Each era has its own folklore and its own myths. In the old days, these were mighty heroes and terrible monsters, then noble knights and beautiful princesses, cowboys shooting without a single miss, and bulletproof superheroes. The contemporary world also has its own myths, and moreover, we face them literally every day.
Ask any software engineer you know how many times in their lives they have been asked to fix a desktop – simply because they are “programmers”. Or how many times an accountant – even if they have never dealt with a tax report in their entire professional career – receives requests from acquaintances to sort out their taxes?
Myths, myths and more myths surround literally every profession, and we create these myths ourselves. Just from watching a couple of James Bond films, we are sure that spies spend their lives doing nothing but driving around in luxury cars wearing insanely expensive suits. Just from watching a couple of children’s films, we will strongly believe that the workers at the animal shelter have the most wonderful job in the world, as they pet doggos and kitties all day long.
The list is literally endless, and a popular thread starter in the AskReddit community recently helped us by asking people the question: “What’s your profession’s myth that you regularly need to explain ‘It doesn’t work like that’ to people?” In just a few days, the thread has racked up 2.5K upvotes and over 3.8K comments, bringing together an incredible collection of today’s mythology.
To make it easier for you to figure out all this abundance, Bored Panda has made a list of the most popular comments of the original thread. So now feel free to read stories on debunking modern myths, scroll to the very end, and if you have your own professional experience that can also dispel some myth literally in the wind, please be sure to tell us about it in the comments.
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#1 Hospice Work And Treatment
Your terminally ill grandmother isn’t “becoming addicted” to her pain medication. She’s dying in as much comfort and with as much dignity as we can provide.
Image credits: Aggressivecleaning
#2 Alleged Cruelty Of Pet Euthanasia
Pet euthanasia. There is a wildly popular post that goes around about how pets dropped off for euthanasia “look around for their owners” and know they’ve been “abandoned”. It’s nonsense, and I will defend clients dropping off until I myself die.
I’ve seen what happens when owners can’t say goodbye so they don’t. The animal suffers for days to weeks until their bodies finally give out. I have literally seen a dog rotting from the inside out, SOMEHOW still alive, but the owner couldn’t commit to euthanasia so she didn’t and that dog suffered tremendously for it.
Everyone has boundaries to what they can handle. Requiring an otherwise loving, doting, and responsible owner to be present when it was all they could do to make the appointment doesn’t help pets the way you think it does.
Furthermore, in the nine years I’ve worked in this industry, I have *never* experienced what is described in that post. Ever. And my colleagues overwhelmingly agree. We love on them and hug them, and tell them they’re a good boy until they pass. **By the logic in that post, you should also never drop off for sedated or anesthetic procedures either because the process begins the same way (with sedation). How is that pet to know that death is imminent? They don’t.**
You’re projecting your emotions onto people who are already suffering, and you’re not helping pets by shaming owners, and my local, professional cohort overwhelmingly agrees.
Image credits: Graceishh
#3 Defibrillators And Heart Restart
No Ma’am, we aren’t going to ‘shock’ (defibrillate) your family member because their heart isn’t actually beating.
Defibrillators do not restart a heart, they reset a malfunctioning cardiac rhythm. If the heart isn’t at least doing something then our options are CPR and meds until we get some kind of rhythm.
Sincerely,
Tired Medic
Image credits: OTTB_Mama
#4 Antibiotics And Viral Diseases
Antibiotics don’t work on viral diseases.
Image credits: The_Max_V
#5 Child Welfare Investigators And The Essence Of Their Work
Child welfare investigator here
My job isn’t “hard” for the reasons most people think: constantly being exposed to and interviewing abused children
It’s hard because 90% of the time, it’s just disgruntled exes calling on each other over nothing..and dealing with grown adults’ drama is exhausting af.
Image credits: KyleB2131
#6 Something About Weight Loss Surgeries
Weight loss surgery is NOT the easy way out. There is nothing easy about getting your stomach resized to hold a cup or less of food, it f***s up your metabolism, eating the wrong things can cause serious pain, and guess what you’re on for the rest of your life? A restrictive diet. Because your stomach’s tiny but you still need all the nutrients.
