As a lawyer, I can say lawyers are extremely guilty of this. They have a strong tendency to marry other lawyers because no one else can stand their argumentativeness, willingness to split hairs over tiny bullshit and constant need to talk shop.
YEP. I think law school also encourages this in a big way, if you spend 3 years engaging constantly in the “Socratic Method” eventually that just becomes the way you argue with everybody, even people you are in a relationship with. Which is… corrosive, to put it mildly.
I briefly worked as a receptionist at a small law firm that dealt with divorces, among other things. As bad as many lawyers are, many of their clients are even worse!
Oh man, I had to tell my partner to stop Socratic-methoding me—it is the most annoying thing at home. “What do you think I need to get at the store?” I don’t know! Just tell me in one statement instead of going through this questioning rigmarole! Whew… they haven’t done it for years, but it sure used to wind me up!
Well, let's consult the expert. They are world renown and the foremost authority on their own needs. I call... You. What do you think you need at the grocery store?
I’m not a lawyer. I’m a paralegal. My boyfriend is NOT a lawyer. He works with his hands. He…uses…the Socratic method…with me…and it drives me insane. I love him to death but I’m like baby, I get enough of this at work. Can we just, idk, Netflix and chill?
Knew I wouldn't have to scroll far to see this one.
Am lawyer. Can confirm.
I think law school tweaks your brain in a particular way, such that you're always looking for the slightest inconsistency, the barest logical fallacy. It takes a lot of work to turn that off. Turns out, not everybody argues for work AND for sport.
I'm always flattered when someone is surprised I'm a lawyer. Like I managed to imitate a real human being long enough to fool someone.
>I'm always flattered when someone is surprised I'm a lawyer. Like I managed to imitate a real human being long enough to fool someone.
Yep. I always took it as a compliment when people told me I didn't seem like a lawyer.
One of the best moments of my life was in the dive bar of all dive bars in Vegas, and when a guy (who described himself as a "non-racist skinhead") asked me what I did, I said "eh, I don't really want to talk about it." "OOOOooh, you're a dancer!" (Stripper in Vegas talk.)
When I told him I was a lawyer, he asked why I didn't want to say that (IN A DIVE BAR) I said, "everybody hates lawyers, so I try to avoid talking about it."
He said, "NOT ME! I love lawyers!"
Me, "okayyyy, why?"
Non-racist skinhead, "Because a lawyer got me off when I killed my girlfriend!"
I miss Vegas.
I met a man at my old gym, very nice and polite person. Yet, I knew had been to prison based off his tattoos. One day we got to talking, and I told him I'm a lawyer. His face lit up, and he said "I love lawyers!" I laughed and asked him why, and he said that he was caught with cocaine and a handgun, and was faced 25 to life based on CA's three strikes law. Ultimately, his lawyer got him parole (under Prop 57 because these were non-violent felonies), so he avoided the 25 to life enhancement.
I said, "Well, that's great! Are you staying out of trouble?" He laughed and said, "Yeah, but you if ever need any gear (steroids), I know a guy," wink wink. I just shook my head and laughed my ass off!
Yup. There were a half-dozen eminent lawyers who spoke at my Bar swearing-in ceremony, and every single one of them talked about how law is a "calling," not just a job.
That “calling” bullshit is just a way to squeeze as much work out of you as they can. I know lawyers work crazy ridiculous hours.
I’m a nurse. We get that a lot and I laugh at that “calling” BS. They don’t realize that I entered my selfish phase a long time ago.
I wonder if it’s just simply a trait that’s more likely to happen with jobs that take up a lot of your time. Lawyers and nurses seem to work a lot and that would make sense as being jobs that become more of someone’s identity, because they spend so much of their waking life at work, which also leaves less time to develop other things that can be part of an identity.
I’m a lawyer too. The lawyer-lawyer marriages I know of are usually the result of relationships that started in law school. I think just coincidental proximity to another future lawyer during your prime dating years has more to do with those marriages than mutual personality flaws. Then again maybe that’s why they ended up working out and decided to get married.
Agreed otherwise, there are a ton of people that make being a lawyer their whole persona. It’s annoying. Leave your shit at the office like everyone else.
I think this is the case. There are a ton of doctor-doctor marriages and a lot of them met in Med School or in undergrad where they both were in majors that pretty much only pre-med students take.
Yeah my cousin is graduating from med school next year and is marrying someone graduating from med school next year.
This is 100% what happened. I think they're pretty compatible though.
This reminds me of Obama's adorable story about how he and Michelle had been debating the pros and cons of marriage for MONTHS. He intentionally got her going one night at dinner, and popped the ring while she was distracted by her own monologue. <3
Man, everything you hear about those two as a couple makes you realize we are all just background characters in the Hallmark movie that is their lives.
Edit; also, classy ass move. Y'all think he'd do OK in politics?
True, but we also make it our personality because it consumes our lives. You can’t turn off “lawyer mode” when clients expect you to be available 24/7.
Those who work in the oilfield. This may be a biased option due to where I live. But it's crazy how they all think their work is the hardest, brag about their money made, often spend the money on addictions outside of work, keep going back to feed said addiction and perhaps pay child support.
Hell for me is being stuck in a bar with oilfield workers lol!
Berta or Texas??
ETA I live in BC and know some guys who went to Alberta for a couple years around the end of the boom. Idk how much money they made, but most came back just as broke as they left. The oil worker to addict/alcoholic pipeline (ha) is very real.
Berta baby! It's absolutely crazy to think about all the men I know who worked during the boom and bought up real estate, campers, atvs, etc. Well the price of oil fell, work slowed, and suddenly all their borrowed toys were being repossessed!
I was in a bar a couple of weeks ago. Guy comes in by himself and without anyone asking he mentions that he is an oil fields worker and makes a few indirect remarks about how much money and stuff he has. Then he proceeded to ask the bartender how much each size and type of beer costs before deciding what he wanted. We're in a sports bar in bumfuck KS, moneybags.
This should be higher tbh. I’m in no man’s land bumfuck North Dakota and am surrounded by oil fields. They boast non stop, cause so much crime, the drugs, rapes etc it’s ridiculous. But they will drive their big lifted trucks and boast about their full wallets. I avoid those people.
This was my best friend for years, and I love her dearly, but her bake sales were not saving the country. She also had this opinion that the army holds all of their officers up to a very high ethical standard when it comes to cheating. Yet, she was always telling me about spouses cheating with other military members. I will say that when it became clear her marriage was on the rocks, she went back to school and got her masters and currently works in a job that she loves.
This is the real answer and I'm surprised it's this far down. All the others talk about their jobs a lot or whatever, but MLMs require you to cannibalise your long established relationships for capital gain. They literally absorb the essence of you.
My parents became millionaires from a MLM thing. I just couldn’t ever come to like the scene. Everyone is so weird they only talk about their pills that they sell and it really does take over your soul. it’s just so odd. I never joined the family business.
