25 Times People Realized Their ‘Fun’ Jobs Were Secretly The Worst

From the outside looking in, certain professions appear to be a dream come true—imagine traveling the world as a flight attendant, designing video games, or even working at a theme park. However, those in the know often have a very different story to tell. A Reddit thread asked the question, “What’s a ‘fun’ profession that’s really hell if you’ve actually been in it?” The responses shed light on the harsh realities lurking behind the glamorous facades of some seemingly enviable jobs.

#1

Image source: Rocknocker, Marek Studzinski

Demolition.

Sure, it’s great fun blowing stuff up, like old buildings, oilwell fires, quarries, etc.

But the paperwork. Insane.

Need it to buy/order high explosives, transport them, obtain consumables, (caps, boosters, etc.), pages of explosive design, liability paperwork, proof of certification, use disbursement, dud reports, actual use, leftover reports…and in quadriplicate so the FBI, BLM, ATF, and local government can lose their own copies.

Still, blowing s**t up *is* fun…

#2

Image source: 1785mike, JSB Co.

Although the position has largely died out, being a radio disc jockey was not nearly as fun and crazy as it is often portrayed. Terrible hours, low pay, and micromanagement from higher ups led to quick burnout for most dj’s. Not to mention, you could be fired at any time for the smallest error.

#3

Image source: wild_ones_in, Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Touring side of music industry is fantastic when you are 20. It’s awful when you are 40. Away from home most of the year. Living out of a bus and hotel rooms 300 days a year. Eating at the same truck stops for the last 20 years. Showering at those truckstops. load in, stage set up, wait wait wait, dance on stage like a monkey, load out, on the road again. Repeat repeat repeat. It’s like Groundhogs Day.

#4

Image source: grumblebuzz, Quang Nguyen Vinh

Anything that you enjoy as a recreational hobby. I’ve discovered that if you try to monetize it, you won’t enjoy doing it anymore for very long after that.

#5

Image source: Rockythegrayboi, Andrea Piacquadio

I was able to quit my job at a hospital and become my own boss by selling my art online for about 7 years now. It’s definitely sounds fun to work from home, sleep in, work your own hours, not have a boss but…

The amount of people out there that will call you the worst dehumanizing names because their package (not delivered by me btw) was delivered incorrectly is awful.

Ive been screamed at , sworn at, yelled at, threatened, letters even sent. And usually it’s a 7.00 item that’s been marked delivered but they didn’t get and it’s actually been misplaced by a family member.

Not to add , having to market yourself, the constant imposter feeling of feeling like your own creations aren’t good enough. Worried every day if you can afford bills, the constant worry of you can still do this in 10 years,working 70 hour weeks to avoid 40 a week jobs. the holidays. Buying supplies, having to save money for taxes.

Oh and the isolation! It sounds good and is good if you’re a social anxious person, especially after coming out of a drama filled job. But trust me, even if you think you are not a people person you might miss them after awhile. I just miss the non personal interactions, like watching others interact and then the occasion of seeing that one or two people I got along with. Knowing my coworkers and how they acted and what to expect from them. Just saying hi to coworkers workers or people asking how my weekend was .

Sorry for long post,

Maybe I needed a vent more than anything haha.

#6

Image source: cwthree, Getty Images

Any job with a nonprofit. You start working there because you want to be part of some worthy cause. Then you realize that the pay is awful, there’s no advancement, and the politics are like every small family company, but worse. When you quit, they’ll try to guilt you into staying “for the cause.”.

#7

Image source: PancakeLad, Getty Images

I’ve been a flight attendant for 24 years and I always get people who say “oh I bet that’s fun!” And they think it’s glamorous.

I’m a waiter in a bad restaurant that can’t throw out patrons who get too belligerent with me.

To be fair, the travel is fun and if I hated the job, I wouldn’t have done it for so long. But the thing that’s kept me here this long is that I’m in a union and I have health insurance.

#8

Policing! It’s often depicted as being a job with a lot of interesting action where you’re always on the go, chasing bad guys, investigating crimes, etc.

The truth is most police work horrendous hours (typically 12 hour shifts cycled between 3-4 day shifts then 3-4 night shifts in a row). Your sleep schedule is abysmal due to the long hours and your circadian rhythm being out of whack from the constantly changing schedule. So you’re constantly tired and irritable.

