Most of us have a general idea of what certain jobs look like—from what we see in movies, on social media, or just passing by. But the truth? A lot of the wildest, weirdest, or most surprising parts of the job happen behind the scenes, far away from public view. And those are the stories that deserve the spotlight.
So, I asked the Bored Panda community to pull back the curtain and share the things about their jobs that outsiders rarely see or understand. From unexpected perks to absolute chaos, these behind-the-scenes confessions might just change how you look at certain careers forever.
#1
Despite how basic it sounds and no it's not a stupid question. When someone in I.T asks you if you've tried rebooting your computer, we're not being lazy, and no we're not quoting "The I.T Crowd". The vast majority of computer issues can be resolved by simply rebooting your machine. So please. Try it before you call because they will ask you to try it.
#2
Grocery store stocker here: If you are shopping close to closing time, and the item you want is empty, tough luck. We are not equipped to have backup stock just in case. We fill the shelves overnight with a new delivery so it's there when we open. Just to placate you, we will wander around the backroom and hope you get bored and leave. Also we don't stock certain products i.e. coke, Pepsi, lays chips. Those are brought in by vendors that stock it themselves. They only bring in what will fill shelves. Not a lot of room to keep extra cases around. It may seem like we have tons of space, but that is not the case. The backroom is openly designed to take in pallet deliveries by several people at a time, and be broken down to take to the floor. At best we keep the bare minimum of popular stuff i.e. water. Yes we do run out of water if a hurricane is approaching. Depending on landfall and our warehouse, it's not deemed safe for our drivers to deliver sometimes. Hope that helps anyone who can't find the product they're looking for. We're not lazy, but most people assume we have everything you need 24/7. Definitely not the case, nor realistic.
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#3
Might just be relevant to the UK, but you don't get seen quicker in the Emergency Department if you arrive by ambulance. The ED staff will do their own triage and determine what priority you will be. So, if you arrive at the ED in an ambulance for your hurty foot, you will more than likely get put in the waiting room like any other low priority issue...
#4
Software Engineer: You may be disgusted by how badly it works. I'm amazed that it works at all.
#5
Generally speaking school admin don't care about your kid and will do anything to help their bottom line. Eve if it means cutting programs and resources kids need. Teachers are constantly fighting to get your kids help and are often ignored. We have been told sorry can't get enough money for a reading interventionist. But they can find money to give themselves raises.
#6
Insurance companies do not care about you. They are for-profit companies, and the bottom line is way more important than you.
#7
Former auto mechanic: yes; those add-on fluid maintenance services (with the exception of engine oil) are a rip-off. Most modern fluids are designed to last 10 years in a car but the quality of the other components has gone down over the years. Your transmission for example, is much more likely to suffer an unrelated internal failure than it is to last long enough for the fluid to be a problem. It's not the mechanic's fault though as those policies are usually directed by the company to make money.
#8
In my state in Australia, as well as the current issues with our Working With Children's Check system, the assessment and rating system for childcare/out of school care is deeply flawed. Services routinely put on extra staff before their assessment comes up and pretends their service runs that way all the time so they get a better rating. So if you are a parent, don't use their rating as your only consideration when enrolling your children. Hopefully this practice is hampered by the shorter notice of when assessment will happen but so far it hasn't.
#9
Not so much a secret but rather confirming suspicions, but some health inspectors absolutely work on bribes. I've worked in several restaurants with "A" ratings that were anything but. I even submitted an anonymous request while working at a place, and despite there being no soap in the hand washing sinks, many out-of-date and unlabeled items, and giant 5-gallon, unmarked buckets of water-down bleach used as sanitizer, the place received a 98%.
#10
Wildlife rehab Vet- when you bring me in a cute little baby bunny you 'bravely' tore out of a hawk's talons, I do not think you are a hero, I'm actually going to be really, really annoyed. Most of the time in those situations, whatever you "saved" ends up dying from its injuries anyway, and now you stole someone's meal. Even if it was a bunny we spent time and care raising anyway, I'd still be annoyed. What happens now is either the predator has to go out and catch something else, or it starves to death; either way, a life was wasted. The main goal of wildlife rehab is to fix problems in wild animals caused by HUMAN interference and/or domestic animals. I don't mind trying to save a bird your cat brought home, since that is something humans cause that affects the ecosystem, but for all I know, that hawk was just released by me last week and was trying to do its job and survive. Even if it was a bunny I just spent weeks caring for, I know when it's released, it is probably going to eventually get eaten by something because that is their role in the ecosystem. The public bringing in prey they "rescued" from other wildlife is becoming more frequent and a super alarming trend I don't think we spend enough time educating people against
#11
Architects are perceived as prestigious jobs where I live. It took me 8 years of my career to actually earn an average income in the country.
I remember my professor saying that if you want to be an architect - marry rich. I laughed then, as I didn’t like what he was designing, but oh man, he was right.
Also, it seems that some other jobs have bonus systems or gratis perks like books when you work for a publisher. As an architect, you never get the chair you picked 😂 And most of the stuff you design cannot really afford yourself.