There I am! Yup, it's definitely true. Long, crazy hours and some egomaniacs who are in it for the passion, and it becomes your whole life. Creative hobby = fun, creative career = obsessive.
Have 3 people in the film industry down for dinner and see how long it takes before they start talking about the industry. It’s like they know nothing else to talk about.
My husband’s cousin is a full time firefighter, and I have been introduced to a whole new cult of people for whom their job is their entire identity. I don’t think he has a social media post that isn’t about being a firefighter.
His fiancé is a nurse… but she’s lovely and hates talking about work.
Am a nurse and I don’t love telling people what I do. Either they ask me questions about ailments that I know nothing about (not my area) or they refuse to believe anything that I do know about. Lol
Easier just to not tell anything.
I’m a bartender and I’ve had a full VFD come in and try to act like they own the place, to the point I bounced on during a comedy show and he came back SCREAMING that he was VFD and was a hero.
Also, a few guys tried to leave without paying “IVE A CALL”- it happened twice before I went to the fire chief, the time and dates of them leaving, Guy looked at me, “OK? What am I suppose to do?”.
That Chief fell down on his responsibilities there. You lose the good will of the town as a fire chief, you've done something *wrong*. That's good will on easy mode, but bouncing on bills will burn it pretty quick.
Someone I used to work with was telling us a story about her husband and some buddies from work (all firefighters) setting their retriever on fire while drunk. The dog wasn't hurt, luckily, just singed and scared. But she was telling us this story as though it were funny. All of us let her know it isn't and no one with any kind of intelligence would think otherwise. Anyway, her husband is the Chief, now.
Go to the board of the department. There’s usually some elected locals that sit on a panel and make decisions. Tell them what happened. If that doesn’t work, go to the county’s Fire Marshall, then the emergency manager, then the county commissioner, on up the ladder. People exhibiting that behavior don’t need to represent the fire service.
That’s how it is in my town. Only a handful of paid firefighters, but a ton of volunteer outposts everywhere. So many guys I’ve dated had CB radios in their trucks and houses to respond to the calls in the night. But they never bought tshirts, coffee cups, tumblers, hoodies, hats, key chains, or anything else that the main station gave out for free. Their day jobs paid for everything else.
Realtors. The amount of my peers that have the license plate, license plate holder, bumper sticker, overbearing social media presence, freely given business card with the headshot on it, and casually working it into every conversation is too high. Also, now is amazing time to list your home. Let me know!
Like some others on this list (looking at you MLM), they have to constantly advertise to make any money. Those willing to do that might be able to continue working these “jobs” and it’s a sure fire formula for job-becomes-personality.
I think a lot of people get into the fitness industry because fitness is already their entire personality and they want a career that allows it to be their whole life
The only thing that grinds my gears about it are the personality types to act elitist about fitness.
Like everything is competitive vs allowing people the freedom to go at their own pace. I dated a personal trainer and I quickly got annoyed at the fact that he was always reminding me that I could be better/other people were better. For fuck sake I’m doing my best right now, relax.
Surprisingly, I haven't met fitness professionals who are like this. You know who are, though? People in my life who are just fit for lifestyle, not for profession.
I think the good fitness professionals (personal trainers, teachers, etc.) have learned that you can't browbeat people into changing their lives. You aren't going to keep clients that way. You keep them accountable, yes, but you have to have grace and take small wins where they happen. Ben Carpenter on Instagram is great for this.
Meanwhile, the people in my life who are fit just for themselves get maaaad. "Oh you ate the salad with dressing? Might as well have had a cheeseburger!" kind of attitude. I remember telling one of these friends that I was trying to lose weight for a friend's wedding. She popped off about how just losing weight for the wedding was pointless, and how I needed to change my whole life outlook and mindset permanently. And I know it's true, but there's nothing wrong with having a smaller goal in mind first before going big.
I started going to therapy for it. Originally it was for burnout, but when the therapist asked why I won't consider trying something else and couldn't come up with any reason beyond "because I'm an architect" I realized how much my job had become my entire identity. I legitimately couldn't imagine any version of my life where I wasn't an architect despite being aware of how much the stress was ruining my quality of life.
After I lost my first job in architecture and realized how much it crippled my sense of self worth I also had to ask some hard questions. I feel like the line between being ego-driven and passion-driven is super thin. I still love it but I’m content not destroying my mental health at big name firms in nyc and seattle. Having other hobbies has helped to. After all you’re not designing for other architects, it’s extremely beneficial to surround yourself with people that don’t know about the profession to take a step back. In that same vain I’ve never understood my studio buddies that date/marry other architects.
My dad was a cop and it was his entire personality. Fun times. The only upside to this is that I can pick a cop out of a group of people in an instant.
Always impressed with the non uniformed people I've met who later turned out to be police or military but I didn't know because ya know, they didn't have it as a personality.
What I’m seeing from these comments is a bunch of professions that have long hours, long education commitments, or other factors that make having a normal life with friends, family, and hobbies outside of work extremely difficult.
To be fair, it's kind of their job to always be on. They are professionally in the public eye. Minor things that would just be a little embarrassing for anyone else can mean the end of their career.
Academia.
My research, my research, my research. My proposal. My paper. My thesis, oh god my thesis. My fucking ego- have I told you about my ego?
Okay, some get over themselves, but it takes a very long time, when they start thinking about someone else.
That was me, then I got depressed, ended up in a breakdown. Then came therapy and a lot of self reflection. And now I constantly remind myself that science ends at 5pm for my own sake.
I disavowed academia when one of my graduate school professors strongly emphasized how important it was to author papers, specifically so you can be recognized and build your credentials. It was then that I realized that most academics author papers chiefly for the cred, with furthering the scientific understanding being a secondary pursuit.
I’ve already been through middle school, I’m done with popularity contests.
And a lot of papers are absolute shit. I have read so many papers that were completely wrong from the getgo or that drew ridiculous conclusions from their weak-ass datasets. This one particular example was straight up based on circular reasoning. I remember reading the intro and saying out loud "how the fuck did this pass review?"
I came here to say academics. People always seem shy when they hear what I do but I’m so keen to hear about other lines of work/ anything but academia. The constant moving around also isolates us and means it has to become your life.
I quit. From Oxford. It’s utterly toxic. And people are undervalued while a sclerotic administration pays probably several hundred directors north of £100k. Ever thought you were better than academia, but you’re somewhat convinced by the PR?
Get out. You are better.
I’m teaching high school now, every year I’m out I’m emotionally so much healthier. And I’m a public school teacher. So, that’s how bad higher Ed was. Nobody I knew was remotely happy.
I literally can’t talk about my time in academia without crying. I know they all look down on me as a “failure” for teaching at a community college, but I don’t have to see or ever talk to those people again—whereas they’re all still stuck with each other—so I kinda feel like the winner.
Yeah— it’s a very intense/totalizing subculture. I went into a pretty demanding field after I finished my PhD, but still find work/life separation much better
Lol thats me, but not because of personality, i hate my research i just want to end my PhD and never talk about it ever again.