You miss a lot of family events, birthday parties, get-togethers with friends, your kids’ school events, etc. and a lot of people start to resent you for it.

You’re constantly being surveilled through your own bodycam/car cameras, other police officers’ bodycams and you’re made painfully aware of that by sergeants and inspectors.

You spend most of your time sitting, and a lot of that will be crammed into a car where your police toolbelt and vest are jamming into your body and making you uncomfortable 24/7.

You’ve seen terrible things that will haunt you for the rest of your life (suicides, beheaded children on highways from traffic collisions, victims of murder and brutal sexual assault, etcetc.) and there’s supposed to be a culture of silence where you don’t show pain or signs of PTSD.

And the best part is, you go through all of this suffering in service of the public, and yet those people hate you or are weary around you just because you’re a cop.

Image source: Knockturnill

#9

Image source: Sarcolemming, Tima Miroshnichenko

Being a vet. Long hours, constantly over-booked and under-staffed, you watch animals suffer and you often are contributing to their suffering in order to try and help them, owners are often at best ignorant and not interested in being educated, and at worst genuinely couldn’t care less about their animals, and if they do care, they don’t have the money, so you get to run a constant mental calculus of how much you can afford to discount treatment to help them this month without getting fired and while still being able to pay your techs, all while under the crushing burden of student loans, with the fun of a really bad day sometimes including a lawsuit, death threats, or physical violence.

I have seen some vets online say they enjoy it, and I’m happy for you. I don’t personally know a single one that doesn’t regret their choice, and I know a LOT of them.

#10

Image source: mattsprofile, Nataliya Vaitkevich

Kids are told that engineers get to invent cool new technologies like Benjamin Franklin or whatever. Most engineers do paperwork, marginal continuous improvement stuff, and sit in meetings all day.

#11

Image source: Four_N_Six, cottonbro studio

Forensic work in general is not as glamorous as the television would have you believe (go figure). I have a degree in forensics, and my current job has me working closely with people doing firearm investigations and the work looks monotonous as all Hell. I wouldn’t be able to do it.

I was a crime scene investigator for several years. I have dug through dumpsters with 6 inches of garbage juice water looking for a murder weapon that wasn’t there. I’ve spent prolonged time in a third floor attic with no air in the middle of summer trying to find a knife that was *on the front porch next to homicide detectives the entire time.* I have gone into homes so infested with cockroaches, bedbugs, or both that the walls *looked alive*. My personal vehicle had tear gas residue for about a week after one scene because it was on my clothing, even after changing before getting into my car. I know what the skin of a human body feels like after death, and I’ve seen children and innocent people violently killed.

CSI looks fun on TV. And I did enjoy aspects of it. But it is 100% not a job that you can just be trained to do. You have to be able to handle it and parts of that aren’t something you can just teach someone.

#12

CASINOS. The amount of sad, terrible and depressing things I have seen and heard. Watched people lose 100k + in one night, countless times. Medical emergencies at the tables because the player refuses to stop gambling or at least have us call EMT. People falling over dead at the poker table while the other players at the same table (refused to move) complain that the cards are taking too long. People so ridiculously drunk that they could barely move their hands, but as long the chips were placed in the right spot, the play continues. A common joke was “if I don’t win this hand, me/my dog/my kid won’t be eating tonight.” and often, they wouldn’t win. Husbands storming in and punching out their wife for spending the family savings at the tables. Families being forcibly removed because they are trying to convince their loved one to stop. I will never expect gaming “luck” again, I have touched too much cursed money and taken too much back. It is one of the professions with the highest divorce rates. Even the best employees are not happy to come in to work. If you can help it, don’t let the lights and glamour draw you in. The house will eat you up, spit you out, and laugh at you in your final, pitiful state.

Image source: IllustriousSpirit790

#13

Image source: Robocup1, Lê Minh

Working on Film sets is a lot of fun. But it comes at a tremendous personal and health cost for below the line workers.

It has long work hours, unpredictable employment, and a totally different way of life than most regular jobs. It will cost your your relationships outside of work and your health.

It is absolutely a lot of fun to work on these sets. I would never want to do anything else. But it will absolutely ruin you.

#14

Image source: skinsnax, Mikhail Nilov

Teaching, especially if you teach a subject like art or music.

When I was teaching art, people would constantly make comments about how I just got to have fun for work and color with kids all day. Other teachers were often the worst, implying I didn’t really work and that my job was easy.

