More Replies... James G. Currie 3 years ago
A lot of stupidity too... Family member has CFS, It presents quite similar to mono, just it never goes away. Before they knew what it was, one nurse, with my mother in the room, suggested it could be AIDS. -- Stupid b***h was fired by the doctor almost before everyone hit the street at the end of the appointment (ground floor street access suite). If it matters, they still have CFS, but it is in remission. -- On my end, mom's dad was in the SICU, I had been unable to go to the hospital with everyone else, and said I would be down as soon as I could. I went down, couldn't find the family, and called into the Unit to see if I could visit...stupid nurse asked me - I kid you not - "You know he died, right?" OVER THE EFFING PHONE FROM THE WAITING ROOM! The condescension in her voice was so thick I would have put her through the (concrete) wall if she'd been in front of me.
Ozacoter 3 years ago
CFS is such a f****d disease. Specially when most doctors still dont believe the specialists and prescribe exercise to the patients, which risks them getting worse and worse.
Load More Replies... Lazy Panda 3 years ago
I work with a lot of amazing nurses, but I also learned from them the saying that "nurses eat their young" because the bullying isn't just of patients, it's of new nurses coming up.
Mary Jeffries 3 years ago
I hope this is changing. I’ve always tried to support the new ones and support them however I can. The new grad programs are also getting better.
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CatGirl 3 years ago
I'd agree with the bully thing. Most nurses I've met are incredibly overbearing, and if you call them on it, you get the 'Do you know how many assholes we have to deal with?' - like, yeah, but obviously missed the 'how to read people' class.
Mrs. Jan Glass 3 years ago
I had one last week at Urgent Care who just refused to listen to me, and kept saying in a patronizing voice, "Jan, I need you to repeat back to me what I just said so I know you understand." And I'm like "B***h, I'm not here for vaginal bleeding, I already know the information you're talking down to me about, so I don't need to repeat your slow-talk that 'vaginal bleeding during menopause is a sign of cancer.'" JFC.
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Yili Lai 3 years ago
I'm a nurse and seriously the amount of bullying got to me, I couldn't handle it anymore
Weed in the Garden 3 years ago
Yep. It wasn't the work, it was the bullying. In nursing - of all places!
Load More Replies... Gigi Madison 3 years ago
I have always had great nurses, but I’ve had some ridiculously stupid doctors
RELATED:
#2
ScorpionX-123 said:
School administrators.
bholzap replied:
My significant other is a choir teacher and this year her music department received a lot of funding from a donation. The music department made a list of things they NEED. The school admins completely ignored their list and bought a ton of new music stands and smart boards for the band and choir rooms. Now they still don't have the equipment they need, but they have so many music stands they had to put all of their old stands in storage.
I'm 100% sure this is just incompetence or arrogance. I imagine the admins think they know better than a couple of teachers.
Tamra 3 years ago
This one is just sad. Why on earth would a school administrator NOT work on behalf of the teachers?? Our teachers need our support, not to be used to feed someone's power trip.
Kate 3 years ago
If administrators had any awareness of what teaching entails, they would've stayed in the classroom.
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Sweetpotato314 3 years ago
The problem with many administrators is that they only taught for a few years before becoming one and then proceed to completely forget what it's like to be a teacher.
Lazy Panda 3 years ago
And being a good teacher and being a good manager are two completely different skill sets, yet somehow the people promoted seem to be good at neither!
Load More Replies... Mrs. Jan Glass 3 years ago
"School needs to be run like a business!" No, it absolutely does NOT. Education should not be a for-profit industry.
RedMarbles 3 years ago
Certainly not if education is as important as profits. Same with the medical field when proper healthcare takes a back seat to profits. Or prisons, where basic humane treatment is less important than profits. It would be nice if those who worship profits above all else would at least accept the need for a better balance, but it seems a great many people have little principles beyond squeezing out as many dollars as possible from wherever possible while accusing anyone who doesn't adhere to that rigidity of being communists.
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phil blanque 3 years ago
If a school administrator had been a teacher, they tend to be much more supportive of teachers, but very high level administrators often have not had that experience, and they will make terrible decisions.
Hobby Hopper 3 years ago
I think school admins are under a lot of pressure by people in the community to do things that aren't strictly ethical, or in the best interest of the student body, and the community wields a lot of power. So, you're darned if you do, darned if you don't.
ShareMusic 3 years ago
Retired music teacher here. I've had non music administrators rewrite my sub plans!
#3
FineCannGrower said:
Politics.
maiqthetrue replied:
I wouldn't say politicians are dumb. It's just that most people judge them by the Disney version of what their job actually is. The very short version is that the game is to get as many of your side elected and of course get yourself re-elected. That's the whole job. If you can do it by doing good stuff, you do that. But truth be told, that's not a smart way to do it. Most people don't care enough to notice whether anything good happens, or if they do notice, it doesn't translate to votes. What does, it doing what rich donors want, preventing the other side from doing anything to help people, and being a big personality who can weird a zinger on social media.
allthebacon_and_eggs replied:
After I graduated from college, I worked in politics briefly. I had watched a lot of West Wing and thought politicians were as smart, well-read, and educated as an Aaron Sorkin character. It turns out, most are the types from your high school who were popular class clowns, but now they’re adults. Cheerful, smiling, agreeable, and everything has to be a big party or joke. Not a single time did any of them ever talk about a political issue. I’m pretty sure they hadn’t read a book since college (if then). It’s all about whipping out the charm at fundraisers. Not a bright crowd.
Pisco 3 years ago
I think that the core issue is that politics are so corrupted (in all parties) that only corrupted social leeches triumph in there. Decent ones either get burned out or kicked out of the system.
Julie C Rose 3 years ago
“Decent ones either get burned out or kicked out of the system.” This is happening to Jacinda right now. :(
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phil blanque 3 years ago
I have worked with politicians for decades. Some of them were truly dedicated to public service...but few. The corruption and pandering to special interests was often appalling. And the lies and deceit...off the charts..
Hobby Hopper 3 years ago
I have a big issue with the statement that the job of a politician is to be re-elected. I know that's how they treat it, but that absolutely should not be the goal. The goal, depending your personal philosophy, should either be to work for the best interests of those you represent, or to give those you represent what they want. Either is more noble by far than trying to be re-elected. And, to be clear, when I say "those you represent", I'm not just talking about the ones that voted for you or donate to your campaign.
Alina Mihai 3 years ago
This, a million times. If you think that a politician's only job is to get re-elected, then you are part of the problem.
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- 3 years ago
In Canada, we have an attack dog running for head of the Conservative party. Years back, one of my colleagues asked him about an issue that he may not know well. His answer was to attack the leader of the Liberal party. Sadly, the barking bastard is likely to win over a more centrist and reasonable candidate.
James G. Currie 3 years ago
The other problem is that in my lifetime, we've gone from voting for the individual in the riding, to voting for the PARTY regardless of who the candidate is. Here in Canada, we're supposed to be voting for the individual candidates, not the party... (Although, whom the Leader is has always had some weight.) I remember the year I became old enough, I never saw a single sign advertising anything other than the candidate, with an indication of what party they were affiliated with. In the '19 election, I can't remember seeing too many signs that indicates who the local candidate was...Trudeau/Scheer/Singh/May, yes...lots of those. For some of the parties, first time I saw their names was on the ballot!
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JustAnother Soul 3 years ago
Politics attract people who are attracted to power and wealth for their own benefit, not people who actually care about serving the well-being of the public.
The Cute Cat 3 years ago
Many bad politician now incharge. Take PM Modi and President Erdogan. Modi ever wipe two biggest denomination of Indian rupee, in aim to stamped-out corruption and bribery. That sudden change panic all Indian causing all people need to queue in banks to exchange the money or store it in account. That take many days, and even 2 person die during the queue. The result? NOTHING.. Erdogan has seen Turkish Lira value plummeted in years. He insist to kept central bank rate low, despite many economic expert to do other wise. It has been 5 years that Turkish economy in bitter condition. But still he announce to go for new term in 2023.
Robert Minnis 3 years ago
As a Northern Irish native, the bulk of our politics are tribal and based on scaremongering voters into continuing to vote lest the other side get more representation.
Isaac Harvey 3 years ago
Maybe this isn’t necessarily true in all parts of the world, but here in the (non-)United States, it most certainly is- for now, hopefully.
#4
May get heat for this one, but - what can I say? I speak from real-life experiences. Years of it.
Folks in the military.
For the members of the public who have never served, many view soldiers as these great, brave defenders of freedom. In reality, there is an unlikely amount who could not spell "brave," "defenders," "freedom" or even "of."
There's a group referred to "ASVAB waivers." The ASVAB is a test people take before joining the military. The most basic of an IQ test. The max score is 99. A score of 31 (!!!) is all it takes to join the Army. But, there are waivers for people who can't even get 31. And people get those - especially during wartime.