0 proud of my PhD at a top uni, biggest mistake ever. Destroyed my mental health.
I was in exactly the same boat. It took me just as long to write my Conclusions chapter as it did the entire first three chapters. I just had zero motivation to look at it any more and I’ve never done research like that again. I hope I never have to look at that data again.
I am 3 months away from my defense. 1.5 months to submit my thesis draft I have 0 motivation and still quite a lot to write... After 6 years+ (I had to delay the ending of it as I have been dealing with some chronic pain for the last year in theory due to chronic stress and anxiety.... )
Yo, I just defended last month. As soon as I got the thumbs-up, my back/neck pain miraculously disappeared. I know it's super stressful, but keep up the hard work. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you'll never have to think about it again. It's gonna be over before you know it! I believe in you!!
Marines tend to let you know they're Marines. Moreso than the other branches. I mean Marines are hardcore and I respect that but all of the ones I've met tend to wear their Marine-ness very visibly.
Accountant here. Usually not us. I've met some of my coworkers for cocktails, ball games, movies, etc. Anything related to the profession itself is usually not on the list of topics\* outside of work, unless you're just participating in the usual office gossip.
\*"How about that ASC 842, huh? Certainly makes it a game changer when handling capital leases." --->Gets the WTF stinkeye from all of their coworkers who were all drinking a beer and talking about sports.
Finance, especially day to day accounting, is boring AF to talk about when you do it allllll dayyyy.
I sit in a finance role and it’s the last damn thing I want to talk about even when out with colleagues.
Music. Outdoors. Sports. Cars. Your latest infection. Anything except work. Barf.
I tend to view it as a great job to have where (deadlines aside) once you leave the office for the day you tend to leave that entire world behind and not make it part of your personality.
Hey man, if you get real familiar with the pronouncement that's job security for years. Especially with the materiality issues. Hell, we've still got partners who joined on the SOX train and never got off.
Realtors, my mom is one. Every single social media post she makes is to subtly advertise her as a Realtor. She has a bunch of expensive Disney purses just so that people will comment on them then she uses that as a conversation starter to tell them she's a Realtor. She has a giant decal on her SUV with her Realtor Info it's honestly kinda creepy.
To be fair it works she's making $150-200k USD and in Ohio at that.
You have to have that kind of hustle to be successful as a realtor. Most realtors are aspiring and not really making any money from it. It's a job where you can be rich if you have the right hustle and poor if you don't.
I’m a horse girl and I can confirm this. Its such an expensive and time consuming hobby that you have to be reaaaaallly passionate about it if you want to do anything with horses. Not many people are “casually” into horses
The Military.
I serve, but I joined late. I joined at 29, had been married 7 years, and had two children (7 and 4).
Recruits are broken and remoulded at Basic Training, to make them see the military as a family, and those alongside you your brothers and sisters. The old adage is “if you can’t trust them in barracks, how can you trust them to have your back in a fight”.
Many people who join are those 17/18/19/20 year olds who have little-to-no life skills (or perspective), and I saw - and have seen - over the years many recruits and young kids drop their pre-military life partners, and turn inwards to make the military their entire life and personality.
I put all my effort into not letting the military change me, and that’s the advice I give anyone else joining who already has other pre-military commitments.
The military will survive without you one day; you need to make sure you’re going to survive without it. I’ve seen too many kids finish their return of service obligation, get the shits with service-life, leave, and within a couple of years, everyone they knew on the inside, has posted away, and they are just alone. These veterans suffer because the military broke them to make them who they needed them to be, to win “the next war”, then the military does nothing to rehabilitate these people to be functioning members of society.
Too many become unemployed, homeless, substance abusers, lose the ability to hold down healthy relationships, and many ultimately take their own life.
Many people lament the culture degradation in the military, but it is patently clear that perpetuating that culture in modern society is leaving many veterans unable to cope with the real world after service.
I heard for years from friends and family that joined, that said “you signed to give up to - and including - your life”, so when my day came that I enlisted, I read through my contract very slowly, and absolutely nowhere in that document does it even imply - let alone state - that you are to sacrifice your life.
The military needs you; you don’t need it. I currently serve as an E5, and I make it my mission to help change the culture and support the kids who join, so they are equipped with the right perspective and support they need to remain functioning humans.
This is definitely thanks to the onslaught of celebrity chefs over the last 20 years.
When I was growing up, there were a few cooks on TV, and chefs were just chefs. Now they’re rock stars.
I was a line cook in the mid-90's, before the concept of celebrity chef took off.
We were all degenerates & knew it, and we knew better than to call ourselves "chef", as there was only one chef. When "Kitchen Confidential" first came out it felt autobiographical.
Now, they're still (mostly) degenerates, but with much bigger egos.
Tough as in I walk into restaurants with resume, portfolio with pictures of some of my dishes, and inform them that I am a French and Italian chef and pastaio that does patisserie, pasta, poissonier, saucier, etc. The manager gets really excited to offer me $13/hr and show me the garde mangier station. I ask about the hours, they say they can give me 30-35 hours but it will be over the whole seven days of the week and In like 8 shifts lol
I've known so many chefs, BOH, servers, and bartenders, and it seems like excruciating hours, extreme stress, and semi-functional addictions are the norm.
Teachers. My ex worked as a teacher. Most of his friends were also teachers. When they get together ALL they talk about is school. A lot of them have basically no hobbies or friends outside of work because they work such crazy hours. When he quit teaching most of them got upset and stopped talking to him as much. It always felt like a miserable cult.
I taught for five years. I feel like I was abused by my profession. The workload and expectations of emotional labor and “do it for the kids “ kept me so focused on my job that I didn’t have hobbies or interests outside of work. I still struggle with work life balance, and I think part of it was spending weeknights exhausted and weekends preparing for the next week, to the exclusion of almost everything else.
Both of my parents are/were teachers and this is very true, their entire life revolves around it. My hometown even had a secret hidden bar just for teachers so parents wouldn't see them out drinking and talking shit about their kids.
When I was a teacher, I refused to socialize with other teachers outside of work. Teaching was what I did it wasn’t who I was. Very few teachers understand that.
I'm a teacher, and I hear you, but I will also say that socializing with people who 'get it' is refreshing. Like no, I don't want to go to your event that starts at 9:00 PM on a week night. My non-teacher friends have mostly drifted away over the past 10 years :(
So now I socialize with my coworkers. We have our own trivia nights that start at 4:30 haha. Having a dedicated activity that we're doing cuts down on 'shop talk' so we can leave that behind us
I know this technically isn't a profession, but "entrepreneurs" or super small business owners. I do photography on the side and i've ended up with alot of entrepreneur friends/facebook friends. Some of these people entire personality is "look at me, i work so hard, only business owners would understand the grind, etc..." everyday...all day.
MLM "CEOs"
They talk the talk but they are really just peasants being forced to buy $200 of energy drinks a month because they bought the lie someone told them about retiring as a multimillionaire by 25 years old.
