“What’s The Dark Secret About Your Profession That The General Public Doesn’t Know?” (20 Answers)

Every profession has its untold truths; those behind-the-scenes moments that rarely see the light of the day. Think of it as peeking behind the curtain of your favourite play and realizing it’s held together by duct tape and last-minute improvisation.

Recently, a provocative question lit up Reddit. “What’s the dark secret about our profession that the general public doesn’t know?” The responses poured in, with insiders from industries like healthcare, education, law, and hospitality spilling the tea on the unvarnished realities of their jobs.

From jaw-dropping revelations to unsettling truths, these stories might change how you view the world-and the people keeping it running. Ready to uncover some secrets? Let’s dive into the hidden side of working life.

#1. The Criminal Justice System is a Business

T-Rat93, cottonbrosturdio (not the actual image)

Used to be a police officer.

The amount of unspoken rules about making sure we have high amounts of arrests was crazy. Demonstrating high arrest numbers meant we got federal / state grant money. this kept the prosecutor employed along with the entire court system, it also showed the town / city we needed a larger budget cause of all the arrests.

The entire criminal justice is literally a giant business that profits off the backs of the public.

#2. Schools Lie About Their Performances

BagelwithQueefcheese, Emily Ranquist (not the actual image)

Professors are regularly pressured into passing failing students to keep up graduation levels. I even had the registrar go into the system and change grades. Let’s just say I have seen my fair share of students who failed my science course but were passed by admins who are now building your bridges, interstates, buildings,levees, and multi-level parking lots.

#3. The Mysterious Art of Coding!

CttJim, Tim Gouw (not the actual image)

Software development. I barely know what I’m doing, and my projects are built on a house of cards of legacy code. The guy i learned from sometimes knows less than me. Someone asked if my API is REST, and i was like “no. Wait…” looked it up. “Oh. Yes, yes it is. “

An app i made on a whim to help manage some things internally is about to be sold to the UN to monitor equipment for a considerable sum. I’m just winging it here!

#4. Milk is Milk is Milk

DirtPiranha, Quang Nguyen Vinh (not the actual image)

It’s not my current profession, but I worked at a dairy bottling plant a few years back. Anyone that’s ever driven past a dairy would see 4 huge silos. These contain the milk; fat free, 1%, 2%, and whole. This means that every label is getting the exact same milk. A supermarket isn’t going to have multiple suppliers for one product, so rest assured that if you are getting milk from a grocery store, it’s all the same, go with the cheapest option. This applies only to standard milk, not ‘specialty’ stuff.

#5. Be Careful Who You Let Do Your Roof

bgtsd, Markus Winkler (not the actual image)

I work for a roofing supply company. Both in the warehouse and on the truck making deliveries. The amount of damaged materials we send out to peoples houses, simply just to get it out of our inventory, is astronomical.

This causes a few issues for everyone that isn’t us. To list a few, it could cause leaks in your roof, shingles to simply fly off in the wind, vents to clog. Or the most common issue, which is the customer has to buy “Better material”. Which isn’t taken off the original ticket order and comes out of pocket. Meaning sometimes people pay 150% to 175% more for a roof than what it would normally cost. So a 20k roof turns into a 33k roof. If not way more.

All of that simply so our material looks better to the eye when you come in to order stuff. And most of that goes into the salesman’s pocket via commission, so they won’t do much about throwing away anything or sending out better material. Unless a bigger company lines his pockets prior.

My advice, don’t get a roof redone unless insurance covers every bit of it.

#6. You’ll Be Glad You’re Dead!

PathosMai, Los Muertos Crew (not the actual image)

During an autopsy, we will not take care with your organs and stuff them back in any old how so they fit back in your chest cavity.

#7. Want A Superpower? Be Nice To This Surgeon

Neither_Cod_992, Vidal Balielo Jr. (not the actual image)

Surgeon here. More of a positive secret. Sometimes I add in an extra organ for my favorite patients during surgeries. Tell me you like to drink and seem like a nice person? I just might graft in an extra kidney and maybe a spare liver lobe for you if I have one handy. You’re welcome! Our secret.

#8. The Drab Reality of Business Ownership

onaplinth, Ketut Subiyanto (not the actual image)

Contrary to public opinion, when you have your own business, the hourly wage is pretty low, because you work all day, every day, even when you’re not “at work.” You’re the first person in every morning, and the last one to leave at night. And you don’t actually take a wheelbarrow full of money to the bank every day.

#9. All Aboard!

ChaoticGoodPanda, Pixabay (not the actual image)

Your airplane is probably broken in several areas, but we’re going to fly it anyway.

#10. Security Guards Are Not Cops

HeyTuesdayPigInaPoke, Ron Lach (not the actual image)

Security guard: In an active shooter event, we’re not going to protect your a*s. We’re heading to the nearest safe exit and calling the cops.

#11. Sly Serum Scams

ThePainCream, Lyeta1_1 Kaboompics.com (not the actual image)

When they make a pain cream, they put in ingredients to make you “feel” something, like menthol, because it’s associated with “doing something” or “working”. Simple not feeling anything (or less pain) is not associated with effecacy.

