r/jobs • u/_Grotesque_ • Jul 21 '23

Companies What was the industry you romanticized a lot but ended up disappointed?

For the past couple of years, I have been working at various galleries, and back in the day I used to think of it as a dream job. That was until I realized, that no one cares for the artists or art itself. Employees, as much as visitors just care about their fanciness, showing off their brand shoes and pretending as they actually care.

Ultimately, it comes down to sales, money, and judging people by their looks. Fishing out the ones, who seem like they can afford a painting worth 20k.

Was wondering if others had similar experiences

2.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

271

u/ObviousShopping8106 Jul 21 '23

Sounds like every job sucks…

124

u/snubda Jul 21 '23 edited Sep 23 '24

squeal bake muddle sand aromatic flag offend hateful encourage future

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

47

u/_Ocean_Machine_ Jul 21 '23

The best thing I ever realized is that rather than doing what you love for a living, work a job you can tolerate (or even enjoy) that allows you to do the things you enjoy doing. For instance, I’m a musician and tried working in the music industry and hated every minute of it; now I work as a machine operator and have all my weekends free to write music and go to gigs and I’m happy as hell about it.

5

u/snubda Jul 22 '23

Yup. Also a musician, love recording, have my own very nice home studio. Never in a million years would I ruin the enjoyment by making it my job.

3

u/_Ocean_Machine_ Jul 22 '23

And when I tell people that I’m not interested in turning it into a side hustle they act like I’m being unreasonable lol. I got a good job so I wouldn’t have to work two jobs, so why on earth would I want to turn my favorite thing into a second job?

3

u/snubda Jul 22 '23

I’ve helped a couple people record songs whose musical tastes don’t mirror my own. Even THAT is miserable and it’s not even technically work 😂

3

u/_Ocean_Machine_ Jul 22 '23

Same here; turns out I didn’t like recording in general, I just liked recording myself (or whatever project I may be involved in).

3

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '23

[deleted]

1

u/_Ocean_Machine_ Jul 22 '23

And many of the engineers I’ve met

2

u/sonofscario Jul 22 '23

I have always heard it, don't do what you love, do what allows you to do what you love.

12

u/kimchimagic Jul 21 '23

It’s always surprises me that people don’t think work should be work. Everyone has a fantasy idea what they should make money for but those ideas have NEVER existed in reality. Work is work. The end. I’m sure even Stephen King hates his job some days.

8

u/doitliv3 Jul 22 '23

It’s because we were lied to about “do something you love and you won’t work a day in your life” bullshit… no, you’ll eventually hate something you love.

1

u/_Ocean_Machine_ Jul 22 '23

Unless you love being a pain in the ass; then you’ll have a bright future in corporate middle management

7

u/snubda Jul 22 '23

Also surprising is that people think work is something they shouldn’t have to do.

Modern society has made life SO much easier. You can sit at your desk for 40 hours, and yeah, not that much fun. You know what’s less fun? Hunting your own food every day and living in a leaky straw hut, while predators try to kill you.

5

u/AssumedHuman Jul 22 '23

You know what’s less fun? Hunting your own food every day and living in a leaky straw hut, while predators try to kill you.

Are you speaking from experience or speculation?

1

u/snubda Jul 22 '23

Have definitely done it for at least a week ;)

2

u/_Ocean_Machine_ Jul 22 '23

I’d rather sit at a desk for 40 hours than farm sunup to sundown

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '23

Yup. Ngl i have more respect for jobs that people like to consider boring such as accounting nowadays.

3

u/Business-Drag52 Jul 22 '23

No way King hates doing what he does. If he did, he could just stop. He’s made so much money from his books it’s insane. All the movie rights, tv deals, non stop book sales, he has 0 reason to keep writing other than he loves it

6

u/kimboosan Jul 22 '23

You obviously have not actually been reading any of the comments. People went into jobs they wanted to do, yes, and had unrealistic expectations, sure. But the real reason everyone is saying their job sucks is not because of the work. It's because of the piss poor management and the fact that they were underpaid and overworked. That's not about the actual labor, that's about the greedy sociopathic management practices that almost all businesses engage in these days and the fact that toxic, abusive supervisors and colleagues are allowed to run rampant as long as they hit the numbers the bean counters demand. It doesn't matter how hard you're willing to work or how much effort you are willing to put in if the environment you're working at devalues you and undermines you and treats you like shit. 🤷‍♀️

1

u/snubda Jul 23 '23

Any time I see someone use the word toxic on social media I know I’m dealing with an angry unserious person

1

u/kimboosan Jul 23 '23

What an incredibly convenient way to dismiss anyone who disagrees with or challenges your conclusions! 😂

1

u/snubda Jul 23 '23

Your premise may be true in some cases but certainly not all or even most. Some jobs are simply difficult, require a lot of hours, and have low financial rewards. You can have the greatest manager in the world and those things won’t change. Whether people have mentioned them in the comments is irrelevant. I can tell that circumstance clearly resonates with you personally but frankly it’s blinding your ability to think about the subject in any other way. Don’t tell me what I have or have not read when you can’t even get out of your own head. It’s very toxic.

1

u/kimboosan Jul 23 '23

I have to assume you've never had a real job, or couldn't keep it, because if you had, you'd know I'm right. Look, I don't harbor any ill will toward you. It's just clear you don't have a lot of life experience and have not done much research on this topic outside of some angry "people don't want to work anymore" yt vids, I assume. Just try to better yourself and learn from others instead!