Yet those same people are able to follow war strategies and complete missions. Unreal if you think about it.
Kookamunga 3 years ago
And how about the entitlement of military spouses? No, sleeping with a military member doesn't give you a rank as well.
Patti Vance 3 years ago
yes! i come from a military family and, yes, i did marry a service member, i was also an ombudsman during my time as a military spouse. the amount of wives who wear their husband/wife's rank is terrible. best response i heard to one of these entitled wives was while waiting at the clinic. wife states she's lt so and so's wife and demands to be seen. another wife got up with a sick baby on her hip, looked at the corpman and said i'm third class so and so's wife and have been waiting to be seen. get over yourself - you make your living the same way i do - you sleep with a sailor.
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John Dilligaf 3 years ago
let's be blunt here - the people who get into the military on ASVAB waivers aren't going to be the people concerning themselves with any grand strategies. They're the people who are going to be the warm bodies to pull triggers and charge up hills that other people tell them to charge up. And guess what; the military needs a certain percentage of those kinds of people as well.
Pisco 3 years ago
In Spain most are right wing aggressive men who want an excuse to have power and dominate others. Same with police. Some are nice but thats a minority.
Elin Noller 3 years ago
Soldiers aren't meant to be smart tho, they are meant to follow orders. Smart ppl will question orders they think are stupid, they don't want ppl doing that.
John Dilligaf 3 years ago
A very broad, and generally inaccurate, generalization. It might hold true for an army made up mostly of short-term conscripts, but in a professional army it doesn't.
Load More Replies... abn_gator 3 years ago
Let's clear some of this up. ASVAB scores determine what job you are qualified for. No one with a low score will be involved in or control something that they cannot handle. ASVAB waivers are usually used during war time when they need an influx of people without trying to use the draft. Once again, something can be disproved with just a little research. https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/asvab/asvab-and-army-jobs.html
abn_gator 3 years ago
And don't forget college degrees do not always mean someone is smart. I've meet plenty of people with a drivers license that can't drive....
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Tracy Wallick 3 years ago
I'm active duty Navy and yes, we're RIFE with morons; 'spot the ASVAB waiver' is a pastime at this point. Unfortunately there's no shortage of officers who are complete idiots either.
Jrizzy Jay 3 years ago
Well the military is like a civilian society in the sense that not all jobs require you to be a genius. Some jobs require a high ASVAB and others don't. You can't get an ASVAB waiver to be computer programmer, but you can get one to be infantry. Believe it or not, there is a method to the madness and not everyone in the military is mentally equal, nor needs to be
#5
thegreatgatsB70 said:
Teaching.
andreaak88 replied:
While I've had some great teachers, some were absolute trash.
I had a teacher who once taught a CAPP extension course, which was essentially volunteering for the community. I can't remember fully, but I think in order to be considered for the class, you had to have a certain GPA. Regardless, the class consisted of all students with decent grades.
We all had a giant group term project that we had to initially present to the class. In total, there were 6 groups to present over a class and half.
When it came time to present, our teacher who I'll call Ms. Aaron, said we would be grading our fellow classmates and their presentations. The first group was about to go up when she added in the fun little fact that we can only give one group 10/10, one group 9/10, and so on.
Well, as you can imagine, everyone flipped their [shawowza]. This was a class of high GPA earners, and telling them someone is going to get a 4/10 didn't sit well with anyone.
Ms. Aaron started threatening people with 0's if no one went up, which only caused further havoc. For the rest of the class, we just sat there all screaming at her while she screamed back at us, it was freaking mayhem.
Obviously nothing was resolved as class ended, so we all just packed up are stuff and continued to talk about it for the rest of the day.
The following morning, back we went to class and instead of seeing Ms. Aaron, we saw the teacher who started the class, Ms. Garfunkel.
Ms. Garfunkel started to lay into us about respecting our teachers and Ms. Aaron is simply following the course outline, so if we don't like what is happening, we should see her and we shouldn't attack Ms. Aaron.
After her speech, a classmate ended up telling Ms. Garfunkel that we have no problem with the course, and it seems Ms. Aaron has spun a wildly inaccurate story. He ended up outing everything that occurred the following day.
The look of utter shock on Ms. Garfunkel's face was beyond telling. She clearly was given some bull [shalala] story by Ms. Aaron.
She excused herself, and for about 10 minutes we all just sat there, before she reemerged with Ms. Aaron.
Ms Garfunkel apologized for everything and said that you will be grading your fellow students whatever grade you see fit and if there are any problems, to come see her directly. As she walked out she side-eyed Ms. Aaron hard.
I hated her so much. For this and also that she was upset I had missed a few days because I had two close relatives die a week apart.
- 3 years ago
I've heard of stacked ranking in corporations. Totally unfair. Kudos to the students for standing up and to the teacher who corrected the situation.
BenMaharaj 3 years ago
Stacked ranking’s only use is to foster competition between the people being ranked. Perhaps useful in a job that involves zero teamwork (sales or delivery) but otherwise counterproductive and absolutely unethical. Even in the former situation you will drive workers to meet benchmarks but you will also drive productive employees to seek employment elsewhere, so you end up with churn and the associated costs.
Load More Replies... Zero 3 years ago (edited)
What do you expect when you can make more money doing fast food? Pay a decent wage and you get a higher chance of decent people. Pay a good wage and you'll attract good teachers.
Sweetpotato314 3 years ago
Most of us don't become teachers for the money, and it's offensive to suggest that those of us who do it suck because of low pay. Yes, we should make more. Of course. But paying more isn't going to magically fix the bad teacher problem we have. What will fix it is making it harder to get licensed and stay that way. I say that as a union member with tenure: there are too many teachers who are just phoning it in and don't care about the students at all. I became a teacher to be different from the crappy ones I had.
Load More Replies... Elton Thomas 3 years ago
You mean there are bad teachers and good teachers? Like every other profession? Amazing 🤦♂️
phil blanque 3 years ago
Well, in the US, teachers in higher education can be truly problematic, especially at large universities, where status is everything.
CalicoKitty 3 years ago
When you combine low mark cutoffs in university, comparatively low wages for a degree, a classroom full of children, all that damned marking and planning, and the amount of BS that goes on in Teacher Politics, it's hardly surprising that most teachers are either the most wonderful person you've ever met, someone who shouldn't be allowed near children, or just generally incompetent.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 3 years ago
There are great teachers and teachers who teach 4th grade because that's the highest reading comprehension they can pass themselves. Unfortunately, it only takes one teacher in the 2nd group to destroy a child's education. My 6th grade reading teacher gave students failing grades for doing book reports on Beverly Clearly books because "they are too hard for most people to read and you shouldn't be showing off". I was fortunate to have parents who supported my development but I can say a significant portion (at least 10 when 2 is too many) of my senior class graduated high school functionally illiterate because she was their reading teacher from grade 3-6.
Amy Broderick 3 years ago
I had a college professor that graded me on a paper he didn't even bother to read. You know I went to the Dean about that c**p. Not that it was a bad grade but c'mon if you're going to make me research and write it you'd damn better well read it!
#6
Hoorayforkate128 said:
Doctors. They are incredibly difficult to deal with in ANY matter outside of medicine.
NerdyRedneck45 replied:
Ha, I work at a university and I think it’s most folks with really long educational careers. “Yes, you’re an astrophysicist. No, I don’t trust you with that ladder.”
Ozacoter 3 years ago
Dont get me started with doctors. They are the most entitled and arrogant people that one can meet. Their ego is more important than the wellbeing of the patient. After more than a decade of dealing with them and them ignoring my symptoms (because we all know that women are all hysterical and not sick) my body is so damaged that I can barely walk. They ruined my life. Today I saw that the surgeon that risked my life to preserve my fertility and did not care for my consent is still practising and making a fortune despite my complaints tot he hospital while I am here rotting.
Pumpkin Spice 3 years ago
Let me guess, you had ovarian cancer and needed a hysterectomy? But the little s**t said that a man that might not even exist should be in control of your body?
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UpQuarkDownQuark 3 years ago
Although some of the younger men are showing themselves to empathetic and good listeners, for the longest time I (male) absolutely would not see a male doctor. Apathetic, arrogant, humorless and impatient. My primary doctors have all been women for the last 24 years, and I’ll select a woman for any other appointment if I can. Yes, “not all men” doctors certainly applies, as is evidenced by the brilliant male hand surgeon I saw year, but it’s enough that I’ll stick with women doctors when I can. My current doctor is the warmest, most wonderful person. My wife and I lovingly call her Dr. Crybaby because she got teary-eyed when my wife was describing her problems a couple of years ago. Love her!
