25 'It Doesn't Work Like That' Moments Shared By Various Professionals

Reddit is a treasure trove of firsthand experiences and honest revelations, especially when it comes to debunking common myths. One intriguing thread asked professionals, “What is a common myth about your job or field of expertise?” The responses poured in, offering a mix of humor, frustration, and eye-opening insights. Here are some of the standout answers from people eager to set the record straight about their careers. These answers reveal a common thread: many jobs are misunderstood, often oversimplified into clichés. Behind every profession lies a mix of hard work, expertise, and challenges that go unnoticed. So, the next time you think you know what someone’s job entails, consider asking them instead. You might be surprised by how much more there is to their work than meets the eye!

#1

Image source: Kelly Schweighsr, Scott Blake / unsplash (not the actual photo) The myth I want to dispel is that construction workers just stand around doing nothing - especially when patching potholes. Okay, I have actually tried to dispel this myth before and have received massive amounts of pushback, but I guess I’ll just keep slamming my head into a wall on this issue. When a crew goes out to patch a pothole (and there are a lot of potholes in my area due to the rapid freeze-thaw cycle), they need to set up traffic control around the area, then clean out the pothole to be filled. They remove dirt and debris (mostly trash and leaves), and then chip the surrounding material back to “good pavement”. Once that is done, THEN they can call for the fill material - and until the fill material arrives they have to WAIT. Why? Well, for one thing, the fill has to be mixed up fresh at the plant, and then it has a very limited shelf-life. They can’t call for it until they know exactly how much they need, and they can’t call ahead of time because once the mix cools down it is useless - unless it is in the patch. So they can’t just order more than they need because where are they going to dispose of the excess? Not to mention that asphalt isn’t exactly cheap. They can’t leave and start cleaning a new pothole because drivers WILL ignore the traffic cones and drive into the hole. Also, with traffic going by, more debris will end up in the hole, blown by the drafts caused by passing cars. So they have one guy watching the traffic and another guy making sure the hole stays clean and the rest of the crew cleans up their tools and get ready for the hot asphalt mix to arrive. The crew chief fills out the necessary paperwork, but they are usually sitting in the truck, at least. (The crew is usually only 4 guys, including the chief, anyway.) When the mix arrives, they fill the pothole (possibly in several layers), compact the material and protect it while it cools so some idiot driver doesn’t drive over the fresh (hot) patch, melting their tires into the asphalt and damaging both tires and patch. As they wait for the patch to cool/ cure, they clean their tools again (asphalt is sticky and you can’t get it off once it has hardened), then race off to do the next pothole. It is hard labor and takes real strength and stamina to do. But the drivers going past are mad at the inconvenience (and would be even angrier if the potholes didn’t get patched) and often yell offensive things like, “get back to work!” when the men ARE working - but not actually using a pick or a shovel. Measuring the holes, checking the surrounding material and ensuring the patch takes *IS* real work. I’ve heard the same complaint while waiting for the next concrete truck (which is especially fun when the truck is caught in traffic because of the idiot drivers who have to slow down to yell at the “lazy” construction workers) or basically any construction that occurs near traffic. “New” construction or construction on roads that are closed are so much calmer and easier to work. So, construction workers who don’t appear to be “working” (i.e.: they aren’t swinging a pick, sledgehammer or shovel) aren’t “lazy” - there are other parts to their job that take more skill than muscle. And I challenge anyone who yells, “Get back to work,” at a construction worker to swing a pick, sledgehammer or shovel for fifteen minutes straight and find out just how important it is to have some rest periods in between.

#2

Image source: A Olster, Tra Nguyen / unsplash (not the actual photo) Teachers do not work short hours. If they are lucky, they have one daily planning period in addition to lunch, but there is no way that all the lessons can be planned and all the homework and tests can be handled in one period per day. Teachers have lots of homework plus grading and record keeping after their normal hours. Often the “planning period" is used to talk with students having problems or to do tutoring. Sometimes, it's spent observing other teachers in an effort to maintain fresh perspective. Sometimes, it's spent covering for another teacher with a medical or personal emergency where there was no time to recruit a regular substitute. There are faculty meetings and occasional after school in-service certifications. There are consults with the department chair and administrators regarding student discipline issues. Everything needs to be documented. (There is never -nor has there ever been - any overtime pay for any of this!) There are evening parent conferences for which teachers are grateful because it means the student has caring support. School holidays are catch up for lesson planning, test preparation, grading et cetera. (There's more, but this is enough to provide a sampling.) By the way, teachers teach for the love and empowerment of their students.