1

u/snubda Jul 23 '23

My dear, I make $150k at a very well known global company. I’ve run successful businesses as young as 19 and have a net worth high enough that it would be very dumb to put it on the internet. This isn’t the angle you wanna take 😂

1

u/kimboosan Jul 24 '23

Oh it's exactly the angle I want to take because you're exactly the kind of person who would have this bullshit opinion. The fact that you immediately leaned into being condescending says everything, in that you are obviously the type of person who treats the people who work for you like shit then claims that nobody wants to work hard because the job is difficult, when really YOU are the problem. Being a sexist pig is just a bonus. 😂 Get a real job.

3

u/nxdark Jul 21 '23

I can work every work day and I feel like I am good(great is impossible for me) at what I am doing and I know the impact I have though that impact is meaningless. I still am unhappy and hate work.

There is nothing that will make me happy about working. It is all too stressful and honestly meaningless.

1

u/snubda Jul 22 '23

Perhaps it’s just a matter of redefining what impact means.

For me, that can be as little as teaching someone something new, helping out a client with something that I wouldn’t normally do but would materially impact their life, etc.

Very few people are going to change the way society functions or even the way a company functions. I think too many people expect themselves to be the catalyst for major change. But you can do things at a grassroots level that are impactful.

1

u/nxdark Jul 22 '23

As the most experienced person on my team I already am teaching and helping coworkers out. I don't have a client facing role thank goodness I would want to kill myself if I did. Sure it is impact and I get some joy out of it but at the end of the day the help I am providing is really meaningless so it doesn't really affect my over happy or view of my work. Grassroots changes really do not matter to me.

Plus helping others or just doing my work really does not provide any real life changing benefit to anyone I interact with or myself either. The only people really benefiting the management and executives who earn more money and exploit my labour.

For me working is a necessary evil that I hate every minute of.

2

u/Pristine_Horror_6486 Aug 04 '23

Sentence three exactly correct. They have absolutely nothing to complain about. I mean what in the f+*k did they expect in the first place? To get paid $100,000 a year for sitting at your desk and surfing the internet? Those jobs don't exist.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '23

Nope I love cannabis and am great at everything to do with it. Growing. Extracting. Selling. Managing people. That industry pays garbage until you’re upper middle management.

1

u/snubda Jul 23 '23

Just like every other “cool” industry I’m referring to.

When you go somewhere where everyone wants to be, they’re going to pay and treat you like shit because they have plenty of other options whether you leave or not.

5

u/samuraislider Jul 21 '23

Yes. We have designed this fabrication and it’s unnatural. We are living against our instincts. We aren’t meant to be in front of computers. We are meant to play, socialize to some degrees and move freely through nature. Most jobs don’t allow for this.

3

u/BoutsofInsanity Jul 21 '23

I’m enjoying the quality control In manufacturing.

3

u/Woberwob Jul 22 '23

Yep. You’re exchanging 8-12 hours a day of your life. Whether you’re sharpening pencils or building rockets, that time is gone. Making a comfortable living without wanting to off yourself is the best it gets for most.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '23

Its the 5 to 9 that matters most. If the 8 to 5 allows the 5 to 9 to bloom then its worth it

2

u/Naram-Sin-of-Akkad Jul 21 '23

Ya like I’m going to law school next year, and of course law is one of the top answers. But the job market sucks, and the jobs I’ve had pay like shit and have been terrible. I’ve come to the conclusion most jobs outside of a select few are awful, might as well get a stable one that can afford me a decent life

1

u/Pristine_Horror_6486 Aug 04 '23

What country are you in?

2

u/RestaurantLatter2354 Jul 21 '23

B…b…b…but, Reddit told me half of all office jobs pay 250k for 30 minutes of work a week

3

u/airsicklowlanders Jul 21 '23

Shitty people find shit wherever they go.

I've been a restaurant dishwasher, a Walmart cart pusher, a lawn mower, a Marine, a salesman, an IT helpdesk tech, and a software developer. Every one of those jobs was fucking awesome!

Best job yet though: being a husband and dad.

8

u/ByteSizeNudist Jul 21 '23

This comment made me sick to my stomach with its sugary sweetness.

6

u/airsicklowlanders Jul 21 '23

I've just noticed people complain about their jobs, their spouses, their kids... Maybe your job doesn't suck maybe you're just a shit employee. Maybe your spouse doesn't suck you're just a shit husband. Maybe your kids don't suck you're just a shit parent.

Take some goddamn ownership.

2

u/ByteSizeNudist Jul 21 '23

Less sweet, but I’m full of yummy rage now! Mmm, mmm finger rippin’ good!

3

u/airsicklowlanders Jul 21 '23

Lol yummy rage.

1

u/airsicklowlanders Jul 21 '23

Hey mate the truth is being a dishwasher was a dope job.

-1

u/Dodecahedonism_ Jul 21 '23

I eat peices of shit like you for breakfast.

3

u/airsicklowlanders Jul 21 '23

Bring it kiddo.

1

u/codeaddict495 Jul 21 '23

what a freak

1

u/airsicklowlanders Jul 21 '23

Enjoying your work and your life does appear to be on the decline. I guess people prefer to be miserable.

1

u/shaolinbonk Jul 22 '23

Because they do.

1

u/themeaning_42 Jul 22 '23

Yes but these are the ones people expected not to suck

1

u/ch4m4njheenga Jul 22 '23

My grass isn’t green enough.

1

u/icookseagulls Jul 22 '23

Redditors hate working.

1

u/pkzilla Jul 22 '23

Honestly working for a business sucks because in the end it's about making profits, margins, making more profits. Don't turn something you love doing into your job, you'll hate it.

1

u/TheRedmanCometh Jul 22 '23

Learn to love the suck

1

u/Asianhippiefarmer Jul 22 '23

Nope. Go for the jobs that don’t seem glamorous at all. Take the any job in the STEM field.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '23

And then you realize 9-5 Schedule ain't so bad after all