#1
Okay, I have actually tried to dispel this myth before and have received massive amounts of pushback, but I guess I’ll just keep slamming my head into a wall on this issue.
When a crew goes out to patch a pothole (and there are a lot of potholes in my area due to the rapid freeze-thaw cycle), they need to set up traffic control around the area, then clean out the pothole to be filled. They remove dirt and debris (mostly trash and leaves), and then chip the surrounding material back to “good pavement”.
Once that is done, THEN they can call for the fill material - and until the fill material arrives they have to WAIT.
Why? Well, for one thing, the fill has to be mixed up fresh at the plant, and then it has a very limited shelf-life. They can’t call for it until they know exactly how much they need, and they can’t call ahead of time because once the mix cools down it is useless - unless it is in the patch. So they can’t just order more than they need because where are they going to dispose of the excess? Not to mention that asphalt isn’t exactly cheap.
They can’t leave and start cleaning a new pothole because drivers WILL ignore the traffic cones and drive into the hole. Also, with traffic going by, more debris will end up in the hole, blown by the drafts caused by passing cars. So they have one guy watching the traffic and another guy making sure the hole stays clean and the rest of the crew cleans up their tools and get ready for the hot asphalt mix to arrive. The crew chief fills out the necessary paperwork, but they are usually sitting in the truck, at least. (The crew is usually only 4 guys, including the chief, anyway.)
When the mix arrives, they fill the pothole (possibly in several layers), compact the material and protect it while it cools so some idiot driver doesn’t drive over the fresh (hot) patch, melting their tires into the asphalt and damaging both tires and patch.
As they wait for the patch to cool/ cure, they clean their tools again (asphalt is sticky and you can’t get it off once it has hardened), then race off to do the next pothole.
It is hard labor and takes real strength and stamina to do. But the drivers going past are mad at the inconvenience (and would be even angrier if the potholes didn’t get patched) and often yell offensive things like, “get back to work!” when the men ARE working - but not actually using a pick or a shovel. Measuring the holes, checking the surrounding material and ensuring the patch takes *IS* real work.
I’ve heard the same complaint while waiting for the next concrete truck (which is especially fun when the truck is caught in traffic because of the idiot drivers who have to slow down to yell at the “lazy” construction workers) or basically any construction that occurs near traffic. “New” construction or construction on roads that are closed are so much calmer and easier to work.
So, construction workers who don’t appear to be “working” (i.e.: they aren’t swinging a pick, sledgehammer or shovel) aren’t “lazy” - there are other parts to their job that take more skill than muscle. And I challenge anyone who yells, “Get back to work,” at a construction worker to swing a pick, sledgehammer or shovel for fifteen minutes straight and find out just how important it is to have some rest periods in between.
Dogen explained to Bored Panda that the reason people often romanticize other careers is because they only see the highlights—not the hustle. "Social media and stories from friends can create a filtered reality where every job appears glamorous or easy. But behind every success story lies countless hours of grind, sacrifices, and failures that often go unnoticed," he said.
"Take being a writer, for example. Many imagine lounging in a cozy café, effortlessly crafting bestselling novels. In reality, writing demands constant self-doubt, endless rewrites, and long periods of isolation. It’s taken me two-and-a-half years to write my latest book, Millionaire Milestones: Easy Steps to Seven Figures (out May 2025). Who knows if it will be another bestseller? What I do know is I’ve poured everything into it," Dogen shared with us.
"When I started Financial Samurai in July 2009, I didn’t make a dime for two years. Still, I committed to publishing three posts a week for 10 years to see if I could build something meaningful. A decade later, that promise paid off—Financial Samurai is now one of the leading independently-owned personal finance sites, drawing over 1 million organic pageviews a month. The secret to success? Unwavering commitment and consistency."
#2
If they are lucky, they have one daily planning period in addition to lunch, but there is no way that all the lessons can be planned and all the homework and tests can be handled in one period per day. Teachers have lots of homework plus grading and record keeping after their normal hours.
Often the “planning period" is used to talk with students having problems or to do tutoring. Sometimes, it's spent observing other teachers in an effort to maintain fresh perspective. Sometimes, it's spent covering for another teacher with a medical or personal emergency where there was no time to recruit a regular substitute.
There are faculty meetings and occasional after school in-service certifications. There are consults with the department chair and administrators regarding student discipline issues. Everything needs to be documented.
(There is never -nor has there ever been - any overtime pay for any of this!)
There are evening parent conferences for which teachers are grateful because it means the student has caring support.