Ozacoter 3 years ago
Its nice that you found gpod female doctors. But personally I havent seen much difference. Some of the meanest doctors I had were women. Its sad how many of them are extremely sexist.
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Kenneth McCartney 3 years ago
I must have been fortunate, 'cause I have been blessed with great doctors. What I DIDN'T like was the frickin' detectives treating me like a criminal when *I* was the one who was the victim.
Judy Sharits-Johnsen 3 years ago
I am sorry this happened to you. I hope you get the help from them you need. They are salty sometimes.
Load More Replies... Pisco 3 years ago
Not only ignorant. But also sexist, racist, xenophobic and in general arrogant and unkind. Some doctors are great I am sure but they are the exception rather than the norm.
Vera1 3 years ago
Exactly! Let’s also not forget that the entire medical field is based on sexism, racism and classism. It’s hard to be one of the good ones if you’re education is lacking
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Unaffected 3 years ago
I'm a nurse working at the clinic with six doctors. Every one of them is wonderful and they care about their patients very much. People don't realise how stressed the doctors are and how enormous bureaucratic government requirements are to run a clinic. Instead of filling out forms and enormous paperwork day in day out, medical professionals should be given more time to heal people rather than stress about bureaucracy.After reading these comments I consider myself lucky to work with such a caring team
Tracy Wallick 3 years ago
It's one thing to be rushed or tired, it's another thing entirely to be ignorant, cruel or dismissive. I get that compassion fatigue is a thing, but doctors blowing off their patients literally kills us.
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M O'Connell 3 years ago
I work with an engineer who is brilliant at electronics design but anytime I see him with a screwdriver I feel compelled to take it away from him.
Tenacious Squirrel 3 years ago (edited)
I don’t think engineers ever use screwdrivers do they? They’re usually involved with the bigger design/thinking/theory and don’t get involved with tools, unlike electricians or technicians who are the people with the practical skills to fix things. Basically engineers shouldn’t ever really be expected to be hands on with tools, that’s not their job, their training, nor their skill point.
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Mer☕️🧭☕️ 3 years ago
Doctors are some of the determinedly stupid people on the planet. They're so arrogantly impressed with themselves and their golf scores they totally forget to actually listen to their victims - who they couldn't care less about anyway. Their egos can't fit through doorways so, like farts, they trail behind them.
Tracy Wallick 3 years ago (edited)
My experience with doctors has been so routinely awful, even traumatic, that it's a genuine surprise when I encounter one that doesn't treat me like dogshit for asking them to do their job. Doctors don't take women, especially overweight women, seriously. (God help you if you're a woman of color, it just gets even worse, especially with pain management.)
RJ 3 years ago
OH Yes! Doctors. Make an appointment to see the doctor at 9am. Arrive 15 minutes early. Wait an hour before being called into an exam room. Wait another 15 minutes for the Doctor to come swanning in, hand-on-the-doorknob, file in hand, looking at their watch, asking you to tell them what's wrong in the ten, nine, eight seconds they have with you. Doctors.
#7
One hundred percent lawyers. I’ve probably met more dumb lawyers than smart ones. Tons of lawyers have a Rain Man level of savant knowledge about one narrow area and cannot wipe their own a*s with instructions. But more common are lawyers who are just barely competent enough to keep their license, shuffling along doing the bare minimum, totally useless in court, never respond to emails, etc.
We are a book smart but common sense and social skills dumb profession. If I ever manage to get my side gigs more successful I’d happily leave. I stay in this career because I make a healthy salary with employer retirement contributions for basically high level proofreading and improv skills.
BluEyedSeoulite 3 years ago
100% agree. Of the 4 lawyers I've come into contact with, one was really good and worth every penny. The other 3were jokes and couldn't even write a professional sounding email or get my LEGAL name correct. I told the last guy to email the docs, I will sign them and send them back as a PDF. Dude sent them through the regular mail with a US paid return envelope... I LIVE IN KOREA!!! Letters get lost in the mail all. The. Time!
Al Padilla 3 years ago
Actually, this goes back to Socrates' time, with the Sophists. For some heavy reading, try Plato's "Socratic" dialogue, "Protagoras." Bottom line is that most people have an interest in knowing what actually happened, and is going on. But the Sophists (and lawyers) have little or no regard for reality. Whoever has the more convincing argument "wins." Sort of like debate clubs in high school, except that a decision matters. So if you're in a legal dispute, nobody has any interest in what actually happened. The victory goes to whoever's lawyer can present a more convincing argument. So, they have no qualms about convicting innocent people, or depriving honest folks of the fruits of their labor. And they can, without any hesitation, switch sides if the pay is right. A major example of lawyer ethics: If a client mistakenly overpays for a lawyer's services, the ethical conundrum is whether the lawyer shares it with his/her partners.
Karen Rutland 3 years ago
I remember several years ago when some politician said that 90% of lawyers in the US were incompetent. The president of the American Bar Association replied “ That is completely untrue! No more than 50% of lawyers are incompetent!”
Al Padilla 3 years ago
Social skills are irrelevant if you are completely lacking in honesty and honor, no matter what your IQ.
Load More Replies... The Cute Cat 3 years ago
There are on very popular lawyer that won many of his case. Then one day it is found that actually his trick is always send a book to the judge. Yes, a book.. Just need to be create a hole inside for storing money. Do not use cheque, because it can easily tracked. Just cold hard cash, especially USD or SGD because they have big denomination.
Upstaged75 3 years ago
The lawyers who deal with the sciences are extremely smart. My dad is a retired patent attorney and is also a chemical engineer. He's freakishly smart and always has been. (Sadly I didn't get the great math and science genes from him - I ended up being a creative writing major and can barely add single numbers in my head LOL!) The other lawyers in his firm were biologists, etc. Fortunately you can't fake it in that branch of law.
Melanie Burlock 3 years ago
You’ve basically described people with autism. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with being brilliant in one area and lacking in others. Jesus.
Flash Henry 3 years ago
One of the attorneys in my office is pretty decent at her job, but GOOD LORD she is so. f*cking. DUMB.
#8
abtikamot said:
Cops.
pspahn replied:
I wish this was just a joke, but last week we went to a local event and the sheriff's department was there letting kids check out their tactical black military looking truck. My son loves trucks and tractors so I bring him over to check it out
One of the officers is there at the back of the truck and I see him holding a "we're hiring" sign. I then watched him for five minutes as he struggled to figure out how to attach the sign to the door of the truck. He kept trying to wedge it in little gaps and I'm just thinking that he has obviously never heard of tape. Then he gave up and just laid it down where nobody could see it.
Ultramontrax replied:
Seriously. I’ve worked in data entry entering traffic infractions into the system. Let me tell you, not only they have no idea how to write (sometimes worse than a doctor), they also have problems adding numbers. Sometimes instead of a 115$ fine, they add up a 1 so it is 1115$ (it is corrected eventually tho).
Penny Fan 3 years ago
That's because American cops get the least training of almost any force in the world. Finnish cops are required to undergo around 5500 hours of training, British about 2500 and America... 500
Kate 3 years ago
It differs by department, but yeah. Just the fact that there's no federal standard is embarrassing in and of itself.
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Pisco 3 years ago (edited)
Same as I said with militars. Most police in Spain seem to be agressive macho right wing men who want to be able to have power over others. Its sad. But seeing that we inherited the police and militars from a fascist dictature without changes it does not surprise me.
S. Pam 3 years ago
Police officers should have as much training as doctors or any other profession that holds another individual's life in their hands. The fact that any moron can be given a gun and permission to kill with impunity is a huge moral failing on all our parts. Every police officer i've ever met is mentally 2 steps above a 5th grader, and swings their clout around like a big d**k.
Tenacious Squirrel 3 years ago
I worked for the police (not in the US) and I was pretty astounded by the amount of people in training (to become police officers) who just acted like teenagers. They *were* young, but it was like a class of bored misbehaving school kids. It didn’t fill me with any confidence that they could deal with serious situations. A couple of them were even bragging about illegal activities (of their own!). I’m guessing a lot of them drop out and/or mature very quickly after doing the job for a bit. I know seasoned detectives who are immature at times but this was a whole different level. Being a police officer is really tough, and I honestly think they’d be better recruiting older people with life experience.
High Mamii Melo 3 years ago
Chicago is having such a hard time hiring police they are advertising on the back of buses.
Timothy Leung 3 years ago
I have a friend who's a public prosecutor. She told me she had to double as an English teacher - teaching cops how to write their reports/statements etc.
#9
olivebuttercup said:
Therapists. Some are great and a whole lot of others are problematic people who really need to work on themselves.
[deleted] replied:
Every psyche major I've met has expressly told me that they went to school to understand their own bullshit. I think the good Therapists are the ones who were able to actually gain something from their education.