#12
If you think a handwashing or glove change occurs between flipping a steak, making a sandwich, and making a salad, you've never worked in a restaurant. Always order cooked food. Make your salads at home
#13
Americans: ever wonder why charities always talk of those generous donors willing to match whatever you contribute, 2-for-1? It's because that grass-roots campaign isn't grass-roots at all. They are financed by a small number of huge donors, and they want to continue their tax-shelter status despite tax laws that require tax-exempt non-profits to get at least 1/3 of their funding from the general public, and not from federal grants or one big sugar Daddy. That's why so many "charities" will spend so much more money raising funds than actually helping the people they claim to help.
#14
Customer service agent - if you are annoying, shouting, entitled, demanding a$$hole - nope, we won't help you, won't do anything. No escalation to manager, no extra offer.
Most people don't realise we have all correspondence sent recorded, so those chase letters you never received - yeah, not our problem, we sent them, talk to the postman.
It's miraculous that people don't receive any statements, chase letters, but somehow they surely receive letters from solicitors chasing them.
#15
Train driver here. Aside from the obvious trains are silent and will k**l you so keep off the tracks, there is the less obvious touch the outside of the train as little as possible. We hit animals fairly often and sometimes the sides of the train get splattered. Whatever you do don't make out through the closed window like one couple I saw. Even if the train isn't splattered it isn't clean enough to lick.
#16
Speaking from over 20 years in the 811 industry, when you call 811 (required by federal law in the USA at no cost to the caller) before you break ground please be aware, those locate tickets are usually processed and cleared as "no locate" by a person in an office, sometimes hundreds of miles away, that has never been to the location you are digging. They depend on in-house GIS/GPS information and what you said in the work description of your ticket request, and all of it is usually really bad or completely wrong.
If you ever doubt that a pipeline or other buried line is closer than the Positive Response says, then call 811 again and request a meeting with the facility owner to clarify. You might be shocked to know, that the locator is the only one who actually knows exactly where that line is.
The maps most companies use are usually old, have preliminary/construction GIS data, or old survey data that the GIS was never updated on, and they use that to "clear" a ticket in the office. For stats, google underground utilities "near miss" data or the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) website. Good resources there, and free kid stuff to teach them how to watch out for danger underground.
Stay safe and happy digging!
#17
I'm a retail worker and customers often treat us like we’re invisible or dumb, yet we know everything about the store’s secret discounts, stock glitches, and when stuff is REALLY coming back!
#18
Human Resources here:
The people in charge of leading the company usually have no clue what they're doing. They are either paying overpriced consultants to "teach" them, then regurgitating all their BS jargon to sound good, or they have people under them that know what they're doing and are the ones actually keeping the business afloat. Stop putting these CEOs on a pedestal when most of them got there because they were born or married into it.
Second - I know, everyone says HR is there for the company, they don't care about employees, etc. but there are some good HR folks out there, who genuinely care about helping employees and doing the right thing, even if it's not what's best for the company. I've unfortunately seen good people get screwed by the system because they disregarded the advice of HR and did the opposite, thinking we were "out to get them". No man, my paycheck isn't big enough to make me sacrifice my morals.
Lastly - document EVERYTHING. Sure your manager may have told you lots of great stuff, but if you didn't get it in writing, it didn't happen. Yes, perhaps you really did slip on a puddle at work and tweak your back, but if you didn't report it and get it in writing, the work comp insurance will probably deny your claim. ALWAYS GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING.
#19
Thrift stores, at least the major one I work at,
WE DO NOT SELL DIRTY, USED UNDERWEAR.
Even if they look unused, we rag them out (toss them in the bin for clothing recycling). They must be found in unopened packages, and/or with the tags still on them and be obviously brand new. We remove the packaging as a standard procedure to hang them up, as that's how the company wants us to. But even if the brand new underwear has any sort of flaw or mark on them, we toss them out. We, as staff, do not want to handle and put out your crusty, nasty underwear, either. We do not want our customers to have to deal with that grossness, too.
Another thing,
Now, I've not been trained as a grader (the people who put the prices on the tags.) Not every thrift shop employee is granted that authority and privilege.
But I do work alongside the graders and know the basics. They analyze the items, make a quick decision and enter a grade (hence 'grader') into a computer that will calculate what that price will be for the item, based on the grade (A, B, C, etc). If it's a low enough grade, they will toss out the item. Yes, s**t gets overlooked because we have daily and weekly quotas management is always on their backs about. The whole soft side production team is expected to do 700 items a day.
#20
Legal - If you did it, don't b******t us; just say you did it. It makes us look stupid when we go into bat for you and you'll likely cop more of a punishment than if you just say "yep, I did it; I effed up". It's also a waste of everybody's time as there's a decent chance we'll figure out you're lying anyway, and you've just spent however long getting advice on a situation that isn't applicable to you. We're more likely to bend over backwards for someone that stuffed up but is honest about it than someone who lies to us.
#21
Many daycare teachers shouldn't be trusted around kids because of how negligent they are. Doubly so for special education daycare. They're also paid jack shít
#22
I am a college professor and if you try hard and are nice I will bump up your grade and pass you.