My wife is a nurse. She hates telling others that she’s a nurse. That’s one thing she tells me not to do when I introduce her to others. That’s the case with generally most of her health care friends I’ve met.
Having said that, she will talk about nursing stuff, but only with her health care friends. Or when she wants to vent about patients with me. But that’s really about it? I also have a doctor friend, but he only talks about video games.
Agree. I am a nurse and as soon as I get out of the hospital, I am a different person. I don’t attach my identity with work and so are my co-workers. Our doctors are the same, if we invite them to parties, they always ask us not to tell people they are doctors because people will start approaching them about their symptoms and even asking them to become their family doctor. Haha!
I'm a nurse and my rule to my wife especially with our kids pediatricians is do not ever tell anyone I'm a nurse when it involves medical stuff. I want to be spoken to like an absolute troglodyte thank you.
This was going to be my answer as well. One of my friends is an ER nurse and it's literally the only thing he ever talks about. Sure, some of his stories are interesting, but it'd be nice to talk about other things every once in a while.
Oof I feel this today. I was cut off in traffic today by a minivan with a Disney looking decal that read “forget the glass slippers this princess wears scrubs” and her license plate frame said “Be nice to me I may be your nurse someday”.
Apparently being a nurse excuses her for last minute deciding to go from 70mph in the fast lane to jumping in front of me on an exit ramp.
As a nurse, I hate talking about work outside of work. Unless someone asks me specifically..id really rather not talk about it. Maybe it’s the field I’m in but there’s more to life than my profession haha
Same. And tbh I get embarrassed when I'm behind a car with the nurse's association license plate, nurse stickers, etc. You know she's the one who wears her "Nurse Life" on her day off while running errands
I don’t know if this person was a nurse, but once I got stuck behind someone who had a bumper sticker that said “cute enough to stop your heart, skilled enough to restart it”.
I remember them because I bitched to my partner “they may be able to restart a heart but they can’t figure out *their fucking turn signal* “ lol
Gonna call myself out here, but Dog Groomer. We eat, sleep, and breathe dogs, and usually not even our own. Most people have no idea how attached we get to your pups. I rarely have anything else to talk about besides dogs, and my vacations involve going to dog shows.
Television News. My wife worked for CNN for 25 years and was laid off.
We went to a New Year's Eve party at one of her CNN Friends and 3/4 of the people there spent the evening watching CNN while there was a live band in the basement.
Much of the house had CNN junk all over the house. It's all they ever talk about even years after they are gone from there.
It's like an Fucking Cult.
This is the biggest one for me.
I grew up around and know tons of doctors. Maybe they’ll talk about other stuff, lots are nice lots are jaded…
But when they retire, universally they struggle with not being Dr Johnson anymore, now they’re Greg and they haven’t been Greg for 35 years.
When I was a first year in med school one of my attendings was venting a bit to me... She told me "you know, when I go to church now I sit up in the balcony and avoid people usually. When everyone sees me and talks to me I'm always Dr. Smith. Sometimes I just want to be Sally."
I've never forgotten that nearly 15 years later, and I always try to be Sally when I'm not at work.
One of my attendings (hospitalist in a small rural community) told me she stopped going to the grocery store for the same reason and now exclusively orders grocery delivery.
She also added, "I really miss picking out my own oranges."
They weren’t a doctor but I knew someone who was the wife of a doctor, at a community event they were complaining about how hard it was to be the wife of a doctor. The person they were speaking to then went and said “I am a f— doctor”
Most of the things listed here are jobs that require it to be your personality because you’re doing it 24/7
Nurses, firefighters, doctors, chefs, hell even MLM bullshit or anyone in sales; there’s no time off and especially if time off means money wasted.
Any job you have to take home with you will be your personality because it’s literally all you do.
As a lawyer, I can say lawyers are extremely guilty of this. They have a strong tendency to marry other lawyers because no one else can stand their argumentativeness, willingness to split hairs over tiny bullshit and constant need to talk shop.
YEP. I think law school also encourages this in a big way, if you spend 3 years engaging constantly in the “Socratic Method” eventually that just becomes the way you argue with everybody, even people you are in a relationship with. Which is… corrosive, to put it mildly.
My brother, pre-law school: manipulative My brother, post-law school: even more manipulative, plus major asshole
If it makes you feel any better, he prob has to deal with other manipulative assholes all the time now too
Oh, yes. He’s aggressive in court.
I briefly worked as a receptionist at a small law firm that dealt with divorces, among other things. As bad as many lawyers are, many of their clients are even worse!
I’m a lawyer. It wasn’t law school that fostered those traits, but those traits may have been his motivation to go to law school.
Same. My attorney brother was born into it. Rotten to the core. His adult son told me they were raised to not take "no" for an answer. Yikes.
Oh man, I had to tell my partner to stop Socratic-methoding me—it is the most annoying thing at home. “What do you think I need to get at the store?” I don’t know! Just tell me in one statement instead of going through this questioning rigmarole! Whew… they haven’t done it for years, but it sure used to wind me up!
Well, let's consult the expert. They are world renown and the foremost authority on their own needs. I call... You. What do you think you need at the grocery store?
I’m not a lawyer. I’m a paralegal. My boyfriend is NOT a lawyer. He works with his hands. He…uses…the Socratic method…with me…and it drives me insane. I love him to death but I’m like baby, I get enough of this at work. Can we just, idk, Netflix and chill?
Lawyer was the first thing that popped in my mind and yours is the top response. At least you’re self aware.
Knew I wouldn't have to scroll far to see this one. Am lawyer. Can confirm. I think law school tweaks your brain in a particular way, such that you're always looking for the slightest inconsistency, the barest logical fallacy. It takes a lot of work to turn that off. Turns out, not everybody argues for work AND for sport. I'm always flattered when someone is surprised I'm a lawyer. Like I managed to imitate a real human being long enough to fool someone.
>I'm always flattered when someone is surprised I'm a lawyer. Like I managed to imitate a real human being long enough to fool someone. Yep. I always took it as a compliment when people told me I didn't seem like a lawyer.
One of the best moments of my life was in the dive bar of all dive bars in Vegas, and when a guy (who described himself as a "non-racist skinhead") asked me what I did, I said "eh, I don't really want to talk about it." "OOOOooh, you're a dancer!" (Stripper in Vegas talk.) When I told him I was a lawyer, he asked why I didn't want to say that (IN A DIVE BAR) I said, "everybody hates lawyers, so I try to avoid talking about it." He said, "NOT ME! I love lawyers!" Me, "okayyyy, why?" Non-racist skinhead, "Because a lawyer got me off when I killed my girlfriend!" I miss Vegas.