Weight loss medications are not the easy way out either. They don’t work unless the patient does, and even then, sometimes it takes months to find the right combo of meds. And there’s still nutrition and exercise requirements.
Basically, being obese is really hard, and getting to a point where one is no longer obese is also really hard, so when you see someone obese, assume that they’re doing their best and could use some kindness.
Image credits: insertcaffeine
#7 Teachers And Students’ Learning
Although I’m a skilled teacher the students need to do the learning. I can’t do it for them.
Image credits: MrsMisthios
#8 Chefs And Cooking At Home
Former pastry chef, and still work in a hotel. No I do not make amazing food at home. I barely survive on a diet of cereal, sandwiches and chocolate bars. Pot noodles if I’m feeling fancy.
Also most people in the industry are either junkies or alcoholics to cope with the brutal schedule. My extended family still can’t fathom me working the amount out of hours a week I work.
Also we do not enjoy weddings, they are fun to attend, but nothing but a headache to run.
Image credits: Catherineb84
#9 Psychologists And Their Own Mental Problems
Just because I’m a psychologist doesn’t mean I’m immune to psychological disorders or distress.
Image credits: 0_0moon0_0
#10 Pros And Cons Of Owning A Bookstore
I’m a retired used bookstore owner. People were always saying “Oh, I would love to own a bookstore. You can read all day.”. Um, no. It’s actually a lot of hard, physical work, (boxes of books are heavy), lots of bending and reaching. And then you get to clean the store and do the paperwork. Owning any retail store is not an easy job!
Image credits: lmcbmc
#11 Shorter Railings And The Minimal Allowed Height
When I was building decks I remember a lot of people asked for shorter railings because it’d look nicer. I totally agree, but if 42″ is the minimum in this state we’re gonna do 42″
Image credits: LetzterMensch11
#12 Car Mechanics And Their Knowledge
Being a car machenic that specializes in a couple of cars. We dont know everything about how to fix the car out of our heads. we use youtube a lot to figure out stuf we dont know.
Image credits: potato13254
#13 About “Utility-Persons” At The Hospital
No doctor does all aspects of medicine and surgery.. it’s specialized and sub specialized. Obviously in more rural areas people do more, but for the most part, complex things get sent to very specialized folks and a doctor like House would never exist (and anyone who acted like him would be fired in about a week)
Image credits: nematocyst987
#14 The “Defense Attorney” Aspect Of Law
The “defense attorney” aspect of law
It’s not your job to lie, deceive, and cheat to get your client acquitted. You give them the best legal defense so that they receive the due process that everyone has a right to.
*”The job of the defense is to make sure the prosecution does theirs.”*
If your client is guilty, then the prosecution should be able to prove it fair and square. If they can’t then the quality of evidence does not meet the minimum standard and your client should go free. Full stop.
Does that mean the occasional guilty person gets away with it? Yeah. But far worse is a system where innocent people are more likely to go to jail because a s**tty prosecutor’s weak arguments were accepted.
A good defense attorney would recognize a losing case and just try to get the best deal for their client, and getting the weaker charges dropped (in case the prosecutor just decides to “throw the book” at them)
Image credits: NoStressAccount
#15 About Sold-Out Items
Retail. If an employee tells you they’re sold out of that hot sale item. They’re sold out. They’re not hoarding them in the backroom, because f**k you. They know they’re sold out, because you’re the 10th person to ask about it, in the last 20 minutes.
Image credits: RagingHolly
#16 Journalists And That ‘Off The Record’ Phrase
Something being ‘off the record’.
If you’re speaking to a journalist, you can’t just say ‘off the record’ and then spill your guts. You need to have agreed with the journalist beforehand that you will not be quoted.
Image credits: Yossarian__
#17 Professional Writers And Fans With “A Book Idea”
“I have this great idea for a book. You write it, and we’ll split the profits.”
Nope.
Image credits: weird-oh
#18 Working In Childcare And “Playing With Kids”
I work in childcare and no, I don’t just get to play all day and have fun. I have to deal with behavioral issues, developmental delays, diapers, injuries, curriculum, art projects, huge messes during mealtime, working with one other person to put 12+ toddlers down for nap, etc. Of course it’s fun at times but dealing with all of that is so stressful.