#3

Image source: Franklin Veaux, Brock Wegner / unsplash (not the actual photo) If you publish a book you’ll be rich. Statistically you’re more likely to win the lottery. I am one of the very few authors who makes a living writing novels, and it’s not a good living—I earn less than an average fast food worker.

#4

Image source: Thomas Junior, Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo) Being a Science teacher does not mean that you know “everything” about Science. I would need at least 20 different college degrees.

#5

Image source: Mercedes R. Lackey, Joshua Hoehne / unsplash (not the actual photo) It’s easy to write books and make a living from writing. FACT: 95% of all writers make less than minimum wage from their writing.

#6

Image source: Solamon77, Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo) Restaurant Manager. That we will spit in or tamper with your food if you upset us. Some people are absolutely paranoid to ask for special requests or to send their food back if it isn't what they expected it to be, worried that we will spit or otherwise soil their food. I have worked in over a dozen different restaurants and I have literally not seen this happen even once. Asking my fellow employees, they all say the same thing. We get a thousand special requests a day. It's part of the job. Even if you ask for something weird and annoying, if it's possible, we'll do it no questions asked. I once had a lady ask for three different sauces on her pizza and wanted us to build dough walls to separate them. I had a guy who insisted that his steak be perfectly square because someone once told him that all the most tender steaks are square (protip: square steaks are no more tender than other steaks; look for good marbleization instead). Your request probably isn't that weird anyway. Besides, as a manager, if I ever even thought one of my cooks was doing something as disgusting as tampering with someone's food, I would show them the door that very second. It's just not worth getting your restaurant shut down and everyone losing their jobs for nothing more than a cheap, mean-spirited laugh.

#7

Image source: Alvin Grissom II, Ben Iwara / unsplash (not the actual photo) Computer science is not the same as IT. Programming is not (usually, in itself) computer science, and neither of these are IT. There’s obviously some overlap in competencies, but they are completely different fields. Yes, strictly speaking, I can probably fix your computer in the same way that a mathematician can probably help you with your accounting, but it’s not my job, and there are professionals trained to do that. Similarly, linguistics refers neither to learning foreign languages nor to the study of “proper grammar.”

#8

Image source:  Adrian Bew, Guilherme Cunha / unsplash (not the actual photo) Construction. That it is an unskilled career , that is a gross misconception and a large number in the industry are very skilled , have spent several years in college and many more experienced on site . They have to comply with regulations set down by the industry regulators and there are books of these and updated regularly . A multi skilled person like my self has to know all those regulations and keep up with the modern ones coming in, that is only part of the knowledge required , then there is that of each individual trade and the skill of performing those trades to the meet those regulation standards . An all round builder can be one of the most highly skilled there is having not only the knowledge of different trades but the skill to apply them . To most they are simply a builder and little respect for the skills they have and how they acquired them , but you would be still living in caves if we're not for them . People take construction for granted but there is a great deal of skill involved in its production and knowledge to get it from bare soil to what you see in its completion .

#9

Image source: Ken Carriker, Curated Lifestyle / unsplash (not the actual photo) People will say, “Wow! What a beautiful photograph! What kind of camera do you use?” Totally discounting the skill and knowledge and talent it takes to be a good photographer. To take consistently good photographs, you have to know how to compose a photo, finding just the right angles, whether it’s a portrait or a landscape or architecture, or whatever. You have to understand light and what a difference bright lights at different angles makes or what happens when the sky is overcast or the lighting is otherwise diffused. You have to understand how ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and focal length all work together (or against each other) to affect exposure. In the hands of a good photographer, as long as the camera doesn’t have a lens that is complete garbage, pretty any camera will take good pictures. Now, that’s not to discount professional and high end amateur cameras. They definitely make taking photographs easier, especially when your on a hurry. Sports photographers, for example, need to be able to “set it and forget it, when it come to the exposure, using a fast shutter speed so they can focus (pun fully intended) on capturing the action. Portrait and wedding photographers are going to spend money on short telephoto lenses with high end glass to get the most flawless and flattering photos possible without having to spend a lot of time in post correcting aberrations. But, once again, it’s the photographer that really makes the difference. My 5 year old granddaughter has a little fixed focus digital camera that her mom paid about $35 for. It’s 8MP, so not bad for looking at pix on a computer screen. But if I were to use it, my photos would look so much better than my granddaughter’s because she just points it at something and presses the button whereas I would look at the view screen, compose the photo making sure I’m within optimal distance for the photo to be in focus, check the lighting, and then take the photo.

