“I Wish I Never Knew This”: 41 Workers Share The Creepiest Things About Their Professions

In the work comp insurance industry, each body part has a predetermined monetary value. So if you lost, say, a thumb or a foot on the job, they just check their price list and cut a check. Sometimes there are different values for the same body part depending on if the part that was lost came from your dominant hand or side.

Another fun fact is that it can be cheaper to insure roofers who work on 5 or 10+ story jobs than those that work on lower structures because the insurance companies figure in the event of a fall they’ll only have to cut a simple check for a pre-set death benefit for the high rise workers - it’s when someone falls from just a couple stories that leads to years of expensive medical treatments and disability payments since they’re much more likely to survive.

I’ve always found it a little bit creepy how easily our lives and body parts can be reduced to just a few numbers and dollar signs.

IT security at a lot of places is a joke. You’d be horrified how at some high profile/hold a lot of your personal data there isn’t really an emphasis on security. Sure they do just enough but it’s more aimed at protecting their image and whatnot than your data.

A small percentage of people getting tattooed have HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis, etc. and they are not always honest on their release forms. I was taught to always treat every client as if they have Hepatitis C, so everyone gets the same precautions, safety measures, and equipment sterilization. It's tough though, because we'll have sketchy people that probably use d***s, or come in wanting their house party tattoo fixed and we have no idea if they were sharing needles. We either make a judgment and deny them service, or treat them like everyone else and use precaution. I've only had one person be honest and tell me they had HIV, while they filled out their paperwork.

The number of deaths and injuries. Industrial Maintenance isn't a really safe career path. I personally know 4 people that have been seriously injured and 2 that were k**led on the job.

Pilot here.

It is possible for an aircraft at high altitude to depressurize fast enough that nobody has time to put on an oxygen mask before losing consciousness. In this case the plane will continue to fly on autopilot until it runs out of fuel. At that point the aircraft will descend. Once it’s low enough everyone will wake up (edit: I did some more research. Waking up is extremely unlikely.) disoriented onboard a doomed plane minutes from impact with the ground.

Here’s the kicker. There’s a rule that at least one of the pilots must wear an oxygen mask at all times above 35,000 feet. I have never met a pilot that follows this rule.

Have a great flight!

The fact that human organs are shipped like regular packages at FedEx. I see them almost everyday, its most a company called Cryolife I think. It's for organ donation. But we are very professional and careful with these packages in particular for obvious reasons.

I've been working as a waiter for years now. And whew boy lawdy are there a bunch of issues that are simply not addressed. Workplace sexual harrassment of women in the industry is f*****g rampant, both from coworkers and customers. D**g and alcohol consumption and a**se amongst restaurant workers is insane. The huge racial and gender disparity that exists in earnings due to tips. It's a pretty toxic business behind the scenes.

The ethical implications of being a programmer.

I used to work in the financial sector, but I had to leave because I heard too many serious discussions about how much it cost to buy a governor without getting arrested.

Sexual a*****t in the US Military is a huge f*****g problem. Everyone inside knows it and pretends to take it seriously. The reality is that it’s always treated like it’s a problem in another branch, another unit, another squad - never ours. We’re good guys! Those statistics couldn’t possibly apply here!

Roughly 80% of female service members report being sexually harassed and 30% s****************d. Male on male sexual a*****t is also significantly higher than in the civilian population, outpaced only by the estimates for inmate sexual assaults in prisons. A huge majority of this is never formally reported. Know why? Because more than half of the people who did formally report have experienced retaliation in some form afterward.

We have classes every year. We talk a good game. It’s not enough because we’re not willing to actually punish the perp and not the victim. It’s not just the brass either. It goes all the way down to the private who just joined. It’s a group mentality.

I don't know about "creepy" but A LOT of dietitians have/had eating disorders. It can attract people who are 1) obsessed with food and 'health' and 2) looking for better ways of staying as thin as possible.

Ekyou:
On a similar note, I studied psychology and every therapist I've met had some sort of mental illness. But really it makes sense that people would want go into a field that they are personally invested in.

In education as an administrator. The reality of the frequency of child sexual a*****t or child a**se and lasting trauma resulting from it is enough to make you drink.

It is so shocking the level of incompetence in parents. This is across both private schools, well off demographics and high needs, high poverty districts.

It is really hard to come to school each day and mask positivity some days.

I work for a student loan company. A lot of people’s ‘repayment plan’ is to pay the absolute minimum/defer their loans as long as possible and then die. It’s usually for older people but I see it with folks in their 20s/30s also. Their interest is sometimes more than they make in a month. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve had to reassure that their kids won’t have to pay the loan if the parent dies. It (usually) can’t be discharged with bankruptcy either. It f*****g sucks that DEATH is the only way out for people, we literally have to have a protocol for how to handle someone threatening to commit s*****e so they don’t have to pay it.