Image credits: cocoavendorbecky
#19 Playing With Puppies And Kittens All Day Long
That vet techs get to play with puppies and kittens all day. It’s a physically and mentally exhausting job.
Image credits: Constant_Problem9387
#20 Wearing Glasses And “Making Your Eyes Worse”
Wearing glasses doesn’t make your eyes worse. There are so many misconceptions and so much false reasoning that goes into that one belief that I don’t even know where to start. But I’ll try anyway I guess.
1) “I noticed my eyes got blurry only after wearing glasses!” That is because your eyes have adjusted to seeing things with more clarity. So of course you’re now going to notice when you’re missing that clarity whether it be because you took off your glasses or your prescription has changed.
2) “Wearing glasses cause eye strain!” No it doesn’t. Your usual eye strain is from working long hours or staring at screens. But you’re only noticing it now because the adjustment period when getting glasses for the first time or when getting a new prescription does increase eye strain until you adjust.
3) “I used to never need glasses but now I need new ones every two years! My eyes are getting worse because of glasses!” Refer back to 1. But also you didn’t need glasses previously because your eyesight wasn’t s**tty enough for you to notice yet or be really othered by it yet. That doesn’t mean you didn’t actually need them. Your eyesight was probably changing every year even while you didn’t notice. Now that you are used to seeing with clarity, you’ll notice when things aren’t clear and crisp anymore.
I have dealt with many adults who insist they don’t need glasses, either distance or reading or both, because they just don’t want to concede that their vision isn’t great anymore. These are adults with nearsightedness, astigmatism, and sometimes who even need reading correction. And they can’t see s**t. Like why are you so stubborn.
Image credits: kirabera
#21 What University Professors Do In Summer
University prof. I do not get summers off.
Teaching in front of classes is only about 30% of my job. The rest is one-on-one supervision of graduate students. Doing research, writing grant applications, writing research papers. Summer is the time of year when I finally have the time to do all that other stuff.
Image credits: bigbrowbeater
#22 Computer Animation And Who Actually Does It
Computer animation doesn’t mean the computer does the animation…I do.
Image credits: CheeseburgerBrown
#23 About “Skeleton Keys”
There are no skeleton keys. There is no “one key that fits all locks”. There are master keys that have been painstakingly installed into a buildings locks, some of which might fit all the locks depending on that particular keys chosen mastering levels, but no. There is no skeleton key. I, a locksmith, use special tools to open locks. I have a big bag of them. Tools like picks, jiggle keys, bump keys 2in1 Lishi keys, and many more. Yes, I got into your house fast. That’s because I know how your lock works and know how to defeat it. No I did not turn up with a working key (disclaimer: sometimes I do as I have codes recorded for places I’ve worked on and I can get codes from car dealers so I can make a key before I turn up.)
Image credits: PapaOoMaoMao
#24 Setting Up Machines At The Factory
Factory worker here.. Once a machine is set up, it can run all day, perfectly, without adjustment. Nope. Steel can vary in hardness, even within a continuous coil of wire. Humidity, ambient temperature, tooling wear can also spoil parts.
Image credits: fafaxsake
#25 Working At The Bakery And Eating Lots Of Sweets
I work in a bakery.
Baking stuff for 5000 people every day will take all night to do so when we run out of something during the day. We can’t just slap something together in five minutes.
Come back tomorrow and we can get it for you.
#26 Something That Isn’t Stocked On The Shelf Isn’t In The Back
If something isn’t stocked on the shelf and I tell you it isn’t in the back then it isn’t in the back and I can’t magically make it appear out of thin air… that being said if you are a d**k I also might just tell you it ain’t in the back
Image credits: m_g2468
#27 How Those Salt Water Pools Are Actually Made
That converting to salt water pools does not ‘get rid of the chlorine’. Salt is sodium chloride, salt gets converted to chlorine in a salt water pool, and you use the exact same test kits to monitor the chlorine levels in the pool water.