[deleted] replied:
Oh yeah, for sure. Honestly if you lack the introspection to figure your own [sheesh] out (at least to a passable level) I have no idea on earth how you think you’re going to help other people.
Psych is one of those areas where the bar should actually be quite a bit higher to enter the profession than where it currently stands. As a former lawyer I’d say the same about law. The common thread in these professions is that there’s no good way for a client to review the service they’re getting or measure quality, so anything short of blatant malpractice goes undetected.
Tamra 3 years ago (edited)
I've had some incredible therapists - people who have helped me change my life for the better. Except one. After a period of time, I felt like I'd gained what I needed from therapy, and was feeling great. She tried to bully me into continuing therapy, indefinitely, so she could continue to bill my insurance. Literally, she spent two 1 hr. sessions hammering at me to keep scheduling. "I understand you're feeling good, and that's great, but don't you think you have more to discover about yourself"? Yes, but I don't need to pay you $150 per week to manage that, honey.
Kate Jones 3 years ago
lol. Some therapists are glorified advice givers. You can get the same answers if you ask submit a question to 'Ask Abby'. Not to say everyone is- there are some really amazing councilors out there. But the amount of people who think therapists *always* have some kind of great training is crazy.
Load More Replies... - 3 years ago (edited)
My issue with certain therapists: laziness. Listening to someone vent can be done by anyone with a little patience and selective deafness. It takes real skill to assess the issues, direct the conversation with relevant questions, seize the moment to express insights, and deal with denial or resistance from the client. I've had the lazy types and now I have a hard-working therapist who's a good match. Huge difference.
Mistiekim 3 years ago
Sometimes you just need to therapist shop. Usually after the first or second session you can tell if this is the person who is going to hep you. Recommendations from others are good too. I found several great ones in the different areas I have lived this way.
Powerful Musk Ox 3 years ago
I tell this to people, and we (therapists) will never be offended if you go in another direction! At the end of the day, good therapists care about the patient receiving the best care for them, not who from.
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Powerful Katrinka 3 years ago
Off topic, but...why did they use a photo of what looks like an acupuncturist's clinic?
Lazy Panda 3 years ago
Wait, you're not supposed to get undressed and lie on the massage table for psychotherapy?!?
Load More Replies... Natalie 3 years ago
It really depends where you are from, but it's helpful to look up what the laws are where you are about job titles people use. Psychologist and psychiatrist are regulated terms that can only be used by people with specific training and registration requirements. Psychiatrists are medical doctors with specific training in psychiatric medication and diagnoses, but often not much training in therapy/intervention (this varies depending on schools). Clinical Psychologists get a ton of training in therapy and diagnosis, but do not prescribe medication. The term 'therapist' is more variable - in some places they have a regulatory body and some places do not (i.e. anyone could call themselves a therapist).
Tigerpacingthecage 3 years ago
I think this goes for pretty much the social field as a whole. The interest of sort of "helping yourself through helping others" is very common (I'm not a therapist but a social worker). I don't think that it's necessary a problem (and think it COULD be an asset) as long as you don't put your own issues onto the one you're supposed to help. Take your personal experience with you but don't air out your issues. That's why we have the important distinction between being personal (relatable, compassionate, authentic) and private (=putting your own s**t in the mix). Also - you need to take responsibility for your own issues when working with others, meaning that you need to continue to work with yourself if you expect others to do it.
Julie C Rose 3 years ago
I’ve had 3 good therapists and 4 whom I let go after only a couple of sessions.
Ozacoter 3 years ago (edited)
Therapy is a scam in my experience. It is super expensive, it only works if you do it really often. And most therapists are only trained in basic therapy so they try to apply the same solutions to everybody. Its not about healing you, its about teaching you how to hide your pain and pretend that everything is all right. I have tried three times and none even allowed me to talk about my desire to die. No, lets just bottle it. The first ignored my health issues and recommended me to find a job as a gardener (because thats not a physical job at all!). The second was kind but she just wanted me to ignore the bad in my life (to pretend that i am fine i have the rest of the world). She also talked to a thrid therapist behind my back about my symptoms without my permission (not using my name i guess so it was not illegal).
Ozacoter 3 years ago
That one was my thrid therapist (i didnt know at the time), she talked with her, and without talking to me or see my file she decided thaf I did not have CFS. So now both thensecond and the thrid stopped believijg me when i talked about my (diagnosed) illneses. She became obsessed with me doing exercise (which is really dangerous for CFS patients and could make me bed bound) because she tought that I was "just depressed" and not ill. Because my multiple endometriosis cysts, my astma, my liver issues and my constant pain due to CFS are all in my head.
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Stymied Egan 3 years ago
My daughter saw a therapist when she was a teen. She came home a few times with what the therapist thought was a good diagnosis of our son! She had never met any member of the family besides my daughter. Her diagnosis was based on a big sisters complaints about her brother who was actually diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety at that time.
#10
I've been working in special education for about a decade now and I've found that it unfortunately attracts a lot of complete idiots. Schools are usually so desperate for support staff they'll pretty much hire anyway.
S**t, I think the first district I worked for lucked out with me [as being at the very least average, and based on my track record over the last decade], but the head of special education reached out to me **after finding my job post on craigslist.**
MsLou 3 years ago
My mom was a first grade teacher for decades (late 70's and retired in 2021) and you can make more money working as a cashier. She has worked with some wonderful special ed teachers and some horrible p**s poor ones. The p**s poor ones get away with anything because they know that there is a high demand and that they will not get fired. My mom and other teachers essentially had to play both roles. It's a shame that we can't pay enough
Melinda Larson 3 years ago
I agree with this one, and I'm a para educator. The number of paras who can barely read, do basic math, understand the core concepts of science, and lack any behavior management skills is appalling. The district I work for has us do independent online training. The courses come with quizzes, that the school doesn't have us do because they are "too hard for some paras," so most people just hit play on the videos, mute them, and go do something else. The quizzes are about 10 questions, you need 80% to pass, and you can take them (and watch the videos) as many times as you need to. Though "desperation" isn't really the cause of it. The crappy pay is the problem. It isn't a living wage, and while the base rate is increased every year, it doesn't keep up with inflation. Anyone who would make a good para, is qualified for a less stressful, better-paying job, so you get mostly the desperate and a very few qualified and passionate people.
Meg G 3 years ago
I was a special education Para for 5 years before I finally decided to get my masters in education so that I could make a living wage. I loved my job, but the pay was horrible. A number of teaching assistants that I worked with weren't there for money, mostly were mothers with children at the school, or older people who wanted something more than being a store greeter.
Load More Replies... phil blanque 3 years ago
Well, the pay is abysmal, so most people are untrained and inexperienced.
CatsWearingHats 3 years ago
At my school, there is a special education teacher who makes sarcastic, rude jokes to the kids, Not understanding that they don’t have an IQ high enough to understand those sorts of conversations. She will call them “stupid”, etc, as a joke, but they aren’t aware that she’s joking. She has made them CRY before because of this. She carries around a mug of coffee that says “students tears on it” every morning. (Literally.) one time, a student of hers was playing with toys, and she started recording him and laughing. HOW did SHE get here!?
B C 3 years ago (edited)
Hi guys, be careful here. I've been an instructor working with the special needs population for 2 decades. Yes, you do have to pass a remedial test to be considered for hiring. And yes, some candidates who should not be teaching do slip through the cracks. We do this job because we love supporting people with special needs, though a lot of the time we are treated like glorified babysitters. We go through an ample amount of trainings each year and our job can be very unsafe at times, physically and psychologically. On top of that, we also live in fear of active shooters. Our pay is JUST above the poverty line and most of us work second, third or fourth jobs to stay afloat. We are helping raise your children with very little please and thank you's and often end up on the receiving end of criticism. That being said, yes... some slip though the cracks but are usually weeded out quickly. We love our jobs and want the best for your kids. Please be mindful of that.
Linda Lee 3 years ago
When I was in 8th grade I was the special education teacher's aid. I helped a 7th grade girl learn the alphabet and by the end of the year she was reading at a 3rd grade level. It was an amazing experience for me. I learned so much. I learned that teachers routinely pass students to get rid of them. I learned that illiteracy can be generational. I learned that lots of kids come to school hungry. Mostly, I learned compassion, patience, and caring.