School holidays are catch up for lesson planning, test preparation, grading et cetera.
(There's more, but this is enough to provide a sampling.)
By the way, teachers teach for the love and empowerment of their students.
#3
Statistically you’re more likely to win the lottery. I am one of the very few authors who makes a living writing novels, and it’s not a good living—I earn less than an average fast food worker.
Dogen said that romanticizing other careers is a natural way to escape the frustrations of your own job. That being said, no job is 'perfect.' "It’s a powerful reminder that every profession comes with trade-offs. True fulfillment comes from pursuing something that aligns with your values and goals—not chasing someone else’s idealized version of success."
We asked Dogen what advice he'd give young people who are uncertain of which career path they might actually want to take. His advice was to "start broad, but start somewhere." In short, you shouldn't stress out over finding your 'forever job' right away. That would be unrealistic.
"Experiment with different industries and roles to figure out what you enjoy and where your strengths lie. Take on side hustles after your normal working hours to build even more experience. Remember, your first job is just a stepping stone—it doesn’t define your entire career," Dogen told Bored Panda.
"Also, focus on building transferable skills like communication, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. These will help you pivot to new opportunities as your interests and the job market evolve. Please do not underestimate being a kind and helpful person."
#4
#5
Some people are absolutely paranoid to ask for special requests or to send their food back if it isn't what they expected it to be, worried that we will spit or otherwise soil their food. I have worked in over a dozen different restaurants and I have literally not seen this happen even once. Asking my fellow employees, they all say the same thing. We get a thousand special requests a day. It's part of the job. Even if you ask for something weird and annoying, if it's possible, we'll do it no questions asked.
I once had a lady ask for three different sauces on her pizza and wanted us to build dough walls to separate them. I had a guy who insisted that his steak be perfectly square because someone once told him that all the most tender steaks are square (protip: square steaks are no more tender than other steaks; look for good marbleization instead). Your request probably isn't that weird anyway.
Besides, as a manager, if I ever even thought one of my cooks was doing something as disgusting as tampering with someone's food, I would show them the door that very second. It's just not worth getting your restaurant shut down and everyone losing their jobs for nothing more than a cheap, mean-spirited laugh.
#6
FACT: 95% of all writers make less than minimum wage from their writing.
Dogen also had some great tips to share with aspiring bookwriters. He urged them to treat writing like a business. "Writing a book is only part of the equation; marketing, networking, and self-promotion are equally important. Don’t quit your day job until you have consistent income from your writing," he said.
"Write regularly, even if it’s just for 30 minutes a day. Publish blog posts, submit articles, or start a newsletter to build your audience. Your newsletter is one of the most powerful lines of communication with your fans as you build a brand and a following," he said.
"The road to becoming a successful author is long, but if you’re willing to put in the work and stay persistent, it can be deeply rewarding. Most importantly, don’t wait for 'perfect inspiration.' Just start. Every sentence you write is progress."
#7
Yes, strictly speaking, I can probably fix your computer in the same way that a mathematician can probably help you with your accounting, but it’s not my job, and there are professionals trained to do that.
Similarly, linguistics refers neither to learning foreign languages nor to the study of “proper grammar.”
#8
To most they are simply a builder and little respect for the skills they have and how they acquired them , but you would be still living in caves if we're not for them . People take construction for granted but there is a great deal of skill involved in its production and knowledge to get it from bare soil to what you see in its completion .
#9
To take consistently good photographs, you have to know how to compose a photo, finding just the right angles, whether it’s a portrait or a landscape or architecture, or whatever. You have to understand light and what a difference bright lights at different angles makes or what happens when the sky is overcast or the lighting is otherwise diffused. You have to understand how ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and focal length all work together (or against each other) to affect exposure.
In the hands of a good photographer, as long as the camera doesn’t have a lens that is complete garbage, pretty any camera will take good pictures.
Now, that’s not to discount professional and high end amateur cameras. They definitely make taking photographs easier, especially when your on a hurry. Sports photographers, for example, need to be able to “set it and forget it, when it come to the exposure, using a fast shutter speed so they can focus (pun fully intended) on capturing the action. Portrait and wedding photographers are going to spend money on short telephoto lenses with high end glass to get the most flawless and flattering photos possible without having to spend a lot of time in post correcting aberrations.
But, once again, it’s the photographer that really makes the difference. My 5 year old granddaughter has a little fixed focus digital camera that her mom paid about $35 for. It’s 8MP, so not bad for looking at pix on a computer screen. But if I were to use it, my photos would look so much better than my granddaughter’s because she just points it at something and presses the button whereas I would look at the view screen, compose the photo making sure I’m within optimal distance for the photo to be in focus, check the lighting, and then take the photo.
