Let’s face it, Pandas, there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ job. However green the grass might look on the other side, the fact of the matter is that every profession comes with its own long list of pros and cons, challenges and issues, as well as a sliding scale of stress. However, that doesn’t mean that all jobs are equal. Far from it. Some jobs, as you’re about to find out, have some genuinely unpleasant secrets hidden amongst all the skeletons.
Dr. Anna Schozer, a veterinarian and social media content creator, went viral after posting a video (and an in-depth follow-up) where she asked working professionals to share the things in their industry that the general public would be shocked to know. And shocking is putting it mildly. We’ve collected the best responses to the vet’s video to share them with you. Some of these candid clips might be enough to make someone even reconsider their dream career. Others remove the romanticism and show the reality.
As you’re scrolling down, think about some of the biggest upsides and downsides of your own job paths, dear Pandas. You can warn—or encourage—the other readers (not) to follow in your footsteps in the comments.
Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Anna and she was kind enough to walk us through how vets can deal with aggressive clients, shared what can be done to improve the situation of professionals in her industry, and gave advice for those of you Readers who might dream about helping animals in the future.
"The way I approach an aggressive client is to try to understand why they are feeling so upset/angry. For example, if they are upset over long wait times, I try to explain the staffing crisis and that there are simply not enough veterinary professionals to take care of the increasing number of pets. If they are upset over prices, I explain that I am not the one who makes those decisions. I also bring up pet insurance, and payment plan options to help financially. If the client cannot be settled down, sometimes it ends in the hospital asking them to leave as we cannot service those who do not respect us," she explained to us. Scroll down for the full interview.
Vet Anna started up a trend on TikTok and got people talking about industry secrets that would shock the public
Her initial video quickly went viral after she shared a horrifying fact about working as a vet
She went into detail about the challenges that professionals in her industry face in a follow-up video
#1
I'm a registered nurse. I've worked in New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, Florida, and now Oregon. As a travel nurse in Oregon, I get a 45-minute lunch break and two 15-minute breaks. And people here make fun of the East Coast. They laugh and say, "Oh, how was it with your ratios? How was it with not getting to eat?" In Florida, I can tell you as a nurse, I was lucky to go seven or eight hours and maybe get a 30-minute break. I don't drink for six or eight hours. I don't have an opportunity to go pee and these are the expectations. This has been normalized for so long, and it's a considerable law. Why is it okay for us to not have lunch breaks? Why is it okay for us to run ourselves into the ground? Why is it okay for us to hide in the closet and shovel peanut butter and crackers and chuck a Gatorade so that we don't pass out while we're taking care of your family members? We need to fix this. We deserve to have breaks.
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371points
Bored Panda wanted to understand how Dr. Anna deals with the stress of her job, and what could be done on a larger scale to help improve the job satisfaction of vets.
"The way I manage my stress levels is by making it a priority to take time for myself away from work. This usually takes place in the form of a workout, or a walk with my dog," she shared that she has very clear boundaries between her work and her private life in order to recharge.
#2
If you don't use the word "wedding", that cake's gonna be a lot cheaper. I just helped the lady who kept calling it "birthday cake layers" and she saved about 50% on that cake.
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313points
#3
I'm a nurse and I worked at a hospital when COVID first started. There are a lot of messed-up things that never made the news. I remember this one night so vividly. We were running short on ventilators. I was on the COVID unit and there was one doctor that would walk around every single room, see how the patients were doing, and if they were older over the age of 70 or more, they would contact their family members and say, "Hey, do you want your family member to be a DNR or DNI? Because we don't have ventilators." The other thing I talk a lot about is how they threatened healthcare workers that if they wear masks, they would be written up because they didn't want to scare the patients. All N95s were locked up and you could only have them if you were doing airalising procedures, which is exactly why I think the CDC refused to acknowledge that it was airborne because of the mass shortage. And I know you can say the CDC didn't see this coming, but it was their job to see this coming. This entire organization, this whole country failed us as healthcare workers and I will never stop talking about it.
