22 Things That Professionals Avoid Because They Know Better First Hand Now

As we live life we learn a lot through our personal experiences that can help us save time, money and effort. But the smart thing to do would be to avoid having to make the mistake in the first place and apply the lessons instead. After all, it’s much more convenient and prudent. Since wise people try to learn from others’ mistakes one Redditor decided to get the online community to share their inside information on what to avoid based on people’s professional knowledge and experience. As usual, we’ve collected the best pieces of advice for you and shared them in the gallery below. 

#1 I am a professional caregiver in an assisted living facility. I will definitely drive off a cliff before being locked in a memory care unit for dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Image source: Constant_Target, Dominik Lange

#2 Go on a date without notifying a friend or family member where I am and who I’m with. I work in law enforcement

Image source: Forensic_Chick-81, René Ranisch

#3 Bad friends. ER doc. The amount of people that hang out with the wrong people and end up paying the price is astounding. I teach my kids - whatever your friends do to other people, they will eventually do to you.

Image source: Tank3613, Devin Avery

#4

Brachycephalic dogs. Pugs, bulldogs, frenchies, all of them. I don't understand why we keep making them. Image source: FeralGinger

#5 Historian here. Not labeling anything.

Image source: TJtherock, Adolfo Félix Meta data is your friend. Always better to add too much information rather than have too little. Label the backs of your photographs. Write clearly. For the love of all that is holy WRITE CLEARLY!

#6 Chiropractors- as a medical practitioner I have heard of (although never personally seen) horrific, permanent damage come about from their 'manipulations'

Image source: JonnyBrance, Kenny Eliason

#7 Going outside without sunscreen on my face if nowhere else.

Image source: streptozotocin, Dimitris Chapsoulas I’m a Pathology resident and the amount of ears, noses, lips and other chunks of face I see that surgeons have chopped off due to skin cancers caused by sun damage is sobering. Please in the name of all that’s good an holy find a daily sunscreen that works for you and wear it.

#8 After working as a paralegal at an insurance defense firm, DO NOT TAKE ANY HELICOPTER TOURS.

Image source: TrainwreckMooncake, Martin Wyall At least in Hawaii, a lot of the helicopters aren't well maintained and there are a surprising amount of crashes they manage to keep quiet. One of the evidence exhibits I helped put together for one case was a picture the family had taken in front of the helicopter before they boarded it and were all killed when it crashed. That was almost 20 years ago and that one sticks with me.

#9 Verbal confirmations. Always get it in writing via an email ,a text, carrier pigeon ,a letter I don't care get it in writing,!

Image source: oroscor1, Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk

#10 I work in accessibility. Do not hesitate or wait to put grab bars, a tub cut out etc in your house when you grow old or if you have mobility issues. Put grab bars in your bathroom before you fall in the shower, not because you already had a fall in the shower.

Image source: HipityHopityHotSauce, Antony Trivet

#11 Don’t volunteer info to anyone that you haven’t solicited to assist you.

Image source: Devilpig13, Glenn Carstens-Peters Not the cops. Not your employer. Not your vacation plans on FB. Information will be used against you, limit your exposure.

#12 Large cruise ships.

Image source: Yellowbug2001, Josiah Weiss The number of suits against cruise lines filed in Miami by cruise ship passengers who got infectious diseases or food poisoning at sea is really staggering, only the absolute worst cases make the news but it happens ALL THE TIME, I've heard cruise ships described as "floating petri dishes" and that's putting it mildly.

#13 Opening any links or attachment of an email without verifying the sender mail address

Image source: tehlaurent97, Brett Jordan

#14 Not getting agreements in writing when it comes to loaning substantial amounts of money. Family, friends, doesn't matter. A loan without an agreement is a gift.

Image source: KaBri29, Kenny Eliason

#15 Used to work at FedEx ground. Pack. Your. S**t.

Image source: Sharp-Pop335, Bannon Morrissy Pack your s**t like it's gonna get dropped off a cliff. Package handlers do not care if your box says fragile or has orientation arrows. Stuff it with whatever, packing peanuts, expanding foam, bubble wrap. Pack. Your. S**t. Or even better pack that box and put a bigger box around it. They will toss your s**t, put heavy stuff on top of it. Use it as a step stool to reach higher boxes.