Starbucks, the amount of mainly men who decide that if a female barista does their job, she’s into him and he’s now going to make her really REALLY uncomfortable by either refusing to take a hint and leave them alone or really gross comments. Seriously guys, she’s paid to be nice. She doesn’t want your testiculars. Goes for anyone in the service industry. Good customer service doesn’t mean they want to see you romantically.

Some of the people who go missing in the woods just aren't found. We don't know what happens to them. Forest rangers are always wary about missing persons in the woods.

Not really creepy, but I work at a woodshop, and it is an absolute OSHA disaster. Safety guidelines are rarely (if ever) enforced, and corners are cut constantly to get stuff built on time. I'm talking fire extinguishers buried behind scrap wood and other things, almost zero use of safety equipment, and just a general disregard for what should be standard practice. Really the only reason injuries are rare is because the vast majority of people who work here are experienced and know their s**t.

The company likes to pretend we do an honorable job making strategically important things for the United States military to protect us all with.

We make weapons. It's quite possibly the most lucrative industry in the world.

I work in Marketing. We know so much about you that we purposely tone it down as not to freak you out.

My previous job was at a canine lodging/training facility. The training was 0% positive reinforcement, only negative. One of my coworkers walked in on a trainer choking a dog out on a prong collar until it passed out. Trainer followed her out and said "there's a reason why you don't go in the training room" like he was out of a mafia movie or some s**t. SPCA was called on this place at least twice, but someone there is buddies with the owner and always gives him a heads up before they come investigate.

Not as creepy, but anyone paying for a large run during the busy season will usually just end up with their dog in a carrier crate. People will still be charged nearly $100/night for their dog to stay in a large run even if they're not actually ending up in there.

All in all, I highly advise just hiring a dog sitter on Rover. Most upscale boarding kennels don't have max. capacities and often lie/cheat their clients of money (they don't ACTUALLY read your dog a bedtime story, or give them doggie ice cream, or give them pamper tuck-ins). If you INSIST on bringing your dog to a boarding kennel, smaller is better. Don't let large upscale facilities fool you with the looks, it may LOOK nicer, but 100% chance the run-down looking one is more honest and likely to cater to your dogs needs.

EDIT: I've gotten questions from a few people asking how to tell a legit kennel from a dishonest one, and my best advice is to look at employee reviews on indeed/glassdoor/etc. Employee reviews will give you about 90% more insight than any customer review typically could. Key complaints to look out for is "profit hungry owners", "understaffing", or "overwork&underpay". These typically indicate a poor employee:dog ratio, and no maximum capacity (in states that do not have strict laws regarding a capacity).

The amount of s*****e among doctors.

Physicians have among the highest rates of s*****e worldwide, but I didn't understand how significant it was until I was in the field. I assumed it wasn't a big issue - the career seemed great with prestige, high job security and income. And it is great, but I didn't know about working 60 days in a row, operating after being awake for 72 hours on call, cutthroat competition in training bottlenecks, the constant expectation and pressure to be the best and know it all from seniors and patients alike, the harassment and bullying from colleges that eat their young.

Now that I'm working in hospital networks, I don't go more than a couple of months without hearing about another doctor who attempted or committed s*****e. There is more open discussion about the crisis, but most remains unspoken. Many doctors in my country won't disclose or seek help for their mental health problems out of fear they'll be reported and have restrictions on their license.

And if you are taken to hospital for the s*****e attempt, the field is small enough that your colleagues and friends will hear about it, no matter how much staff maintain confidentiality. I visited a friend in ICU who attempted s*****e, and he was mortified that he had been transported to the hospital he was employed in. Everyone knew and he moved across the country. And you hear about funerals for an 'untimely passing' of a 30 something year old doctor, while nobody talks about how or why they died. We are very uncomfortable talking about s*****e.

I work in tv news and some viewers can be veryyy creepy. People subconsciously feel like they know us, because they see us everyday, in their homes. Some of the mail my coworkers receive is so questionable. Like one guy (a well known and beloved weatherman) regularly gets postcards from the same dude that hates him and berates him. Another guy acts as if he actually knows one of our weekend anchors, in his letters talking about how they used to go to various concerts together (nope). Once I opened a package with all these random objects (bandaids, leis, a pair of socks, conversation hearts) and five valentines each detailing how the person would storm the building.

Once I did a story vaguely related to vaping and within minutes a guy tracked down my personal facebook and sent me three videos cussing me out and a long rant about how I was a "p**s ant w***e" and a "f*****g moron".