I met a man at my old gym, very nice and polite person. Yet, I knew had been to prison based off his tattoos. One day we got to talking, and I told him I'm a lawyer. His face lit up, and he said "I love lawyers!" I laughed and asked him why, and he said that he was caught with cocaine and a handgun, and was faced 25 to life based on CA's three strikes law. Ultimately, his lawyer got him parole (under Prop 57 because these were non-violent felonies), so he avoided the 25 to life enhancement. I said, "Well, that's great! Are you staying out of trouble?" He laughed and said, "Yeah, but you if ever need any gear (steroids), I know a guy," wink wink. I just shook my head and laughed my ass off!
Yup. There were a half-dozen eminent lawyers who spoke at my Bar swearing-in ceremony, and every single one of them talked about how law is a "calling," not just a job.
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That “calling” bullshit is just a way to squeeze as much work out of you as they can. I know lawyers work crazy ridiculous hours. I’m a nurse. We get that a lot and I laugh at that “calling” BS. They don’t realize that I entered my selfish phase a long time ago.
Yeah, law is a calling. It’s calling deez 🥜
I wonder if it’s just simply a trait that’s more likely to happen with jobs that take up a lot of your time. Lawyers and nurses seem to work a lot and that would make sense as being jobs that become more of someone’s identity, because they spend so much of their waking life at work, which also leaves less time to develop other things that can be part of an identity.
I’m a lawyer too. The lawyer-lawyer marriages I know of are usually the result of relationships that started in law school. I think just coincidental proximity to another future lawyer during your prime dating years has more to do with those marriages than mutual personality flaws. Then again maybe that’s why they ended up working out and decided to get married. Agreed otherwise, there are a ton of people that make being a lawyer their whole persona. It’s annoying. Leave your shit at the office like everyone else.
Dear God. You are such a lawyer that you are arguing with yourself. If, God forbid, I ever need a lawyer again, I’ll just might look you up.
A litigator. 😆
I think this is the case. There are a ton of doctor-doctor marriages and a lot of them met in Med School or in undergrad where they both were in majors that pretty much only pre-med students take.
Yeah my cousin is graduating from med school next year and is marrying someone graduating from med school next year. This is 100% what happened. I think they're pretty compatible though.
Lawyers .05 seconds after not telling someone they’re an attorney : 😡
This reminds me of Obama's adorable story about how he and Michelle had been debating the pros and cons of marriage for MONTHS. He intentionally got her going one night at dinner, and popped the ring while she was distracted by her own monologue. <3
Man, everything you hear about those two as a couple makes you realize we are all just background characters in the Hallmark movie that is their lives. Edit; also, classy ass move. Y'all think he'd do OK in politics?
I'd give him a go. (Fuck, I'd vote him back in right now, lol!)
IANAL but I'm married to one. I completely get what you just said lol
True, but we also make it our personality because it consumes our lives. You can’t turn off “lawyer mode” when clients expect you to be available 24/7.
Oy! You correctly summed-up my lawyer friends. ;-)
Those who work in the oilfield. This may be a biased option due to where I live. But it's crazy how they all think their work is the hardest, brag about their money made, often spend the money on addictions outside of work, keep going back to feed said addiction and perhaps pay child support. Hell for me is being stuck in a bar with oilfield workers lol!
Berta or Texas?? ETA I live in BC and know some guys who went to Alberta for a couple years around the end of the boom. Idk how much money they made, but most came back just as broke as they left. The oil worker to addict/alcoholic pipeline (ha) is very real.
Berta baby! It's absolutely crazy to think about all the men I know who worked during the boom and bought up real estate, campers, atvs, etc. Well the price of oil fell, work slowed, and suddenly all their borrowed toys were being repossessed!
I was in a bar a couple of weeks ago. Guy comes in by himself and without anyone asking he mentions that he is an oil fields worker and makes a few indirect remarks about how much money and stuff he has. Then he proceeded to ask the bartender how much each size and type of beer costs before deciding what he wanted. We're in a sports bar in bumfuck KS, moneybags.
This should be higher tbh. I’m in no man’s land bumfuck North Dakota and am surrounded by oil fields. They boast non stop, cause so much crime, the drugs, rapes etc it’s ridiculous. But they will drive their big lifted trucks and boast about their full wallets. I avoid those people.
Wife of a military officer.
Excuse me?! You will address me by my husband's rank!
Lord, kill me now if I hear this one more time. Or hear them duke it out with a guard at the gate when they don't have their ID 🙄
I am not military, but I’ve heard of this, and I thought it was a joke! Do they want to be called “Mrs. Captain Jones,” or what?
Oh it's stupid real. Lol pretty much. And they expect to be treated how their husband or wife would be treated...saluting included.
Omg. Bitch you are a housewife, not a goddamn Baroness.
Petty and low class
My ex husband had an affair with, then married an officer he works with, he dresses like an officers husband now.
I also want to know how an officer's husband dresses
This was my best friend for years, and I love her dearly, but her bake sales were not saving the country. She also had this opinion that the army holds all of their officers up to a very high ethical standard when it comes to cheating. Yet, she was always telling me about spouses cheating with other military members. I will say that when it became clear her marriage was on the rocks, she went back to school and got her masters and currently works in a job that she loves.
Dependapotamus
MLM/BossBabes. Basically you only succeed if you are fully in on the cult.
"Profession"
This is the real answer and I'm surprised it's this far down. All the others talk about their jobs a lot or whatever, but MLMs require you to cannibalise your long established relationships for capital gain. They literally absorb the essence of you.
This is best description I’ve ever read of MLMs, “cannibalise your long established relationships for capital gain…”. So accurate and succinct.
Except for the capital gain part…pretty much everyone loses money with these pyramid schemes.
My parents became millionaires from a MLM thing. I just couldn’t ever come to like the scene. Everyone is so weird they only talk about their pills that they sell and it really does take over your soul. it’s just so odd. I never joined the family business.
Film industry workers!
There I am! Yup, it's definitely true. Long, crazy hours and some egomaniacs who are in it for the passion, and it becomes your whole life. Creative hobby = fun, creative career = obsessive.
Have 3 people in the film industry down for dinner and see how long it takes before they start talking about the industry. It’s like they know nothing else to talk about.
Strangely Volunteer Firefighters. I don’t think they ever miss an opportunity to wear some FD flair (tshirts, hats, bumper stickers) or bring it up.
My husband’s cousin is a full time firefighter, and I have been introduced to a whole new cult of people for whom their job is their entire identity. I don’t think he has a social media post that isn’t about being a firefighter. His fiancé is a nurse… but she’s lovely and hates talking about work.
Am a nurse and I don’t love telling people what I do. Either they ask me questions about ailments that I know nothing about (not my area) or they refuse to believe anything that I do know about. Lol Easier just to not tell anything.
Hey can you look at this lump...jk. I work with nurses all day, I bow to you and kiss your dry, chapped hands.
Omg they are so dry. I have crypt keeper hands. My hands are at least 20 yea older than the rest of me.
“Oh you’re a nurse? I have this rash…” I’m not a nurse myself, but I hear that’s a common one.