Leslie Burleson 3 years ago
Yeah it's really sad.A lot of helpless children are being traumatized in school every day by teachers who don't know what they are doing and end up being abusive.There are so many districts that will treat a disabled child as a behavior problem,for behaviors being caused by the teachers. My autistic son had charges pressed on him when he was 8 years old because a spec Ed substitute teacher who supposedly specialized in autism,got in his face , took him by the arms,and dragged him out the back door of the school.My son was scared out of his mind.He thought she was going to hurt him.So he swung at the air to keep her away from him,so she tried to immobilize him,and did it improperly so he pinched her leg.He could barely write his name and he had to sign a police report about understanding the charges against him.It was sickening.It cost us thousands of dollars in legal fees,and I had to threaten a law suit for them to drop charges.Sadly that is one of many horrible stories from them
BluEyedSeoulite 3 years ago
My niece learned from her special needs helpers that if she just whines she doesn't "understand" long enough, they would give her the answer. We figured this out years later. She is the whiniest, laziest adult I've even encountered. Luckily she avoids conflict so she isn't a Karen... Yet...
#11
1Girl1Attic said:
Journalists (I can say this because I am a working journalist lol) lots of biases and personal agendas pushed on people when it was invented to literally be the opposite. Also, FULL of narcissists
Lonelystarlight replied:
Also journalist here. Most journalists are way too cocky, even if they are stupid they believe they know everything. Also a lot of them lack actual empathy on obvious sensitive matters and will do anything for views and clicks. I am trying to leave to be honest because it's just not worth it, even the pay is low unless you are really famous or something.
Paul Davis 3 years ago
The career journalists I worked with had this sense of unending naivete. Like they never seemed to actually absorb any actual information and were simply surprised by everything. Which made their jobs more fun but made them completely incapable of any sort of critical thought.
Hobby Hopper 3 years ago
Too bad Lonelystarlight is trying to leave, because we need more unbiased journalists.
#12
give_me_two said:
Finance really runs the gamut from super bright to dumb as a hammer.
Finance is confusing on purpose (lots of acronyms, lots of numbers) and requires salespeople. That's a potent recipe for sneaking dummies into an intellectually demanding profession.
BardbarianBirb replied:
I used to work at a financial firm helping financial advisors manage their clients accounts and OH MY GOD some of them should not be allowed to handle other peoples finances.
There was one advisor who wanted to apply to trade options on some accounts even though he didn't even know the basics of options and no matter how many times it was explained to him he just didn't understand. He wanted to apply for the highest level of options... that could seriously screw up someone's finances if done improperly. We did not approve him.
Another advisor couldn't figure out how to print a form from our website. He called us for help insisting it was a problem on our end. Turns out he didn't have the printer plugged in and then it didn't even have ink... we asked him after exhausting all other options because we gave him the benefit of the doubt that he would have already checked.
Another advisor, while super nice, couldn't figure out how to attach a file to an email and I had to walk him through creating bookmarks to important pages on our site. I'm sure back in the day he may have been great but in this day and age where so much is done online and paper forms and documents are so much more susceptible to fraud you just can't be computer illiterate.
Another advisor kept getting mad at us even though he kept bringing in the client in to his office, filling out the form wrong and having them sign it, and then sending it to us in a state we could not accept it. He was told several times what options on the form needed to be selected to do what they wanted and instead of realizing he was doing something wrong he just went off on us. But like, without the clients signature on a proper form we legally couldn't do what he wanted, lol, basic reading comprehension would have solved his problem.
OffKeySinger 3 years ago
I used to work in commercial lending for a large financial institution, which partnered frequently with in house investment services. I learned the quickest way to lose business trust was to refer my clients to use investment services. Those people hired to sell investment services are just sales people, without finance degrees, pitching the product of the month (typically lowest performing with high commission rates).
#13
NickofNames said:
Game Development. In a college that offers it and I’ve seen the most intelligent idiots around going for that major. And I’m one of the biggest intelligent idiots around.
The_Great_Blumpkin replied:
My buddy went into programing and they had a get-together for all the computer science departments. He said there were the pretty boring programmers, the nerdy engineers and then the Game Development majors were the biggest bunch of mouth breathers and waste products. They were Naruto running around and he caught one guy eating mayo right out of a bottle.
I texted him about this and he said "oh yea, a few of them were pretty ripe too, in need of a shower badly, and saw themselves as the 'elite' group."
Kookamunga 3 years ago
Game Development in colleges should offer Personal Hygiene 101. Sure you're an "elite" group - no one else can stomach the stench.
Alex Schroeder 3 years ago
Goddammit, I just like programming and I have ADHD. I like my direct results and my problem solving that can bring joy to people! Games aren;t that useful, sure, but they're fun, and fun is important.
Kenneth McCartney 3 years ago (edited)
Thank you! That means a lot to a games programmer like my broke-a$$ self!
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Brenda 3 years ago
I used to help run a gaming convention (NanCon & TexiCon) and we always had a lot of these types of people attending. I worked registration and having several of them right in my face who obviously needed a shower was horrible. Most were just fine. But we had 2 guys 1 year that several people complained to us. The BO was so bad that they had people leave. I was the one who had to talk to them. It was embarrassing for them and me. They simply didn't realize how bad they smelled. Both went to their hotel rooms and bathed, then came to me and asked if they were OK. They were sweet, nice and funny guys who were totally without a clue. Saw them at other cons - no problems
BluEyedSeoulite 3 years ago
I was a game tester for a while for funsies. We were given papers to fill out and when we had questions about how to do anything, they wouldn't listen to the question and just said do our best... They had very few repeat testers. On my 4th go, they complained to me that I had been filling it out wrong the whole time. Yeah, my dude, that's why we asked and you are just NOW getting back to me?
#14
Original_Sample891 said:
Content creation.
Gentle-Fisting replied:
[The heck] you have to be intelligent for in order to be a content creator, quite literally some of the dumbest people on the planet are content creators. Intelligent ones are in the minority.
Csenky replied:
They don't have to be intelligent. It's just that those are the ones worth following. Creating content requires nothing, but creating good/entertaining/meaningful/unique content? Oh boi. It happened to me multiple times that I had no more interest in a given content theme (be it game/movie related or compilations or comics, whatever art form), but I still tune in on the creator's more personal uploads, because I'm interested in their opinion and thoughts about whatever matter. However technically everyone is a content creator who uploads to TikTok or any other media, and I guess you know where this is going. The majority shouldn't have recorded anything ever.
Leslie Burleson 3 years ago
The sheer amount of spelling errors I've seen from creators makes me realize they aren't all Einsteins . Lol , I totally judge them harshly for it ... and I can't spell correctly to save my life lmfao. I know bad spelling doesn't mean a lack of intelligence , but it always makes me judge you anyways
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
The worst ones are the reaction videos. One-sixth of the screen is the original video, while the remaining five-sixths is some self-absorbed stooge talking over the soundtrack with comments and jokes that aren't funny, entertaining, or remotely intelligent. To all these people: please go masturbate in private like a normal person.
BadCat 3 years ago
You're free to find the original video and watch it. I do agree the reactions can be annoying, especially if I hadn't seen the original video yet. But some people are interested in others reactions.
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Hobby Hopper 3 years ago
Charisma is the main thing. Intelligence helps, but a magnetic personality is the main thing. I've watched plenty of YT videos on subjects I wasn't that into just because I found the presenter fascinating.
Reverend_Fish 3 years ago
I like how they [dubbed] the first thing in "Gentle-Fisting"s reply.
#15
Paulzor811 said:
Business management.
ShortOneSausage replied:
I took some business classes when I was in engineering school. Figured it would come in handy. Boy was that an eye opener! You’d be working alongside people who couldn’t understand the basic algebraic equations that tell you profit/loss or cost of goods sold and so forth. Math just wasn’t their thing.
And you’d want to take them by the shoulders and shake them awake, like, hey dumba%s, money is a numbers game. If you want to be good with money you’d better get good with numbers.
No clue. Can’t understand a simple equation and they’re gonna hope excel will bail them out when the time comes. But they suck at excel too. Step one, meetings, step three get rich.
Just amazingly dumb people.
#16
fireinstinctNL said:
Restaurant owners... Somehow the most I've met are either or a d**k who does not like to so what they do, or someone who does not know [what the heck] he is doing.
bastele replied:
The problem is that so many people with absolutely zero qualification to open a restaurant somehow want to do exactly that.
SmilingJackTalkBeans replied:
"We quit our jobs and remortgaged our house to follow our dream of owning a restaurant, despite neither of us having any experience in any related industry or any understanding of business or finance. We bought this place in a remote area and remodeled everything at a cost of $1m and have done nothing to promote it and for some reason the customers just aren't coming. Now we haven't paid any bills or taxes for the last eight months and we've maxed out all our credit cards, Chef Ramsay, please save our restaurant and our family!"
Sam-Gunn replied:
---Obligatory overloaded menu scene---
"So what kind of food do you serve?"
"Oh we serve Mexican, Italian, American, Cuban, and bagel bites! Look at our 45 item menu!"
---Obligatory 'we don't label/date anything or store food as per FDA guidelines/common sense'---
"Jesus Christ, what the hell died in here?! WHAT IS THIS?"