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292points
According to the vet, there are many things that could be done to improve the situation for people in her industry. For instance, lowering the debt-to-income ratio would "relieve a large amount of stress" from veterinarians' plates. "Most of us in the veterinary profession do not make enough to cover our bills, and are forced to pick up extra jobs or shifts—working overtime. This change would help with the second improvement I would suggest—which is increasing the staff force. This field is overwhelmingly understaffed," she shared with Bored Panda.
"This usually means staff members staying late, being called in on their days off, and long wait times for clients. Third would be for pet owners to be understanding of the crisis we are facing in this profession, and to be patient and kind with us," Dr. Anna said.
#4
I used to manage a Verizon Wireless and we'd have to call customer service pretty often to help out customers, right? Well, I would call the same number that you guys do for customer service. The only difference is to get to a person almost instantly with the lowest wait time. I would hit 0#0#0# and then it would bring me to a live person. After learning this, I started using this trick for almost anytime I had to be on the phone dealing with a fake automated system and I'm gonna say eight times out of 10, it works and forwards you through to a real person after like a minute. DCU, it's worked for me, Bank of America, Verizon, Sprint has worked, Comcast has worked. There are other random little ones that have also worked. Oh, Google Financing will also work with 0#0#0#. Like I said, not all of them will work, but give it a shot. You might just skip the line.
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238points
#5
Let's talk about post-mortem care or after-death care, okay? A lot of people don't realize that when a resident dies, we actually have to care for them. They don't... they don't just die and they're gone. That consists of an RN or two LPNs collectively calling the time of death, it's TOD. Then the CNAs on shift have to stop what they're doing no matter what, and go into that room and perform actual care. For me, that would consist of turning the AC down as to preserve the body, keep it cold in the room. It also consists of doing a full bed bath and the bed, hair, face, body, everything. Then you'd have to roll that resident, change the linens, change their clothes and get them covered back up so they look comfortable. This next step always gets me. You have to be there when their loved ones are there and watch their grieving, or you have to be there when no loved ones show up for said resident and you're the one to grieve. And that's just it in a nutshell.
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215points
#6
I have a geology degree that I've never used professionally, so I am going to show you the most [messed up] things I can do with it. Oh, you found a bone on the ground and you want to know if it's a fossil or a dead animal. Literally, any other field of science is going to tell you take it home, do some tests on it, examine it, date it, whatever. What's a field geologist gonna do - they lick it. As a fossil will stick to your tongue but a modern bone will not. You might be like, "But gee, Lauren, how often does that mean you've licked animal bones?" Next question, please. You found a fairly smooth sedimentary rock. Is it siltstone or mudstone? Guess what you do. No, a field geologist isn't going to look at it, they're gonna chew it. So you just take a little bite, rub it between your teeth. If it has a toothpastey texture, then that's a siltstone, if it has a peanut buttery creamy texture, then it is a mudstone.
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208points
We were curious as to what Dr. Anna would tell those who dream of becoming vets. She stressed that it's vital to "always remember" why you're doing this. "The veterinary field is one of, if not the most stressful field to work in. Remembering WHY you wanted to become a veterinarian (or veterinary nurse, receptionist, etc.) in the first place, will help you stay centered on the crazier day," she opened up.
"Another piece of advice would be to chase your dream, no matter what. There will always be individuals who do not believe you can do it, or will try to steer you away from the profession. However, if veterinary medicine is truly your passion—do not give up!"
#7
In the UK, there is absolutely no regulation whatsoever around being a therapist, counselor, or psychotherapist. Anyone, absolutely anyone with absolutely no qualifications, can put a sign on their door saying they're a counselor, and there is nothing legally that can be done about it. It is outrageous and dangerous and radically needs changing.
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207points
#8
If you've ever wondered why Toyota has higher quality numbers pretty much every year than any US automaker, it's because Toyota spends time engineering every single part and system to make sure there are as little or as few defects as possible. GM, Ford, Chrysler, or Fiat, none of them do that. They all allow a certain number of defects in every part of every system. So I wouldn't buy US autos if I were you. I'm going to stick to my Japanese babies.