As per LinkedIn’s annual ‘Jobs on the Rise’ list, the fastest-growing occupations in the United States in 2025 include artificial intelligence (AI) engineers, AI consultants, physical therapists, workforce development managers, and travel advisors.
Event coordinator positions are also in demand in the American labor market, as are directors of development, outside sales representatives, sustainability specialists, and security guards.
Other occupations that made LinkedIn’s list for 2025 include community planners, AI researchers, treasury managers, land agents, grants consultants, directors of employee relations, chief growth officers, bridge engineers, private equity analysts, research librarians, nuclear engineers, advanced practice providers, chief revenue officers, instrumentation and control engineers, and commission managers.
#10
There are people who do that. We call them “polyglots”. Some people are both linguists and polyglots. However, most polyglots are not linguists, and most linguists are not polyglots.
Linguistics is about studying language and how it works. You poke it, trip over it, push it over, split it apart, put it back together, and then let it wander around again and see what it does now. One of the things I love about syntax, for instance, is that papers on it are full of brilliantly absurd sentences that could never happen - McCawley’s F**k you or I’ll take away your teddy bear![1] comes to mind - because you’re trying to figure out why those sentences are so ridiculous. Any English speaker could tell me that “Want you to must that the chair yellow what?” is wrong, but most couldn’t give a general reason without serious thought.
That’s what linguistics deals with. It also deals with how words are put together, where sounds go and what they do, how we make those sounds, how those words and sounds change over time, how and why different people think certain ways of using words and sounds are bad, where the meaning of those words comes from, how that meaning works, and how and where in the brain all that meaning comes from in the first place.
#11
Half of the people in my department go to church, and lean center-right.
Many of the social-justice oriented or progressive students we teach already had such sympathies before coming to university. I can’t get my students to put away their smartphones in class; I certainly can’t dictate their political beliefs.
#12
LinkedIn’s editor-at-large for jobs and career development, Andrew Seaman, told CNBC Make It that these jobs reflect two dominant trends currently shaping the labor market in the US. First of all, you can see the growing adoption of AI tech. However, at the same time, you’re also seeing a surge in demand for in-person services and experiences.
“Paying attention to where demand is can help you identify opportunities you might not have considered before, which can help you stand out in a crowded job market. For example, maybe you don’t want to work as a security guard, but if there’s a strong need for security guards, chances are that companies that hire and train security guards will need people to manage their payroll and operations. Ultimately, there’s a wide range of opportunities for those willing to get creative with their careers,” Seaman said.
#13
There has been some argument about this being correct, so where is what the FCC says. “The plan requires that within two years, carriers must transmit 911 caller position accurate to within 50 meters to the 911 call center in at least 40 percent of cases. Within five years,carriers must transmit that location information accurately within 60 percent of cases.”
So as you can see, calling 911 and not saying anything doesn’t guarantee police officers or medical personal can locate you. They may be able to but they may not be able to.
#14
#15
No. Tenure merely means you cannot be dismissed for teaching or researching something controversial, at least not without a hearing.
However, professors can (and frequently are) dismissed for failure or neglect to do their duties satisfactorily, for breach of contract, for unethical or unprofessional behavior, or simply because of the college’s financial exigency.
Statista, reporting on data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, noted that some of the most in-demand jobs between 2022 and 2032 are likely to include: home health and personal care aides, software developers, restaurant cooks, stockers and order fillers, registered nurses, hand laborers and freight workers, stock and material movers, general and operations managers, medical and health services managers, and light truck drivers.
In other words, there’s a projected demand for occupations with a focus on healthcare, logistics, leadership, and software.
#16
#17
#18
Meanwhile, a YouGov poll found that American teenagers typically dream of becoming professional athletes, doctors, nurses, YouTubers, streamers, actors, musicians, professional gamers, and artists.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions that people have about your work, dear Pandas? What was your dream job growing up? What would the ideal job look like for you now? If you had to do it all over again, would you stick to your current career path or try something completely different? Let us know!
#19
That we are application gurus. If your Excel works, you need to figure out how to insert the pivot table in lite green on the 2,891’st line of the 3rd worksheet.
We just make sure it works.
#20
I know very little about shotguns and rifles and have only competed in a few matches where we used those. I know very little about gunsmithing or working on firearms beyond basic maintenance and know very little about tactics other than strategy on how to win shooting matches. I was just a good handgun shooter.