Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Often Overlooked Jobs Are Essential To Society

People Break Down Which Often Overlooked Jobs Are Essential To Society
Image by 272447 from Pixabay

Under our noses there is the constant humming of a sprawling workforce that keeps everything tied together.


We rarely take notice, much less express gratitude for these countless workers, on the backs of whom we owe our daily comforts and all the necessities we take for granted.

Men and women are out there right now hauling cargo, providing the food we eat, and focusing on the granular level to maintain our safety and health.

A recent Reddit thread acknowledged all of those people we could not live without.

mrmoocow303 asked, "What job is commonly forgot about but is essential for society?"

Keeping the Crap Away 

"Sewage workers, all of them. I wouldn't want to return to the days it's all dumped in water ways." -- alimagrog

"I used to have a job cleaning out the sewer. I was down in the tunnel with the shovel, passing the bucket to the next guy, but I was always at the front because I won't take sh** from anyone" -- 01kicka**ius10

Constantly Moving

"Truck drivers. Supply chains are the life blood of every industry from grocery stores to battle fields." -- Corin711

"This one is becoming more and more relevant to me."

"As someone in the service industry, it's stupid the number of times guests complain that we don't have something we used to."

"Sorry no oysters today, if you didn't know, there is a global pandemic going on and the supply train is disrupted. We literally can't get them. It's not because we don't like you."

"It's because the people that farm the oysters, that process and pack the oysters, and most importantly, the men and women who physically drag the oysters from Canada or New York Maryland can't get here."

"I don't know if it's because they're sick, or caring for someone who is sick, but the supply chain is broken. Forget about west coast oysters, we struggle to get them in from 2 states away. It's the supply chain."

"Never thought I would be aware of how important these people are." -- mmemarlie

This is the Person You Trust

"I test the strength of metals and other materials used in things like planes, rockets, ships and subs, and so on."

"The average person gets on a plane or in a car and just trusts that the engine won't explode and the body won't fly apart, which is how it should be. There are people whose job it is to worry about that, which I'm a small part of."

-- X_PRSN

Keeping the Pile Low

"Waste maintenance. Trashmen. Holy hell watch that pile up if there's no one to take it away every week" -- BornInALighthouse

"Exact first thing I thought of."

"We leave a holiday card and a six pack out for our garbage man the last day they pick up before Christmas. He leaves us a card, too, but he gets the better end of the deal." -- Hardcore_EHS

Internet Maintenance 

"The world as we know it would fall apart in so many ways if all of the essential people who maintain the internet all vanished. So much of banking, security, entertainment, food, etc. revolves around a functioning internet."

"It wouldn't be an apocalypse, but it would be an insane disruption to the world. Millions would die. Millions more wouldn't be able to browse Reddit. Catastrophe."

-- RedditYankee

Count Your Blessings

"People who create databases. My close friend created a very important database for a big hospital."

"He worked on it for years and it's really successful! He said he gets complements from other tech people, but not from 'regular' people."

"He mentioned he only hears about the bugs when something isn't working, and it's always along the lines of 'why isn't this working?! When can it work again?! This is ridiculous!!'"

"Like, chill the f*** out, HE BUILT THIS FROM NOTHING and it's helping save lives! Send him a f***ing gift card or something!"

-- dmurr2019

Guinea Pig

"I test food at the factory to make sure it's safe for people to eat." -- RockyDify

"I have a friend who's a safety inspector for the dairy industry. I'm very grateful for you guys!" -- alimagrog

"Reading about pre-FDA practices and food adulteration, gives me queasiness and a high level of respect for you." -- GenericEschatologist

Think of All the Boxes

"Box manufacturing. Hidden in plain sight" -- 2tired2makeAname

"Not to mention box assembly, that's usually done elsewhere." -- gurnard

"Pallets too. My hometown has a giant pallet factory and they are busy." -- Kulladar

Acknowledged, and Still Mistreated

"Well, if this pandemic taught us anything grocery store employees are pretty essential." -- ZeD00m

"No, we are forgotten again. Our heroic days are over and Karen is back to yelling at us" -- goatf***69

"'Expendable,' not 'essential.' Almost mandatory if you like eating or wiping your ass, but people will still treat them like shit and straight cough on them...and then bi*** that the grocery store worker was 'rude' for backing away from them." -- stryph42

Upkeep the Teeth

"Lots of people fantasize about being a gun-toting bada** when the apocalypse hits, but unless you know a good dentist, your life will soon become unbearable" -- AdvocateSaint

"My dentist says you'll know if you like a dentist within five minutes, you'll know if they're a good one in five years. It's been close to 20 so I think I'm good." -- Nagiom

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshot of Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Club Shay Shay/YouTube

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Shares Powerful History Lesson In Viral Rant About Anti-Vaxxers—And He's Spot On

Speaking during an appearance on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson gave a powerful history lesson about why he thinks anti-vaxxers will make the next pandemic even worse.

Tyson has made his name as one of the most prominent science communicators of the last few decades and regularly spoke out against misinformation and conspiracy theories that were all the rage throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And he expressed frustration that "we still have anti-vaxxers running around" with the capacity to make even more trouble for public health officials.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Brooke Rollins and Roger Marshall
CNBC; Newsmax

MAGA Politicians Get Blunt Factcheck After Trying To Blame Biden For Screwworm Emergency In Texas

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall were called out after blaming a rise in screwworm infections in Texas cattle on former President Joe Biden—even though it was President Donald Trump's administration that cut funding for programs that track the parasite.

Earlier, the Department of Agriculture announced that a case of New World Screwworm—a flesh-eating parasitic fly—has been detected in a three-week-old calf near La Pryor, Texas, about 30 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The discovery marks the parasite's arrival in the U.S. after it spread northward through Central America and Mexico over recent years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Morgan Wallen throwing security guard's cell phone across stage
@nhoop34/TikTok

Morgan Wallen Sparks Controversy After Grabbing Phone From Security Guard And Throwing It Across The Stage During Concert

Country singer Morgan Wallen's rage against inanimate objects continued earlier this week during his show in Pittsburgh.

While working the stage during one of his songs, Wallen paced back and forth, lightly interacting with the crowd while regularly turning his attention back to one side of the stage.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Randy Fine
Newsmax

MAGA Rep. Dragged After Bizarrely Claiming Democratic Voters Went Dumpster Diving For Ballots To Rig California Primary

Florida Republican Representative Randy Fine was widely mocked after claiming during a Newsmax interview that Democratic voters in California went dumpster diving for discarded ballots to rig the primary election.

Republicans have alleged fraud took place but many of the fraud allegations appear to stem from a misunderstanding of how California counts votes, particularly the time required to complete the process.

Keep ReadingShow less
Savannah Guthrie
@jennasheinelle/Instagram

Savannah Guthrie Opens Up About What She Tells Her Kids Amid Her Mom's Disappearance In Emotional 'Today' Clip

Some say that parenting is an impossible job, with an unending list of decisions and possible missteps, but parenting might feel uniquely impossible to someone in Savannah Guthrie's position.

Guthrie's mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, went missing from her home at the end of January. Her absence was first noted when she did not appear at church service that Sunday. One of her doors was discovered ajar and a single image of a blurry figure was caught on camera, and there's been no sign of her or her whereabouts since.

Keep ReadingShow less