"Well that's either last months meatloaf or one of our sponges... Think we can still serve that?"
Kate Jones 3 years ago
Lol this is so true for Kitchen Nightmares. And it's not like they don't know he's coming --you'd think they'd do a really amazing clean up job before he gets there. At least try to hide the bug problems or something so it's not on video the day he visits. I don't care how much they fix you up, if I see that this is acceptable to you, I know it will probably end up that way again and there's no way I'm going there.
DelvianBlue 3 years ago (edited)
I think part of it is also ratings. It wouldn't be as interesting a show if he came in and said they were actually running a pretty clean place. Some of it could be that they're told not to clean up, or told to make problems look worse for the camera.
Load More Replies... El Dee 3 years ago
I used to deal with businesses on a daily basis and the ones who had the most problems with finance were restaurants. No idea of how to deal with finances, people or indeed food. The kind of people who should be doing almost anything else are the ones who open restaurants and they last about 2 years and rack up massive debts whilst borrowing enormous sums from their families and throwing that down the drain too..
Rose the Cook 3 years ago
While I have met a few idiot restaurant owners, I know a lot more idiot owners of fast food and takeaway places. These people have no business acumen, can't boil water let alone cook, and hire a tribe of young people on miniscule wages. Then they wonder why they aren't getting rich.
ZeroCapacity 3 years ago
Funny thing is I inquired about a dish washing job. Not going to lie I need a job. Don't care as long as it pays right now. Anyways the first the owner says is send me your resume. It floored me and everyone I have told thus far.
Adrian 3 years ago
It amuses me that a really popular restaurant that has be operating successfully for several decades gets sold when the owners retire. The new owner then redecorates, totally changes the menu, fires all the staff and hires a new lot. All the old customers really wanted was faster service ('cos the old folks were getting a bit slow) and a wider wine selection. Needless to say, after a brief period where the old customers come in to check the place out, the restaurant goes into decline and out of business in 18 months. IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT.
Celia McReynolds Tinsley 3 years ago
I worked at a small Cafe for almost 5 years and we were extremely busy from the time we opened until 15-30 minutes past closing time. I mean so busy, I would have to pull tickets down from the wheel so there was room to put new tickets up. One would think the owner, 3rd generation owner, would be well off financially and since her grandmother started the place and she was raised there she would know how to run a restaurant. She did not, she had no idea what percentage she should be charging per item in order to actually make a profit, she got most of the groceries from the local grocery store which meant paying retail instead of wholesale if she had ordered from delivery companies, wouldn't even take the time to fill out the tax exempt paperwork so she wouldn't have to pay taxes at the store. There were many times that she didn't even have the money for payroll and would pay some people 40 dollars others 60 or 80 and sometimes 20. She wouldn't even get a soda fountain when I did the math and showed her she easily completely cover payroll every week just from her profits from soda. When she would get stressed she would start hiring people that weren't even needed when she couldn't afford to pay the employees she already had. She didn't count the till down at the end of every day and had hired a girl to work the register that stole so much money it almost forced her to close down it wouldn't have gotten to that point if she just counted the till every day and started with the same amount every morning. I could go on but I'll shut up now!
Víctor García 3 years ago
2 waiters for 20 tables... Why are you so slow? People doesn't like to wait to much!!
#17
Toygr said:
Any management position occupied by a yes-man.
Kevs442 replied:
Do you see a lot of no-men in management? Saying yes to your boss is a prerequisite for the position.
smc733 replied:
In a healthy organization, yes. I manage a team of software developers. My boss is completely open to being challenged, having discussions and debates. We are far more like colleagues than a traditional structure. I know this is an exception, but still, it does exist.
Paul Davis 3 years ago
Just look at how Russia's military is performing to know how only having a bunch of yes-men in your management chain works out. It's a surefire recipe for disaster every time - and usually only ever benefits dishonest CEOs who intend to rob the company and leave it in tatters anyway.
Kate Jones 3 years ago
I'm so tired of corporate-ese, you know? The language of corporate America. This fake, nicety, 'we're family,' 'we love you', 'treat this job like you own it,' etc c**p. I'm so tired of fake smiling and meetings where the higher ups are acting like cheerleaders. The neverending changes that are redundant and just cause more work. Mostly, I'm tired of the lie that people actually care this much about customers. The owners care, sure. People getting big bonuses do, sure. And you might think you do but- if you were really honest you don't. You care just as much as you need to keep your job. I wish we could just be honest about that.
Joshua David 3 years ago
I left my corporate executive job in HR and for a long time updated my LinkedIn to say demeaning things toward corporations. I also had a few resumes out on recruiter sites and when approached I would tell them I like to show up when I'm good and ready and also like to drink wine at my desk. Something tells me I'm on someone's "what not to do" list but the corporate grind and fakery made me so bitter.
Load More Replies... CatGirl 3 years ago
Jesus, if this isn't the guy I work for. Chinese husband and wife have opened a tutoring place here in Sydney, Australia. Neither of them have ANY background in education and have employed a bunch of experienced teachers. All of whom have left, except me and I AM. Desperate. To. Go. He says yes to every parent about everything and then hands us the problem. We've tried explaining that this is not how to help kids who're struggling in school. Does he listen? Fark no.
Wood Carver 3 years ago
I worked for a boss who said if you ever say I could have told you that wouldn't work but you didn't, you're fired.
#18
Snoo_76700 said:
The car business. Most are college/high school drop outs that handle your personal private information, credit, contracts. I worked in the car business for 6 years across 3 states and I’ve never met a more consistently low standard of employee. It’s all about getting as much money as you can out of every single customer by any means necessary.
Mike7676 replied:
I was a soldier for 20 years, worked retail and security after that along with picking up degrees in tech fields, the only job I found I was terrible at was as a car salesperson because I wasn't "pushy enough"!
Bahrain Rico 3 years ago
I’ve never really thought selling cars was “Intellectually Demanding”.
#19
Leucippus1 said:
I have to say IT, a lot of us are one half step away from needing to wear a permanent helmet. IT, in most forms, is a very cognitively challenging job.
gaybatman75-6 replied:
I work IT, had a dude in my department at my last job that worked there 20 years and still couldn’t process a new hire which like day 1 training. It’s a field where having a vaguely conscious person can be good enough day to day and they can always go count inventory. There’s also a lot of people who learn a lot about 1 entire program and then can’t manage to do basic Windows tasks. Then you have the people who are burnt out and struggling to care.
Big Blue Cat 3 years ago
I work in IT and I have found some of my best friends and worked with the nicest warmest people. But I've also had the misfortune to meet the most arrogant, disgusting, chauvinistic, misogynistc people in IT. In my current job I have 20+ colleagues and most of them belong to the first group and only one in the latter.
Jc Bold 3 years ago
If you ask a mechanic or electrician what the problem is, they will try to explain it. Ask an IT guy, and the best you well get is a roll of the eyes. Fat sweaty nerds .
Load More Replies... Paul Davis 3 years ago
I do third-tier support for a living and it's frightening how many large corporations and banks have complete incompetents on their IT staff. Like not knowing what a backup is...or what a DNS server does...and so forth.
Daniel Atkins 3 years ago
As a seller an repairer of printers and copiers, they blame the hardware. I get it you are not familiar with my product, but they refuse to collaborate on the problem. Had one tell me the network was "too fast" for the machine and that is why it would not scan when it was Norton's antivirus blocking it due to the fact it was not set as a trusted device. another time they called said one was printing wrong. I was shrinking the image and not printing full page. I printed a test page and one off a website both printed fine. So I went to the customer said this is in the program you are using (for billing utilities) call them for support I don't know this program. Their IT told them no it was my problem so they believed that idiot. Well it cost them $200 for me to fool around in their program to find the setting.
Neill Powell 3 years ago
I'll weigh in here heavily. Most IT have NO CLUE regarding what they do. I am a specialist and i do know what I do. With 30 yrs under the belt, I can categorically state, Most IT staff have no clue. They know nothing and they know it. they are just good at Google, that's all. It pains me to see people referencing articles for troubleshooting that I, myself wrote many years ago. This has not happened once or twice...
#20
concerned_geek said:
EMTs. It’s not all that intellectually demanding but you’d be surprised at the amount of idiots in this field. Not meaning to offend anyone. There are exceptions.
FlightMedic1 replied:
People become EMTs because it’s easy and so it attracts a lot of Rescue Randys who just want to be a hero… there’s nothing heroic about backboards and driving… trust me I did it.
Unfortunately there’s a lot of immature paramedics as well and a high number of wannabe cops/firefighters who end up in EMS…
I’ve spent my entire career in EMS at literally every level and there are a lot of great medics and EMTs but the community as a whole has some serious growing up to do.