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201points
#9
I work in the supplements industry and I see a lot of companies that actually make up the terms to sound legit so you can pay more, but those terms actually have no meaning. Here are a few examples. First, if they say they're tested by an "FDA approved laboratory", don't believe them because the FDA does not approve any laboratories. Second, if they say they're "third-party tested" without telling you which third party, chances are, they're not third-party tested. Because if they were, trust me, they want to put it out there. And this next one is very common, I see it all the time. "Contains clinically tested ingredients". Now keep in mind that just because an ingredient is tested does not mean it's proven to work because it can be tested and proven not to be working. You see what they're doing here? Last, if they say they're a "Pharmaceutical grade" product, don't believe them because again, no such thing.
198points
Dr. Anna probably stunned more than just us when she spoke about how veterinarians have a very high rate of suicide, compared to other professions. This probably clashes wildly with how many people imagined the life and work of a vet. It’s shocking to learn that someone who helps fluffy and cute animals all day long can, in fact, be pushed to the brink. However, the reality of the job is actually very harsh.
The vet explained in a follow-up video why the job of professionals like her is far from the fairytale that many imagine it to be.
#10
I am a notary signing agent. I work in the real estate/loan industry and I get paid anywhere between $100 to $250 an hour to watch people sign documents.
185points
#11
I feel like some dentists are gonna get really mad at me for this one. Most people already know that there's good and bad people in every profession and dentistry is no different. There was one thing that always pushed my buttons when I saw a patient come in that was with a dentist like this. And this is when a dentist over-treats. See, when a person gets a cavity, it starts off really, really small, and then when it gets to the outer layer of your tooth, it spreads like crazy and then you have this big cavity mess you got to get filled. The thing is, if you catch the really small first initial lesion, if you just brush your teeth, use some fluoride or some other things like that, you can remineralize it and be just fine. Now, in my opinion, I think you should try and remineralize those teeth and not damage them if possible. And if it gets worse, then yeah, do the filling. But there's another camp of dentists that are over treaters that the second they see anything, it's an automatic filling and also some automatic money in their pocket. And that's how you get the stories of people going to one dentist and having 20 cavities and then going to another dentist and only having like two. Oh yeah, a lot of you might have had a bunch of cavities that you didn't have to get filled. Sorry.
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178points
#12
I'm a mailman and you need, literally, no education to become a mailman and you start off at $40,000 a year. And once you make regular, every 46 weeks you get roughly a $1,900 wage increase. But I think one of the coolest benefits is that once you're a regular carrier, you can transfer anywhere in the United States and get paid the same amount of money. Now, some states, you do get paid more because of the cost of living. But for example, if you're making $57,000 in Oregon, and you move to Iowa, you'll still be making $57,000. And like I said, you don't need a degree. You don't need an education. You really just need your driver's license.
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175points
According to Dr. Anna, her profession has a very bad debt-to-income ratio. What this means is that you spend tons of money and time to get the education that you need to work as a vet. However, once you actually have the job, you realize that it doesn’t pay as well as you might have expected. You don’t have the standard of living you feel that you should and you end up feeling stressed under the massive debt.
#13
Universities which exploit the labor of adjuncts, that is part-time faculty members who have no hope of tenure, are contributing to the same generational poverty that they purport to be ending through the opportunity to become educated. Adjuncts have no benefits and are often on public assistance. This is true even if they have a terminal degree.
Every parent sending their child to a college or university should ask, "What is your ratio of full-time faculty members to adjuncts? And how much does your college pay adjuncts per class?" Stop the abuse.
Every parent sending their child to a college or university should ask, "What is your ratio of full-time faculty members to adjuncts? And how much does your college pay adjuncts per class?" Stop the abuse.
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167points
#14
I work in fashion production and when you go to a store like TJ Maxx or Marshalls or Home Goods, everything in that store is made for that store. It's not leftover old inventory. Everything is made out of cheaper materials at cheaper factories to hit the target prices that store is going to sell the stuff at. And also, all the "compared to" prices are completely made up.