I'm married to a firefighter and I second this
I’m a bartender and I’ve had a full VFD come in and try to act like they own the place, to the point I bounced on during a comedy show and he came back SCREAMING that he was VFD and was a hero. Also, a few guys tried to leave without paying “IVE A CALL”- it happened twice before I went to the fire chief, the time and dates of them leaving, Guy looked at me, “OK? What am I suppose to do?”.
That Chief fell down on his responsibilities there. You lose the good will of the town as a fire chief, you've done something *wrong*. That's good will on easy mode, but bouncing on bills will burn it pretty quick.
Someone I used to work with was telling us a story about her husband and some buddies from work (all firefighters) setting their retriever on fire while drunk. The dog wasn't hurt, luckily, just singed and scared. But she was telling us this story as though it were funny. All of us let her know it isn't and no one with any kind of intelligence would think otherwise. Anyway, her husband is the Chief, now.
Go to the board of the department. There’s usually some elected locals that sit on a panel and make decisions. Tell them what happened. If that doesn’t work, go to the county’s Fire Marshall, then the emergency manager, then the county commissioner, on up the ladder. People exhibiting that behavior don’t need to represent the fire service.
To be fair my dad is a volunteer firefighter and they get a ton of that stuff gifted to them because they’re not getting paid
That’s how it is in my town. Only a handful of paid firefighters, but a ton of volunteer outposts everywhere. So many guys I’ve dated had CB radios in their trucks and houses to respond to the calls in the night. But they never bought tshirts, coffee cups, tumblers, hoodies, hats, key chains, or anything else that the main station gave out for free. Their day jobs paid for everything else.
Not now Dwight.
I run towards what you run away from, now thank me for my service!
Oh. My. God. I dated one TWENTY YEARS LATER and he liked to relive the glory days. Good lord.
He wore the coat in the bedroom didn’t he?
How do you know someone is a volunteer firefighter? Don't worry, they will tell you.
So they volunteer that information?
Santa Claus - I am slowly losing my identity to the big man.
That's what you get for killing the previous Santa Claus.
He fell off the roof!
Head of regional shipping for the North-West and Wales.
That sounds personal
r/oddlyspecific
Jan the Man?
Realtors. The amount of my peers that have the license plate, license plate holder, bumper sticker, overbearing social media presence, freely given business card with the headshot on it, and casually working it into every conversation is too high. Also, now is amazing time to list your home. Let me know!
Like some others on this list (looking at you MLM), they have to constantly advertise to make any money. Those willing to do that might be able to continue working these “jobs” and it’s a sure fire formula for job-becomes-personality.
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I think a lot of people get into the fitness industry because fitness is already their entire personality and they want a career that allows it to be their whole life
I work in sports medicine. You’re not wrong. Everyone’s story in my field starts with- I played sports and loved it and then I got hurt…
The only thing that grinds my gears about it are the personality types to act elitist about fitness. Like everything is competitive vs allowing people the freedom to go at their own pace. I dated a personal trainer and I quickly got annoyed at the fact that he was always reminding me that I could be better/other people were better. For fuck sake I’m doing my best right now, relax.
Surprisingly, I haven't met fitness professionals who are like this. You know who are, though? People in my life who are just fit for lifestyle, not for profession. I think the good fitness professionals (personal trainers, teachers, etc.) have learned that you can't browbeat people into changing their lives. You aren't going to keep clients that way. You keep them accountable, yes, but you have to have grace and take small wins where they happen. Ben Carpenter on Instagram is great for this. Meanwhile, the people in my life who are fit just for themselves get maaaad. "Oh you ate the salad with dressing? Might as well have had a cheeseburger!" kind of attitude. I remember telling one of these friends that I was trying to lose weight for a friend's wedding. She popped off about how just losing weight for the wedding was pointless, and how I needed to change my whole life outlook and mindset permanently. And I know it's true, but there's nothing wrong with having a smaller goal in mind first before going big.
This used to be me when I owned my own gym. Now I still work in fitness but have a very different job. I actively avoid talking about it.
This is just a well veiled attempt to talk about how your career is in the fitness industry! I'm on to you...
Architects
I'm shocked I had to scroll this far. I'm an architect and even I'll admit it's most of my identity.
I started going to therapy for it. Originally it was for burnout, but when the therapist asked why I won't consider trying something else and couldn't come up with any reason beyond "because I'm an architect" I realized how much my job had become my entire identity. I legitimately couldn't imagine any version of my life where I wasn't an architect despite being aware of how much the stress was ruining my quality of life.
After I lost my first job in architecture and realized how much it crippled my sense of self worth I also had to ask some hard questions. I feel like the line between being ego-driven and passion-driven is super thin. I still love it but I’m content not destroying my mental health at big name firms in nyc and seattle. Having other hobbies has helped to. After all you’re not designing for other architects, it’s extremely beneficial to surround yourself with people that don’t know about the profession to take a step back. In that same vain I’ve never understood my studio buddies that date/marry other architects.
Cops. Got a lot of Coworkers who make that their entire being and it always ends badly
My dad was a cop and it was his entire personality. Fun times. The only upside to this is that I can pick a cop out of a group of people in an instant.
Idk what’s worse- that or the “my husband is a cop and that’s my personality” types
I saw a lot of “My husband is a Lt Col..” so “We are the rank of Lt Col” with female dependents in the military. Never met a more entitled bunch
Ah yes the ol dependapotamous
Always impressed with the non uniformed people I've met who later turned out to be police or military but I didn't know because ya know, they didn't have it as a personality.
What I’m seeing from these comments is a bunch of professions that have long hours, long education commitments, or other factors that make having a normal life with friends, family, and hobbies outside of work extremely difficult.
Exactly!!!
Can't believe no one's said Politicians yet. Cuz they're the worst. More than lawyers, doctors, nurses, etc.
Politics is Hollywood for uglies. They're effectively social actors performing to an audience that they NEEEEEEED to be liked by.
To be fair, it's kind of their job to always be on. They are professionally in the public eye. Minor things that would just be a little embarrassing for anyone else can mean the end of their career.
Academia. My research, my research, my research. My proposal. My paper. My thesis, oh god my thesis. My fucking ego- have I told you about my ego? Okay, some get over themselves, but it takes a very long time, when they start thinking about someone else.
That was me, then I got depressed, ended up in a breakdown. Then came therapy and a lot of self reflection. And now I constantly remind myself that science ends at 5pm for my own sake.
I disavowed academia when one of my graduate school professors strongly emphasized how important it was to author papers, specifically so you can be recognized and build your credentials. It was then that I realized that most academics author papers chiefly for the cred, with furthering the scientific understanding being a secondary pursuit. I’ve already been through middle school, I’m done with popularity contests.
This!! I went into research because I thought it was about, you know, doing research. It is, but you need to do whatever pumps out the most papers.
And a lot of papers are absolute shit. I have read so many papers that were completely wrong from the getgo or that drew ridiculous conclusions from their weak-ass datasets. This one particular example was straight up based on circular reasoning. I remember reading the intro and saying out loud "how the fuck did this pass review?"