Nambot replied:
You forget the other group of people who become EMT's the daredevil crowd, who are more invested in racing through traffic to get to a patient/get a patient to hospital than they are actually interacting with a patient.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
Wow. With multiple chronic medical conditions, as well as some unexpected acute conditions, I've taken a number of rides in ambulances, and the EMTs were always professional, caring, communicative, and clearly took their jobs seriously.
Alex Schroeder 3 years ago
Yeah. I've only been in an ambulance once and since it was an ambulance from a hospital to a psych ward, but the drivers/watchers were nice. They let me see if i could try to get out of my restraints on my own (I asked, right when they were going to take them off. Apparently they called me a cool guy :)
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Kristen Long 3 years ago
No Advanced Life Support class would ever be that short. My husband is a paramedic and his refresher course alone is 7 full days (60 hour course). Maybe CPR, basic first aid is that short but even accelerated Basic Life Support is a month or longer. But ALS ( Paramedic or similar) is an extended class of learning hearth rhythms, pharmacology, anatomy and physiology, med math, algorithms for different cardiac scenarios, trauma, etc. THEN you throw in pediatrics which is much different to adults because all drugs are weight based, and you make it more complicated, I might agree with some on this list but this isn’t one of them. Medics are an extension of physicians in the field, they have to make decisions on the spot and some have to deal with lengthy transports. This is a demanding job.
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Barbara Skolly 3 years ago
In Canada you need a college diploma to be a paramedic and then can upgrade your education throughout your career. It is a profession in Canada, not a low skill job.
#21
This will likely get buried, but information security. There are so many articles about how we have a shortage of workers in the field that places are churning out people with certificates in cybersecurity who know nothing about how computers, networks, or the internet works. They can operate tools and respond to rote situations though.
RafCo (he/him) 3 years ago
I have seen this too. Lots of people looking for six figure jobs. Equally though, lots of software engineers with no understanding of security. Disasters waiting to happen. Security is something that should be built into the fundamentals of a system, not tacked on
Neill Powell 3 years ago
I am in Cybersecurity. It's a mess. People with paper-diploma's have nothing.to offer. they take too much time drinking coffee and doing the abstract and not physically implementing rules and procedures. Those that do, want a King's-ransom for a salary.
Load More Replies... ZeroCapacity 3 years ago
4 year degree but where I live there is like no tech. Lone computer places. I have to have satellite internet because no one services this area. Sad fact is most people don't worry here because they think they are safe because of this c**p.
#22
OpalCerulean said:
Surprisingly, industrial workers; electricians, carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, etc. You need a *high* amount of skill with math, common sense, working with your hands, the list goes on with the requirements you need to just *begin* in these jobs, yet the amount of goddamn idiots I saw in these positions is hysterical. The amount of OSHA violations is amazing, especially the ones most people seem to think are ‘too minor’ to be reported.
jonnythec replied:
Plumber here, you need half a brain to pass trade school. It's not hard but requires a lot of work. Not everyone who works in the trades ends up getting a ticket.
coolcrushkilla replied:
My dad used to be a maintenance guy for a property management company. His co-worker, who we'll call "Jimmy". The boss would ask my dad to a job, while my dad was busy doing another job, he'd ask "Why can't Jimmy do it?". His boss would say "If I wanted 'Jimmy' job, I'd get Jimmy to do it."
Jimmy was once tasked to align the stairway doors on each floor of a 17 story high rise, instead of tightening the screws on the hinges; he used a mini sledge hammer to bash the doors in, so they would close "properly".
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
Kids these days shreek in horror and run a mile when they enter skilled trades because they have to actually do some physical work, I blame the education system.
UpQuarkDownQuark 3 years ago
Not buying it. Just more of “this generation sucks” vitriol that every generation spews when they get old and cranky.
Load More Replies... El Dee 3 years ago
The dangerous 'corner cutting' is highest in the more male dominated and 'macho' trades. Safety is for 'girls' etc..
Michael Allen 3 years ago
Try telling that to your hairdresser, who hasn't cleaned those cutting shears properly since 1955, or that makeup lady at Macy's, who just dusted your upper eyelid with Candy Apple Red salmonella.
Load More Replies... #23
WorshipTheSofa said:
Software development.
HeyFiddleFiddle replied:
Eh, I dunno about idiots. We are, however, lazy [rumps] as a general rule, and that laziness can certainly make us look stupid.
See also: The amount of us who automate tedious things so we can goof off on Reddit for half the day while still getting routine stuff done.
Unless you're referring to the guy on every team who shows up, writes some spaghetti code without any reviews, gets promoted because the uplines just care that it works and not about how maintainable or documented it is, then peaces out to the next job and leaves the rest of the team to stare at the undocumented and horribly written code in bewilderment. As someone who got the [female canine] work of cleaning up and documenting code left behind by that guy in my first job out of college, those guys can go [duck] themselves.
BenMaharaj 3 years ago
This guy had me straight up googling rumps because I thought it was slang I didn’t know. “Is it British? Seems pretty British.”
#24
Anonymous said:
I hate to say it, but engineering.
First as a…customer of the engineering firms, then as an employee, albeit not at the engineering level, and now as an employee/engineering student.
There are just a lot of really stupid engineers.
Shaydu replied:
The reason I would have also answered "engineers" is because most of the ones I've had to deal with think they know how everything works because they understand engineering. It was so aggravating when they took this attitude of, "of course this is how my legal case is going to proceed, because any other possibility wouldn't make sense (to me)."
I have to try to control myself as I try to explain why I, an attorney with 25 years of experience, might just know better than they do about how the courts will treat their lawsuit, especially since I've read hundreds if not thousands of court decisions that have precedential effect (in other words, the lower courts have to follow what they say) which clearly indicate that their engineering-based view of the case isn't how a court will look at it. And they usually just sort of smirk at me in a "I'm completely sure I'm right" sort of way when I patiently try to explain it to them. And then the end result is precisely what I said it would be, and they don't respond by acknowledging I'd been right all along, they just continue to insist the result was wrong.
Another example: an engineering department with a municipality tried retaining us on a lawsuit by sending us a work order. Because why shouldn't that work, it works for everything else they do. Uh... maybe because to comply with the law, we have to enter into a retainer agreement, and provide a detailed explanation of the scope and extent of our representation which they have to sign? It was another circumstance where their response was basically, "That can't be right," because they think their engineering viewpoint gives them special insight into how everything in the world works.
I shudder to think what it's like to be married to an engineer--I can't see it working out unless the spouse is OK with always being wrong, and doing everything the way the engineer thinks it should be done.
Lizzy Crit 3 years ago (edited)
Previous homeowners of the place I have now divorced, he was an engineer. Every single drawer in reach of the stove had damage from being repeatedly slammed, I suspect she took her frustrations out while cooking. He told us at closing h didn't have keys to give us because he said his ex was supposed to drop the keys off several years ago when he took possession, but she never did so he just broke the garage door in and never locked the doors I didn't much care because changing the locks was the first thing I was going to do anyway, but I did find a set of keys in the dirt planting flowers by the front door two years later.
Paul Davis 3 years ago
In my experience, most engineers largely have a very discrete mindset - they are excellent at learning very small, inter-related things in excruciating detail. But completely worthless at understanding more general concepts. When things get generalized, you see them suddenly adopting magical thinking because to them interactions at that level seem just completely arbitrary.
Joel Hopkins 3 years ago
I hate to tell this lawyer that the engineers probably don't feel themselves superior to all lawyers, probably just to this one. See entry #14 on this list.
Hobby Hopper 3 years ago
I wasn't going to say anything, but from their description, it almost sounds like the verdicts in the cases they discussed weren't very just or followed precedents that weren't very just.
Load More Replies... Eat Dirt Crow 3 years ago
I'm a welder fabricator. I'm constantly "re-engineering" plans I get. I once had to build a 14" truck body that needed to mount 18' of equipment on it. Yesterday, I couldn't even spell engineer, now I are one.
RafCo (he/him) 3 years ago
First, as an engineer, i can say this is right for all the wrong reasons. Engineering is a really broad category, with varying levels of training. Are engineers cocky? Many are, but that doesn't make them cognitively impaired. They can lack social skills, yep. They can also be to heavily specialized, making their knowledge deep, but narrow. There are though, a lot of really terrible engineers. Good engineers need to be more than simply knowledgeable. You have to be equal parts scientist and artist. There's a lot of math, a lot of research, and a huge amount of creative thinking. The best engineers I've worked with have background in art, philosophy, or humanities, as well as math and science. But, many engineers lack that last ability. They are good at the problems that they learned how to solve through training, but are useless once they see something new, which is hopefully often if you want a fulfilling career.