#10

Image source: Oscar Tay, Kateryna Hliznitsova / unsplash (not the actual photo) Linguistics is not about learning as many languages as humanly possible. There are people who do that. We call them “polyglots”. Some people are both linguists and polyglots. However, most polyglots are not linguists, and most linguists are not polyglots. Linguistics is about studying language and how it works. You poke it, trip over it, push it over, split it apart, put it back together, and then let it wander around again and see what it does now. One of the things I love about syntax, for instance, is that papers on it are full of brilliantly absurd sentences that could never happen - McCawley’s F**k you or I’ll take away your teddy bear![1] comes to mind - because you’re trying to figure out why those sentences are so ridiculous. Any English speaker could tell me that “Want you to must that the chair yellow what?” is wrong, but most couldn’t give a general reason without serious thought. That’s what linguistics deals with. It also deals with how words are put together, where sounds go and what they do, how we make those sounds, how those words and sounds change over time, how and why different people think certain ways of using words and sounds are bad, where the meaning of those words comes from, how that meaning works, and how and where in the brain all that meaning comes from in the first place.

#11

Image source: Ken Eckert, Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo) English professors are not all raging atheist Marxists. Half of the people in my department go to church, and lean center-right. Many of the social-justice oriented or progressive students we teach already had such sympathies before coming to university. I can’t get my students to put away their smartphones in class; I certainly can’t dictate their political beliefs.

#12

Image source: Bud Vieira, Maria Lupan / unsplash (not the actual photo) My expertise is in cognitive psychology, specifically memory. People typically believe that their memories are true representations of events that happened in their lives. This is largely false. Memories recalled from even recent events are not highly accurate in their details, and older memories are largely stories that are somewhat representative of a person’s understanding of events at the time, and very prone to mistakes of both fact and overall significance. Memory is less of a reliable storehouse of facts, and more of a reconstruction of events based on the few facts that may be clearly recalled.

#13

Image source: Graham Rolfe, Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo) That an electrician is an electrician, when there are so many different types of electrician. Just think, an auto electrician basically wouldn't know where to start in robotics, or an HVAC unit, electronics, machine tool maintenance to name but a very few. Now I'm not putting any down, but each is conversant with their own particular field.

#14

Image source: Rob Robinson, melissa mjoen / unsplash (not the actual photo) As a 911 dispatcher, I can tell you that we can’t always track a cell phone. Many times we can, but not always, and it’s NOTHING like you see on TV or in movies. It depends on several factors and sometimes the ping only gets us to within a few hundred meters of your location, and if it doesn’t ping to what’s called Phase II, the only thing we know is which cell tower your phone is connected to. There has been some argument about this being correct, so where is what the FCC says. “The plan requires that within two years, carriers must transmit 911 caller position accurate to within 50 meters to the 911 call center in at least 40 percent of cases. Within five years,carriers must transmit that location information accurately within 60 percent of cases.” So as you can see, calling 911 and not saying anything doesn’t guarantee police officers or medical personal can locate you. They may be able to but they may not be able to.

#15

Image source: Kip Wheeler, Yunus Tuğ / unsplash (not the actual photo) That tenure is a job for life. No. Tenure merely means you cannot be dismissed for teaching or researching something controversial, at least not without a hearing. However, professors can (and frequently are) dismissed for failure or neglect to do their duties satisfactorily, for breach of contract, for unethical or unprofessional behavior, or simply because of the college’s financial exigency.