It’s a counter irritant. It’s just playing brain games, essentially. Your brain is bothered by the menthol or what have you, so it pays attention to that for a little bit, and since that irritation is profoundly less annoying than pain, you sense it as pain relief. Really you just distract your pain receptors for a bit and confused your brain.

#12. Don’t Read This If You Are Sleeping In a Hotel

allthecrazything, ODB247, Castorly Stock (not the actual image)

A boutique hotel I worked at didn’t wash comforters unless they had too. And even then you really had to push. I was pulled to help with housekeeping fairly regularly in the busy season, found a quilt with blood on it – sent it to laundry. It was sent back 5 mins for being “clean enough” 🤢🤮

My housekeepers told me it was normal. I was horrified. I cringe staying at hotels and take a blanket when I can.

The hotel where I just stayed used a sheet under and on top of the comforter. Everything is white now so they can just bleach it all. I briefly worked cleaning rooms and doing laundry at a hotel in the early 2000’s and they had dark colored comforters with very bust patterns to hide the dirt because even back then they didn’t wash them.

#13. Making Money Off Mental Illness

jlverno, cottonbro studio (not the actual image)

I worked at a mental health facility. They were all about image and money. Very few clients were ever discharged. They were far more interested in the money than actually helping people.

#14. The Dehumanization of Hospice Patients

jjon670, Kampus Production (not the actual image)

I work in medical delivery strictly to hospice patients. As you can imagine, they die frequently. We pick the equipment up to be returned to the warehouse and sanitise it for redelivery to other patients. It’s a shoestring industry with tiny profit margins. Every single company out there is picking up mattresses, slapping a disposable cover on them and putting them back out at the next stop. Logistically, there is no possible way that everyone in the industry isn’t doing it. I personally refuse to do it. I’ve had a regional vp bitch at me about it and say we were in business to make money, not to deliver clean equipment to someone that was going to die the next day. Even if you don’t account for urine and faecal matter, there are still roaches and bed bugs getting moved around all the time.

#15. Your IT Guy is Probably Judging You

1d0m1n4t3, Wundef Media (not the actual image)

IT guy, I Google or reddit half my problems. Your computers I buy from a place you could buy them from also I just mark them up 35% or more. I could care less if you look at porn at work until I’m told to care. We talk about end users like they have the intelligence of a rock and we judge you on your technical skills. More techs than you want to know about will search your personal device for nudes given then chance.

#16. Wanna Know What Heavy Machinery Workers Talk About During Lunch?

killbillydeluxe, Tim Fisk (not the actual image)

Former heavy machinery worker. Everything from in facility work to road and construction work.

Every single guy…I mean every guy, that operates a backhoe or asphalt roller or bulldozer absolutely LOVES and gets a kick when we see kids watching and being interested in what we are doing. We all want to stop and let them on the machine and allow them to run it, but are only forced to not to because of rules and insurance.

When we get together for lunch we aren’t talking about the woman with big boobs we saw. We’re talking about the little boy in the red hoodie who clapped when we dumped a shovel. And not one guy teases you for thinking it was great, because otherwise the job is just grinding and our bosses suck.

I figured we needed a bit of positivity on this thread.

#17. Your Games May Be Playing You!

NoMarsupial159, Yan Krukau (not the actual image)

I’m a game developer who used to work on mobile games before moving to PC development. Mobile game developers know exactly how much you’ve spent on the game and when so they can target you with a pop-up at just the right time to get your money. This is a fairly automatic process though not someone sitting in a room watching you. A lot of people know this so I’ll throw in a bonus secret – with regional pricing people in second and third world countries are paying a tiny fraction of what you pay for the same MTX. In first world countries it’s all about finding the whale who will spend BIG on a game but in second/third countries they just try to maximise volumes of sale. Remember, an MTX usually cost about a day or less than that’s work to implement but from then on costs the company exactly £0. You are buying thin air or worse yet just the opportunity to keep playing the game.

Super bonus third secret that I’m sure isn’t much of a secret – mobile gaming ads are downright lies honestly. It’s never the primary gameplay loop. It’ll be in the game somewhere but limited access and never as good as it looks in the ad.

I just straight up don’t recommend mobile gaming to people any more. There may be some good games out there but the majority are quite exploitative. Gambling but without the part where the company ever pays you any money. You just get a shiny hat or some bs.

#18. You Gotta Be On Something To Balance Sheets

That_Weird_Girl_107, Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual image)

Accounting has a very high addiction/alcoholism rate. There is a very high chance your accountant was drunk or high while prepping your return.

#19. Entry Law is a Slog

AdaptiveVariance, cottonbro studio (not the actual image)

I’m a lawyer and I think people would be surprised at the generally poor level of lawyer work and how most actual work is done by stressed out, overworked and underpaid 20-somethings. I don’t know, maybe I’m a crotchety old guy or maybe I’m experienced enough to stop worrying about myself as much and pay more attention to everyone else’s fuckups. I know Belichick said most football games were lost rather than won.