“Everybody Hates Me Until They Need Me”: 30 Professions That Are Underestimated Until People Need Them In Emergency Situations

One of the first options that many people thought of are lawyers. From ambulance chasers to sleazy defense attorneys, there are so many examples of legal professionals who bend rules or generally are bad-mannered. But, as the question states, there are times when you really really need a legal professional. Lawyers can help you avoid a predatory contract or help you obtain damages when a neighbor floods your apartment. 

Lawyers' poor reputation is actually a time-honored tradition at this point. Shakespeare alludes to it in Henry VI, Part 2 (act 4, scene 2, line 73, if you are particularly curious). When a group of pretenders to the throne are discussing how to improve the nation, one offers a simple idea: “The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.” This is presented as a reasonable idea. If a line like that can get a laugh almost 500 years later, that shows something. 

Historically, lawyers have been a tool of the powerful to keep and legitimize their power. A regular person’s interaction with one would normally be costly and unpleasant. 19th-century American short story writer and journalist Ambrose Bierce defined litigation as "a machine which you go into as a pig and come out as a sausage.” This was also intended as a joke, though no doubt many people at the time lost their livelihoods and freedom to lawyers working in the interest of industrialists and other powerful groups.

Another common option where those salespeople who contact you at the strangest time to suggest you update your car's extended warranty. While this doesn’t sound so bad, the main reason most people hate them is the fact that it’s generally just a scam. These scammers want to get some data about you, like your social security number, credit card information, driver’s license number, or bank account information. This can then be used to defraud you in the future.

While scammers are truly detestable, sometimes your car’s warranty or insurance really has ended. And since most people don’t keep their car insurance or warranty expiration dates marked on a calendar, someone needs to remind them. But let’s face it dear pandas, even if you didn’t know that many of these callers were scammers, most of us deeply dislike cold calls from strangers.