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166points
#15
I'm a registered dietitian and I have two things. The first is that it's really freakin' hard to become a dietitian, and we do not get enough credit for it. It takes a Bachelor's degree, a Master's degree, an accredited 1200-hour internship, and then also a national exam. So, it's hard to get here. And I'm very proud of myself for being here. And second is that studies show that 41% to 81% of registered dieticians have previously or currently dealt with disordered eating or eating disorders. And this is why dietitians are so against chronic dieting. Not only have we been in your shoes, but now we have the science and the knowledge to actually understand what chronic dieting can do to not only your physical health but also your mental health. And that's why we take a sustainable long-term approach. You will not find a quick fix from a dietitian. But working with a dietitian and healing your relationship with food and exercise is the most rewarding thing that you can do for both your mental and physical health.
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164points
There’s also the huge amount of stress that vets are under due to the long hours and problems with understaffing.
Another shocker for us was just how disrespectful some clients (and even coworkers!) can be in this industry. We always assumed that folks love vets for healing their four-legged floofs. Unfortunately, there are some truly nasty characters out there who make a vet’s shift horrible.
Dr. Anna said that she has been cursed out, degraded, even threatened by clients. Some of them then come after veterinarians on social media.
#16
I'm a hairstylist and I can tell when you have had a traumatic event based on your hair. You know how like on your nails, you can get those little ridges when you go through a high-stress period of time or something dramatic, your hair does the same thing. So, if you have curly hair, all the curls are coming out at different times. But when you see somebody who's had trauma, it's like one curve throughout the whole head. Every hair has the same exact spot down the hair shaft. And because the hair grows at about a half an inch per month, I can usually gauge the amount of time. So when I'm doing your hair, and I look and I see that little ridge, I can say, "Oh, that was six months ago, something traumatic happened."
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138points
#17
I used to work for a shampoo plant that would make shampoo, conditioner, all kinds of other things for a bunch of different companies. It's all the same stuff. They would put it all in one big container, mix it all together, and they would just come out the exact same chute, and they would go into different bottles with different labels on it for different companies, all the exact same stuff. The only way they would change it up is with scent sprays. That would change the scent of what it was.
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133points
#18
I've been doing commercial HVAC, heat and air conditioning, for the better part of a decade. And one of the biggest complaints I have with residential companies is preventive maintenance calls or anything like that, spring startups where they have to come out every year and check your refrigerant levels and your air conditioning and they tell you "Oh, well, you're a little low, we better top you off". That's a lie. Unless you have a leak in your system, or a much bigger issue, refrigerant does not evaporate. They're robbing you. If they have to keep coming out to charge your system or top you off, call another company. Somebody that's not a crook. And I don't care if it's your brother, your aunt, your uncle whoever has been doing this for hundreds of years. They're robbing you.
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121points
#19
I work as a Clinical Health Educator for the county health department where I drug and STD test people all day and then re-educate them. And at the very end of the year, I do send those results to the CDC, so they can collect data. And for some reason, with my Bachelor’s, that pays less than wiping ass.
But the most interesting part is that STD results among people over the age of 50 have increased by 250%. And there's at least six different nursing homes and assisted living facilities in my area that have STD outbreaks. And they're contributing so much that gonorrhea is becoming incurable. And my favorite part is going out to these nursing homes and assisted living facilities and having to test these people, and I'm supposed to re-educate them. But do you really think 95-year-old Gertrude is gonna [care] about what I say after she’s been homie-hopping with every single male on the unit?
And I was just recently at a facility with 60 residents and all 60 tested positive for chlamydia, which is the most common STD for people over the age of 50.
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110points
#20
I'm an air traffic controller, and there are about 139 Federal standalone air traffic control towers in the United States. I work at one and every night, about 84 of those, about 60%, shut down and all the controllers go home and there's nobody there to work traffic, and then they come back in the morning and reopen. And during those hours when the control tower is closed, it's the pilot's responsibility to talk to other pilots and make sure that they're not going to hit each other.
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104points