Hobby Hopper 3 years ago
Do engineers in training study specific inventions from the past? Some of the stuff people made, even hundreds of years ago, is really genius. Like, 'why does this fishing reel use a worm drive for this part'? Or, 'today, we're going to take apart this differential and analyze how it works'. That kind of thing.
Load More Replies... Stymied Egan 3 years ago
My dad was an engineer. He was constantly learning and enjoyed it. When he worked on our cars or had a project he was working on and didn't have the proper tool, he'd make one. I was sitting with on of his co-workers one afternoon and they were debating something. My dad went off to find materials to back up his side. His friend said "You know what's wrong with your dad? He thinks he's always right." That was loud enough for dad to hear, he whispered to me "He usually is." The company my dad worked for had contracts with the Government. They were supposed to design a semi sized container filled with radar equipment. Dad told us, and them, it would not work. The equipment as it was, would not fit the vans. He even made, at home, a scale model of everything to show them it would not work. They had a contract and insisted it could be done. They claimed bankruptcy and took all of the retirement fund. My dad worked there for more than 25yrs.
Flabuless-Jaye 3 years ago
Ha! My brother is an engineer. Ever since I graduated a year after him, ( me Bsc Hons 2:1 Business Information systems - him Bsc third Physics and he went on to go into engineering. This is over 20years ago.) I have been told I do things wrong. I got a job as a web software developer building an online system for the UK radio advertising industry. He built his company a website using an off the shelf piece of software that basically did everything for him m. He just added the content. " You must be doing something wrong. Jaye, if you are employed to build on website. I built my website in a week." I was too exhausted with his "I am right attitude" that I didn't respond. He was comparing the manual on how to use a car, with buildings an engine on the production line. (He's always been pissed that I got paid more than him too)
#25
Mean_Connection7813 said:
All of them. People are dangerously adaptive and even the dumbest with a will to live will manage somehow.
a1beaner replied:
I think it's because to excel in this world it's not about being excellent it's about doing what your told.
[deleted] replied:
Also just being buddy-buddy with the higher ups. I feel like a bigger reason I hate two-faced charismatic people isn't because they're two-faced; it's because having excellent social skills with no/limited moral compass means the world is their playground. You don't have to be smart or hard-working when you can charm anyone around you.
#26
MrTatas_ said:
Usually any degree that “sounds smart” people are only drawn to it to say they study it. First one that comes to mind is Biomedical engineering. They are mocked by electrical engineers because they can’t design more than basic circuits, and are mocked by mechanical engineers for similar reason with physical devices. And there’s also no job market for them without a higher degree. It is thee stereotypical sound smart but actually an idiot field.
perculaessss replied:
Well, duh. They are different degrees. A biomechanic job it's to connect the organic features with the mechanical ones, not make the latter from scratch. That's like mocking a electrical engineer because he doesn't know how to prepare a bacterial culture. And I didn't study any of those degrees, but related.
BoorishTome replied:
Tbf biomed as a discipline isn’t necessarily better in an area than an already existing major. They won’t design better surgical robots than a MechE, won’t design better wireless glucose monitors than an electrical engineer, won’t create better analytics assays than a chemist, won’t be able to commercialize drug production better than a chemical engineer, won’t create better biocompatible polymers than a materials engineer, etc.
It’s just a function of the poor structure of the degree, IMO it should either be only a graduate degree or it should be clarified to freshmen that it isn’t as practical engineering discipline as the other engineering degrees, and you will need to specialize to be employable.
My experience is that biomedical engineers end up in supportive engineering roles like quality, regulatory, sustaining and are never typically the lead engineers that make the calls during product development.
What do you think ?
Vicki Hamlin 3 years ago
Your piece on which careers attract "idiots" is the most ridiculous thing I've seen on Bored Panda. People - individuals - are the "idiots" in every situation. Not entire careers.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 3 years ago (edited)
This listicle was originally posted on Buzzfeed. It looks like Bored Panda has been posting a lot of similar articles (especially the dreaded "Am I a Arsehole?") to Buzzfeed lately. I really miss more of their artwork posts and silly, feel-good animal posts. As you mentioned, there are going to be idiots in every situation and job field. However, there are also going to be incredibly passionate, competent, and kind-hearted people who value their work.
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ShareMusic 3 years ago
There are outstanding, competent, generous, people with a strong work ethic in all jobs and professions. Likewise, there are their opposites in a jobs and professions. We all went to school with a wide range of work ethic and abilities. It makes sense that all these people graduated and preferably went to work rather than the opposite.
Brenda 3 years ago (edited)
Having my first child. Horrible GERD (spitting up blood) I'd given the nurses the paperwork saying I can't have certain things. I wake to a breakfast of coffee, oj, tomatoes, milk (allergy), fried potatoes & eggs. Told my nurse hubby was taking me to the cafeteria in wheelchair for food. Got some food & was back in less than 15 minutes. As we get back the head nurse stomps over. Gets in my face, yelling that I'm not supposed to be walking, going to tear stitches, need to get to my room, eat & stay there. No one knew where I was, how long I'd been gone. Before hubby decked her said I told the nurses where I was going, why, don't need her permission for squat, get out of my face. Asked for my son and she told my nurse I'd get him whenever. Went to the nursery, got him, called my Dr & said I'm leaving with my kid. Hour later he's reaming her while I watched from my door. Still went home after 18 hours. Filed complaint told disciplinary actions taken. This after hubby had to hunt down the anesthesiologist during labor. Paged 4x,was flirting with nurses. Hubby grabbed him & showed him my room
Dark Side of the Loom 3 years ago
As many commenters said, this just goes to show there are good and bad professionals in any job. The jobs that got on this list are the ones most people have to deal with one day (nurses, doctors, teachers, ...), so no wonder you have more people having grievance about some of the bad ones.
Terri Alyea 3 years ago
Went to dinner with my sons in-laws his mother in law is a nurse we went to the restroom after the meal while I was washing my hands she comes over to wash hers I watch her go from sink to sink for a minute then she comes to the sink I'm using and says all the other sinks are broken and she'll use mine when I'm done I finish and she steps up stands there for a minute and says how did you get your sink to work? It's a motion sensor just hold your hands under the spout this woman is a NURSE
Vicki Hamlin 3 years ago
Your piece on which careers attract "idiots" is the most ridiculous thing I've seen on Bored Panda. People - individuals - are the "idiots" in every situation. Not entire careers.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 3 years ago (edited)
This listicle was originally posted on Buzzfeed. It looks like Bored Panda has been posting a lot of similar articles (especially the dreaded "Am I a Arsehole?") to Buzzfeed lately. I really miss more of their artwork posts and silly, feel-good animal posts. As you mentioned, there are going to be idiots in every situation and job field. However, there are also going to be incredibly passionate, competent, and kind-hearted people who value their work.
Load More Replies... ShareMusic 3 years ago
There are outstanding, competent, generous, people with a strong work ethic in all jobs and professions. Likewise, there are their opposites in a jobs and professions. We all went to school with a wide range of work ethic and abilities. It makes sense that all these people graduated and preferably went to work rather than the opposite.
Brenda 3 years ago (edited)
Having my first child. Horrible GERD (spitting up blood) I'd given the nurses the paperwork saying I can't have certain things. I wake to a breakfast of coffee, oj, tomatoes, milk (allergy), fried potatoes & eggs. Told my nurse hubby was taking me to the cafeteria in wheelchair for food. Got some food & was back in less than 15 minutes. As we get back the head nurse stomps over. Gets in my face, yelling that I'm not supposed to be walking, going to tear stitches, need to get to my room, eat & stay there. No one knew where I was, how long I'd been gone. Before hubby decked her said I told the nurses where I was going, why, don't need her permission for squat, get out of my face. Asked for my son and she told my nurse I'd get him whenever. Went to the nursery, got him, called my Dr & said I'm leaving with my kid. Hour later he's reaming her while I watched from my door. Still went home after 18 hours. Filed complaint told disciplinary actions taken. This after hubby had to hunt down the anesthesiologist during labor. Paged 4x,was flirting with nurses. Hubby grabbed him & showed him my room
Dark Side of the Loom 3 years ago
As many commenters said, this just goes to show there are good and bad professionals in any job. The jobs that got on this list are the ones most people have to deal with one day (nurses, doctors, teachers, ...), so no wonder you have more people having grievance about some of the bad ones.
Terri Alyea 3 years ago
Went to dinner with my sons in-laws his mother in law is a nurse we went to the restroom after the meal while I was washing my hands she comes over to wash hers I watch her go from sink to sink for a minute then she comes to the sink I'm using and says all the other sinks are broken and she'll use mine when I'm done I finish and she steps up stands there for a minute and says how did you get your sink to work? It's a motion sensor just hold your hands under the spout this woman is a NURSE
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