Aspects of it were fun, yes, but it was really hard and the not fun aspects outweighed the fun stuff. Parents calling me or emailing me angry I called their kid the wrong name, I taught 400 students), admin coming to my class to complain that I showed an art work with nudity in it even though I sent home permission slips to view said MANDATORY work of art, kids with behavioral problems doing things like cutting the pants of other kids or throwing scissors which would halt my lessons, documenting the over 40+ IEP/504s/BPs every single day, the endless cleaning, kids crying, parents mad that a winter Art project was too “Christmas-y” for their JW student, being voluntold to work after hours, on my weekends, and over breaks…It was a nightmare.

There are aspects that I miss, but it wasn’t a fun profession. I used to set a timer between classes, typically about 2-5 minutes, sit under my desk and cry, then when the timer went off, take deep breaths, wipe my eyes, and let the next class in.

#15

Image source: Dog_in_human_costume, Lukas

IT.

People want everything with zero investment.

Stuff you need 2 years to master is already obsolete by the time you finish studying it.

#16

Image source: Blametheorangejuice, Yan Krukau

I was always told teaching elementary school was “fun.”

It really, really wasn’t. Well, the actual teaching part was, but the other 80% of the job was a real shitshow.

#17

Image source: SaltyPinKY, Ahmed

Doggy daycare….it’s mostly stopping the from eating each other’s poop and constantly cleaning up said poop and mopping up pee.   Very little dog interaction .

#18

Image source: Constant-Box-7898, Stewart Munro

Standup comedy. You spend an insane amount of time watching and studying yourself, polishing your presentation and delivery, and telling the same jokes over and over again, relieved when there’s an audience, because at least SOMEONE likes the jokes you’ve heard hundreds of times. Then, if you’re successful and have a special or something, you agonize over the editing: watching yourself over and over again deciding on what camera angles to use at which part. No thanks. I remember some commercial where Chris Rock turns on a tv and it’s his standup. I would be like, “NO! I’m not watching this again!”.

#19

Image source: UglyShirts, Andrea Piacquadio

I’m a travel writer.

When I tell people that, they envision that I lead an exciting, jet-setting life. One wherein I have a ragged, stamp-filled passport tucked in a rucksack next to a dog-eared Frommer’s guide and a Moleskine journal crammed with maps, notes and photos. And then I get to come home and spin up a rich narrative of satisfying adventures, unexpected delights, exotic foods, and moments of life-affirming connection with friendly locals and gorgeous scenery from all over the world.

Nope. I sit at a laptop in a home office in a very cold state, and write and submit blog posts, ads and websites based on assets pre-supplied by clients I don’t actually get to meet, or visit. I’ve never once been flown to a single one of the stunning destinations I describe as such in order to try to entice OTHER people to visit them. It’s all just speculation.

Still, overall? It beats digging ditches. And I get to write for a living in the age of AI. So I don’t HATE it. It isn’t “hell” *per se*. It’s just way more Walter Mitty than Indiana Jones. Not what anyone expects.

#20

Image source: Brilliant-Height1, Scott Graham

Lawyer. It’s really not just arguing. The pay is good. But the hours are long, it’s tedious, and a lot of it is soft skills and client management.

#21

Image source: visual_clarity, Elle Hughes

Chef but…you make your own hell. Being a chef is fun with the right people and attitude.

#22

Image source: 4a4a, cottonbro studio

Private Investigator. I worked as a PI for a while about 20 years ago. The excitement and intrigue you might see in the media is not exactly made up, but it is severely condensed. More than 90% of your time as a PI is sitting there in the back of a van with your camera just waiting for someone to do something. There were certainly some “fun” aspects, like using hidden cameras and tailing people through traffic without being noticed; but sitting there in the cold, day after day, peeing in a bottle got really old after a few months!

*splileng mistakke.

#23

Image source: hrrymcdngh, Julia M Cameron

Maybe not ‘fun’ but many charities sell you the ‘rewarding’ angle but are in fact very toxic places to work…

#24

Image source: TrumpsEarHole, Getty Images

Paramedic. Sometimes it was fun, other times it was absolute hell and destroyed my mental health.

#25

Image source: flowerhoney10, Getty Images

I don’t work in it, but I hear video game testing isn’t as fun as it sounds.