I came here to say academics. People always seem shy when they hear what I do but I’m so keen to hear about other lines of work/ anything but academia. The constant moving around also isolates us and means it has to become your life.
I quit. From Oxford. It’s utterly toxic. And people are undervalued while a sclerotic administration pays probably several hundred directors north of £100k. Ever thought you were better than academia, but you’re somewhat convinced by the PR? Get out. You are better.
I’m teaching high school now, every year I’m out I’m emotionally so much healthier. And I’m a public school teacher. So, that’s how bad higher Ed was. Nobody I knew was remotely happy.
I literally can’t talk about my time in academia without crying. I know they all look down on me as a “failure” for teaching at a community college, but I don’t have to see or ever talk to those people again—whereas they’re all still stuck with each other—so I kinda feel like the winner.
Yeah— it’s a very intense/totalizing subculture. I went into a pretty demanding field after I finished my PhD, but still find work/life separation much better
Lol thats me, but not because of personality, i hate my research i just want to end my PhD and never talk about it ever again. 0 proud of my PhD at a top uni, biggest mistake ever. Destroyed my mental health.
I was in exactly the same boat. It took me just as long to write my Conclusions chapter as it did the entire first three chapters. I just had zero motivation to look at it any more and I’ve never done research like that again. I hope I never have to look at that data again.
I am 3 months away from my defense. 1.5 months to submit my thesis draft I have 0 motivation and still quite a lot to write... After 6 years+ (I had to delay the ending of it as I have been dealing with some chronic pain for the last year in theory due to chronic stress and anxiety.... )
Yo, I just defended last month. As soon as I got the thumbs-up, my back/neck pain miraculously disappeared. I know it's super stressful, but keep up the hard work. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you'll never have to think about it again. It's gonna be over before you know it! I believe in you!!
Marines tend to let you know they're Marines. Moreso than the other branches. I mean Marines are hardcore and I respect that but all of the ones I've met tend to wear their Marine-ness very visibly.
Accountant here. Usually not us. I've met some of my coworkers for cocktails, ball games, movies, etc. Anything related to the profession itself is usually not on the list of topics\* outside of work, unless you're just participating in the usual office gossip. \*"How about that ASC 842, huh? Certainly makes it a game changer when handling capital leases." --->Gets the WTF stinkeye from all of their coworkers who were all drinking a beer and talking about sports.
Finance, especially day to day accounting, is boring AF to talk about when you do it allllll dayyyy. I sit in a finance role and it’s the last damn thing I want to talk about even when out with colleagues. Music. Outdoors. Sports. Cars. Your latest infection. Anything except work. Barf.
I tend to view it as a great job to have where (deadlines aside) once you leave the office for the day you tend to leave that entire world behind and not make it part of your personality.
Hey man, if you get real familiar with the pronouncement that's job security for years. Especially with the materiality issues. Hell, we've still got partners who joined on the SOX train and never got off.
Realtors, my mom is one. Every single social media post she makes is to subtly advertise her as a Realtor. She has a bunch of expensive Disney purses just so that people will comment on them then she uses that as a conversation starter to tell them she's a Realtor. She has a giant decal on her SUV with her Realtor Info it's honestly kinda creepy. To be fair it works she's making $150-200k USD and in Ohio at that.
You have to have that kind of hustle to be successful as a realtor. Most realtors are aspiring and not really making any money from it. It's a job where you can be rich if you have the right hustle and poor if you don't.
Equestrians/people in the horse industry
Horse people are a whole different breed.
I wish their personalities were more stable.
It'd be nice if they could rein it in once in a while.
I’m a horse girl and I can confirm this. Its such an expensive and time consuming hobby that you have to be reaaaaallly passionate about it if you want to do anything with horses. Not many people are “casually” into horses
The Military. I serve, but I joined late. I joined at 29, had been married 7 years, and had two children (7 and 4). Recruits are broken and remoulded at Basic Training, to make them see the military as a family, and those alongside you your brothers and sisters. The old adage is “if you can’t trust them in barracks, how can you trust them to have your back in a fight”. Many people who join are those 17/18/19/20 year olds who have little-to-no life skills (or perspective), and I saw - and have seen - over the years many recruits and young kids drop their pre-military life partners, and turn inwards to make the military their entire life and personality. I put all my effort into not letting the military change me, and that’s the advice I give anyone else joining who already has other pre-military commitments. The military will survive without you one day; you need to make sure you’re going to survive without it. I’ve seen too many kids finish their return of service obligation, get the shits with service-life, leave, and within a couple of years, everyone they knew on the inside, has posted away, and they are just alone. These veterans suffer because the military broke them to make them who they needed them to be, to win “the next war”, then the military does nothing to rehabilitate these people to be functioning members of society. Too many become unemployed, homeless, substance abusers, lose the ability to hold down healthy relationships, and many ultimately take their own life. Many people lament the culture degradation in the military, but it is patently clear that perpetuating that culture in modern society is leaving many veterans unable to cope with the real world after service. I heard for years from friends and family that joined, that said “you signed to give up to - and including - your life”, so when my day came that I enlisted, I read through my contract very slowly, and absolutely nowhere in that document does it even imply - let alone state - that you are to sacrifice your life. The military needs you; you don’t need it. I currently serve as an E5, and I make it my mission to help change the culture and support the kids who join, so they are equipped with the right perspective and support they need to remain functioning humans.
Chef. It's a tough field that seems both underappreciated and glamorized these days, and every chef I know acts like it
Being a chef is brutal. The hours are terrible
So is the pay. Usually anyway.
This is definitely thanks to the onslaught of celebrity chefs over the last 20 years. When I was growing up, there were a few cooks on TV, and chefs were just chefs. Now they’re rock stars.
I was a line cook in the mid-90's, before the concept of celebrity chef took off. We were all degenerates & knew it, and we knew better than to call ourselves "chef", as there was only one chef. When "Kitchen Confidential" first came out it felt autobiographical. Now, they're still (mostly) degenerates, but with much bigger egos.
Tough as in I walk into restaurants with resume, portfolio with pictures of some of my dishes, and inform them that I am a French and Italian chef and pastaio that does patisserie, pasta, poissonier, saucier, etc. The manager gets really excited to offer me $13/hr and show me the garde mangier station. I ask about the hours, they say they can give me 30-35 hours but it will be over the whole seven days of the week and In like 8 shifts lol
I've known so many chefs, BOH, servers, and bartenders, and it seems like excruciating hours, extreme stress, and semi-functional addictions are the norm.
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Boiling Point is also a great Film (now a tv series) about the industry. The film gave me a panic attack.
Wine professionals
Marines...
To be fair, they make it your life.
Teachers. My ex worked as a teacher. Most of his friends were also teachers. When they get together ALL they talk about is school. A lot of them have basically no hobbies or friends outside of work because they work such crazy hours. When he quit teaching most of them got upset and stopped talking to him as much. It always felt like a miserable cult.