#16

Image source: Paul, Kateryna Hliznitsova / unsplash (not the actual photo) I'm an English teacher and many people think if you are a native speaker and have a pulse you can become a teacher of English. .in Japan many are hired for their native skills rather than actual teaching ability. Most decent language teaching jobs require that you know about linguistics, grammar syntax as well as being able to explain and teaching spelling and pronunciation. I teach students as young as four and many of my adult students are false beginners, who cannot speak any foreign language but have studied it at school. Teaching across a language barrier presents its own difficulties. Many teachers here do not speak a foreign language so have no understanding of learning a language and how to teach others.many of my colleagues have Masters and PhDs.

#17

Image source: Jerry Ruth, Jakub Żerdzicki / unsplash (not the actual photo) I.T. That we know your password. “Can you tell me what my password is?” No, we can’t, we can’t see it either. That we are application gurus. If your Excel works, you need to figure out how to insert the pivot table in lite green on the 2,891’st line of the 3rd worksheet. We just make sure it works.

#18

Image source:  Rob Robinson, Markus Spiske / unsplash (not the actual photo) Yes. I used to be a very highly ranked competitive shooter. I held the highest ranking in several shooting sports and regularly won shooting matches. People assumed that because I was good with handguns and had a reasonably wide knowledge of them that it meant I knew “everything about guns.” I know very little about shotguns and rifles and have only competed in a few matches where we used those. I know very little about gunsmithing or working on firearms beyond basic maintenance and know very little about tactics other than strategy on how to win shooting matches. I was just a good handgun shooter.

#19

Image source: Chris Peters, Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo) Not all salespeople are pushy and self absorbed. Some of us truly feel like we have something worthwhile to offer and love to help people solve real problems. I dislike the stereotypical used car salesperson as much as anyone, so make an effort to be respectful, inquisitive, and kind.

#20

Image source: Lynda Blandford, Molly the Cat / unsplash (not the actual photo) Not me but my husband who is a geologist— most people have no clue what he does or even what a geologist is lol He’s even been called a gynaecologist now that one was interesting.

#21

Image source: Susan Baars-Jones Anyone can write a product manual or user instructions, why is it a special profession? There’s a lot more to this job than you think. Being able to put yourself in another person’s mindset and then write information and specific instructions for them is not an easy task. You have to try and think of every question someone might ask, and everything they might try to do, even though you have warned them that it may be detrimental to their well-being…to the point of potential death. You have to think of every eventuality because the people you are writing for will try to do it. You should also understand that good documentation will help to sell a shady product. People will forgive bad design aspects if the instructions are well written and easy to follow. I write for warehousing, airport, and parcel systems, down to component level. Operators climbing on conveyors to clear a jam and having ribs broken by speeding packages or baggage is more common than you think. Engineers need to use the correct components to make sure your TV doesn’t blow up when you turn it on. Emergency staff need to know precisely which medications to administer or which equipment settings to use, and which combinations could potentially kill you! They learn about the correct components, combinations, and systems to use from our manuals. Most engineers HATE documenting their work. We have to learn about what they are doing and then explain it to you. So, whatever the field of study, give your in-house technical writer or documentation specialist a smile of appreciation once in a while, okay. Thanks.

#22

Image source: Jerry Ricks, National Cancer Institute / unsplash (not the actual photo) That “Science is hard.” Because it turns out that science is not hard. It’s REALLY HARD. At least the “hard sciences.” I took a couple classes in the “soft sciences”, but they were too hard for me. And it just gets worse and worse. Or better and better, depending on your mindset. How can I put this indelicately. Are you a nerd? Do you like Studying? Great! Because when you become a scientist, all you do is study. And that is the Joy of it.

#23

Image source: Joe Anslevich, Ave Calvar / unsplash (not the actual photo) Two things: 1) That music theory is somehow a bad object, used by the (imaginary) gatekeepers of music to stop the “non-theory” people from gaining access to music. Debunk: music theory is just “how we talk about music” and we need it if we’re going to share it - and our opinions about it - in any meaningful way. 2) That you can be a successful musician without a lot of practice and hard work. Debunk: it may well be true that some people are just “born talented” but that talent will not emerge without a lot of encouragement.

#24

Image source: Kirsty Walker, Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo) I am an Assistant Librarian and it's a myth we don't let people talk in the Public Library.

#25

Image source: Jack Malone, Erik Mclean / unsplash (not the actual photo) Information Technology Network Operations and Admin : We can not control the universe through a televion remote : that one is literally from NCIS.