#16 Don’t get back surgery unless it’s absolutely last resort.

Image source: jyzenbok, National Cancer Institute You need to fix the root cause of the injury - usually it’s core strength weakness or Glut weakness. Go to PT first and really do the exercises. Most people who get spine surgeries have multiple ones over their lives because the level just above or below their surgery becomes injured for the same reason your first one occurred.

#17

Explaining your side to the police. Just don’t do it. It’s fine to give them your license etc on a traffic stop, tell them where you’re going or coming from (be general if you’re like coming from a crack house; you can say “the west side visiting a friend”) also fine to say you haven’t been drinking (never ever that you have). But, DO NOT CONSENT TO A SEARCH OR A FIELD SOBRIETY TEST. Let them get a search warrant, call the drug dog, or arrest you for refusal and draw your blood (which also requires a search warrant). All of these things can be challenged in court, your consent usually can’t be and even if it can it’s MUCH more difficult. If you did not witness a crime or are the victim of a crime and the police want to talk to you, you are a suspect. You know whether you saw or heard a crime or not. Police want to talk to you about your neighbor getting beat and you heard screams, saw him/her throw a punch, you’re a witness and it’s fine. Police come to ask you about where you were last night, whether you know someone, what you said on social media and you didn’t witness a crimes where you were last night or by the person you know or on social media-you are a suspect. I’ve practiced criminal defense for over a decade. Only 1 time have I ever seen a Defendant get out of criminal charges by talking to the police. And guess what, he didn’t do it by himself. Lawyer found evidence to back up what he said yada yada yada, The DA made the call to drop the charges. You know what, the police were PISSED. They targeted him when he got out jail because no matter all of that, they still believed he committed the crime. When you’re a suspect talking to the police always ends badly. Always. Image source: Golden_standard

#18

End of life treatment. Good God, why anyone chooses to be a breathing corpse is beyond me. Whether on machines or due to oxygen interruptions, there is no quality of life... support. Give it the ol' college try, and if I don't respond in the first 10 minutes, peace out cub scout. That's not to say I won't take end of life CARE. If I'm 90 and still won't throw in the towel, I still want help eating and cleaning myself. But the day i stop responding to the world around me, just give me a solid Kevorkian and free up bed space for the next poor schmuck. Image source: FlipZer0

#19 Wearing contacts in the shower/pool/any body of water. Worked as an ophthalmic photographer in Pittsburgh for seven years. College students were coming in with ulcers and amoeba in their corneas from swimming in their contacts and then sleeping in them for days.

Image source: Varthredalgo, Lensabl

#20 Drinking Tap Water

Image source: AK12thMan, Andres Siimon 1 - I wouldn’t drink water from the tap without letting it run a few seconds first. Especially first thing in the morning. I used to work for my state’s drinking water compliance program and would collect and analyze drinking water samples from all sorts of public drinking water sources, including people’s homes. All the contaminants, minerals, etc. from the water source to the pipes and even the solder (especially if old) leach and accumulate the longer the water sits in the lines. Letting the tap run for a few seconds flushes out that “stagnant” water and draws fresher water from the mainlines. 2 - Don’t be an a*****e to anyone in customer service - from retail to sales and food service - I worked in retail for many, many years. These folks are just trying to get by and aren’t responsible for whatever is that got you all upset in the first place. In fact, simply being nice to them in a difficult situation can more times than not actually work out in your favor as they may sympathize/empathize with you.

#21 Consultants. We get paid to interview your staff to document the issues and solutions they’ve already identified but can’t get approval to do. Then we put some cool slides and bogus ROI numbers around it so your executives will fund the work.

Image source: bigdaddyjw, Scott Graham It’s super rare for a company to not have someone on staff who knows what needs to be done and has it 3/4ths documented already. Execs either don’t trust their own team enough or need an outside group’s recommendation to get through the political BS to implement change.

#22 As a software engineer, internet-connected 'smart' home stuff. I don't need some internet random gaining access to my security cameras.

Image source: bendvis, Alan J. Hendry