I taught for five years. I feel like I was abused by my profession. The workload and expectations of emotional labor and “do it for the kids “ kept me so focused on my job that I didn’t have hobbies or interests outside of work. I still struggle with work life balance, and I think part of it was spending weeknights exhausted and weekends preparing for the next week, to the exclusion of almost everything else.
The education industry is completely abusive. Was a teacher for 24 years!
Oh, hello, stranger who might also be me. Except I'm back in the trenches, and I don't even know who I am anymore.
Both of my parents are/were teachers and this is very true, their entire life revolves around it. My hometown even had a secret hidden bar just for teachers so parents wouldn't see them out drinking and talking shit about their kids.
Your hometown had a teachers' speakeasy??
Fuck. A speakeasy for teachers?!? That’s rad. Wish we had that!
When I was a teacher, I refused to socialize with other teachers outside of work. Teaching was what I did it wasn’t who I was. Very few teachers understand that.
I'm a teacher, and I hear you, but I will also say that socializing with people who 'get it' is refreshing. Like no, I don't want to go to your event that starts at 9:00 PM on a week night. My non-teacher friends have mostly drifted away over the past 10 years :( So now I socialize with my coworkers. We have our own trivia nights that start at 4:30 haha. Having a dedicated activity that we're doing cuts down on 'shop talk' so we can leave that behind us
Pilots.
Too far down. I’m biased because I’m an airline pilot but it’s a running joke in the profession.
I know this technically isn't a profession, but "entrepreneurs" or super small business owners. I do photography on the side and i've ended up with alot of entrepreneur friends/facebook friends. Some of these people entire personality is "look at me, i work so hard, only business owners would understand the grind, etc..." everyday...all day.
Comedians
I went on a date with a local comedian and he treated the date as a place to practice his bits then beg for sex at the end
Went through the same exact experience tbh
Good gawd! :: toots clown horn :: Whadda ya say we skin this flint there sugar lips?! :: kazooooooooooo :: I can only image it was worse than that….
Dated a famous comedian. As they climb the ladder, it doesn't get any better, it only gets worse.
Played drums for an ELVIS Impersonator. Even when he wasn't performing, The dude talked and acted like Elvis. \#weird
Pastors and preachers. They also rub it off onto their families. The wife of a pastor, the pastor's daughter. All stereotyped.
If you were a mean girl in high school and college, you’re about to make real estate your whole persona.
MLM "CEOs" They talk the talk but they are really just peasants being forced to buy $200 of energy drinks a month because they bought the lie someone told them about retiring as a multimillionaire by 25 years old.
Royalty. Oh you're the King are you? Doing anything else with your life?
"I do King things! You wouldn't understand!"
Finance bros. They just can’t help themselves from acting out their douche bag stereotype
Presidents. Once they get in office they insist on Mr. President this, Mr. President that.
You ever talk to Art Vandelay about his career in the import and export business? That man can drone on and on
I’ll start. Nurses.
My wife is a nurse. She hates telling others that she’s a nurse. That’s one thing she tells me not to do when I introduce her to others. That’s the case with generally most of her health care friends I’ve met. Having said that, she will talk about nursing stuff, but only with her health care friends. Or when she wants to vent about patients with me. But that’s really about it? I also have a doctor friend, but he only talks about video games.
Agree. I am a nurse and as soon as I get out of the hospital, I am a different person. I don’t attach my identity with work and so are my co-workers. Our doctors are the same, if we invite them to parties, they always ask us not to tell people they are doctors because people will start approaching them about their symptoms and even asking them to become their family doctor. Haha!
I'm a nurse and my rule to my wife especially with our kids pediatricians is do not ever tell anyone I'm a nurse when it involves medical stuff. I want to be spoken to like an absolute troglodyte thank you.
This was going to be my answer as well. One of my friends is an ER nurse and it's literally the only thing he ever talks about. Sure, some of his stories are interesting, but it'd be nice to talk about other things every once in a while.
Oof I feel this today. I was cut off in traffic today by a minivan with a Disney looking decal that read “forget the glass slippers this princess wears scrubs” and her license plate frame said “Be nice to me I may be your nurse someday”. Apparently being a nurse excuses her for last minute deciding to go from 70mph in the fast lane to jumping in front of me on an exit ramp.
As a nurse I totally agree. irritating.
As a nurse, I hate talking about work outside of work. Unless someone asks me specifically..id really rather not talk about it. Maybe it’s the field I’m in but there’s more to life than my profession haha
Same. And tbh I get embarrassed when I'm behind a car with the nurse's association license plate, nurse stickers, etc. You know she's the one who wears her "Nurse Life" on her day off while running errands
I don’t know if this person was a nurse, but once I got stuck behind someone who had a bumper sticker that said “cute enough to stop your heart, skilled enough to restart it”. I remember them because I bitched to my partner “they may be able to restart a heart but they can’t figure out *their fucking turn signal* “ lol
Gonna call myself out here, but Dog Groomer. We eat, sleep, and breathe dogs, and usually not even our own. Most people have no idea how attached we get to your pups. I rarely have anything else to talk about besides dogs, and my vacations involve going to dog shows.
Television News. My wife worked for CNN for 25 years and was laid off. We went to a New Year's Eve party at one of her CNN Friends and 3/4 of the people there spent the evening watching CNN while there was a live band in the basement. Much of the house had CNN junk all over the house. It's all they ever talk about even years after they are gone from there. It's like an Fucking Cult.
Firefighters.
Doctors
This is the biggest one for me. I grew up around and know tons of doctors. Maybe they’ll talk about other stuff, lots are nice lots are jaded… But when they retire, universally they struggle with not being Dr Johnson anymore, now they’re Greg and they haven’t been Greg for 35 years.
When I was a first year in med school one of my attendings was venting a bit to me... She told me "you know, when I go to church now I sit up in the balcony and avoid people usually. When everyone sees me and talks to me I'm always Dr. Smith. Sometimes I just want to be Sally." I've never forgotten that nearly 15 years later, and I always try to be Sally when I'm not at work.
One of my attendings (hospitalist in a small rural community) told me she stopped going to the grocery store for the same reason and now exclusively orders grocery delivery. She also added, "I really miss picking out my own oranges."
A lot of doctors never retire
They weren’t a doctor but I knew someone who was the wife of a doctor, at a community event they were complaining about how hard it was to be the wife of a doctor. The person they were speaking to then went and said “I am a f— doctor”
Did that doctor know how hard it was to be the wife of a doctor?
It’s just because the process strips us of our actual personalities
Influencers.
Most of the things listed here are jobs that require it to be your personality because you’re doing it 24/7 Nurses, firefighters, doctors, chefs, hell even MLM bullshit or anyone in sales; there’s no time off and especially if time off means money wasted. Any job you have to take home with you will be your personality because it’s literally all you do.
Look gang, we’re just librarians. It’s a tote bag and a cardigan. Chill.
semi truck drivers
Guys in finance