Image credits: Malka8
#28 What Chocolate Factories Really Look Like
Its nothing like Charlie and the Chocolate factory
Image credits: Thebreach46
#29 About Your Laptop Being In “Good Condition”
Just because your old technical device (laptop, tablet, phone) is in good condition, doesn’t actually mean that it’s any “good” today.
Image credits: wildfire98
#30 Hardware Stores And Their Storage
I work in a hardware store and apparently people think we have a huge underground storage big enough to hide every product in existence. No, i can’t just go and fetch a part for your 20 year old fireplace or power tool from the backroom.
Image credits: Mjarf88
#31 What Are Tax Professionals Really For
Tax professional.
Most clients think that the best tax Pros necessarily get them bigger refunds. If you get a smaller refund in a particular year it may be because tax laws change, because you didn’t pay in as much, or because you didn’t have as many deductions. Explaining stuff to people doesn’t work if their eyes are all glazed over because tax law discussions bore them
Going to another tax Pro to get a bigger refund, thinking that that tax Pro is “better” may just get you an audit
But the worst myth about taxes manifest itself when scammers call people on the phone climbing to be IRS agents. They tell folks that they owe money and that authorities are coming to their house to put them in jail if they don’t pay up. The truth is that the real IRS does not call anyone on the phone unless they have contacted IRS first and are expecting them to return the call. IRS does not accuse you of text fraud. Even if they truly believe you have committed tax fraud they will simply send you a letter stating that they think you have underpaid your taxes. They will give you a chance to prove your case. If you don’t do this or pay them what they say you owe, they will simply Levy your paycheck or your personal property. They do not show up at your house to put you in jail. So please if a scammer calls you do not give them your credit card information or give them payments in any form. Call the real IRS and report them.
Image credits: Bebe_Bleau
#32 Getting A Grant For Your Idea
There aren’t just buckets of grant money available for your wacky idea. You have to have a track record, an organization, a plan and a budget. It’s highly competitive.
Image credits: Soobobaloula
#33 Computer Technicians And Their Knowledge
That I do not magically know on the spot why your computer gives a BSOD or why a printer is slow to print large files. In order to solve the problem, I’m going to ask you a lot of questions, ask you to try to print different types of files to find the cause, ask someone else to print somethign to see if its account-related, etc. It’s called elimination of possible causes.
But you’re gonna have to cooperate to let me help you. If you just drop a problem at my feet that I can’t directly reproduce, don’t expect me to use telepathy to read your printer’s mind and magically know the solution as if problems always have the same cause.
Image credits: BlauweSjaars2
#34 Some Aspects Of Being A Lawyer
Being a lawyer is not like what you see on Suits. It’s all the stuff they cut away from otherwise viewers would be too bored to watch it
Image credits: koobus_venter1
#35 How The Law Of Energy And Mass Conservation Actually Works
As an engineer, I have to explain a lot of time that the law of energy and mass conservation can’t be broken.
Image credits: Bobraie
#36 Dinosaurs And Truth About Them
It’s not dinosaurs we’re looking for, it’s the remains of human activity. No, we didn’t find any gold.
Image credits: NunquamAccidet
#37 Accountants And Their Knowledge Of Tax Issues
When someone finds out you’re an accountant 90% of the time they will say “great, so you can help with my taxes haha” . There are loads of accountants who may never see taxes in their day-to-day and have minimal knowledge from their certification only.
#38 Video Production And Cameras
Video production. Your only options in the edit are what the camera captured.
Image credits: JhymnMusic
#39 Cash Transactions Under 10k And Staying “Under The Radar”
Doing cash transactions under 10k to stay “under the radar” …still gets us to do paperwork but ok buddy.
Image credits: kannakantplay
#40 Some Specifics Of A Fire Alarm System
Setting off a fire alarm system doesn’t make all the sprinkler heads spew water.
#41 Software Developers And The Easy Way Of Fixing Something
I’m a software dev. Any time you say “it’s simple, just _____”, you’re wrong. Hell, half the time I say it I’m wrong.
#42 Putting An Angled Back Cut When Felling A Tree Against The Lean
Putting an angled back cut when felling a tree against the lean does absolutely nothing and will result in a tree falling on your house. Just pay us to do the job
Image credits: spjnr
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