Some workers who punch in and out of their jobs, day after day, are too caught up in the repetitive mundanity of it all to assume others are doing the same to earn a paycheck.
It isn't until they stop and realize that not all professions require the same ritualistic protocols that come with working 9 to 5.
Curious to hear from those who have completely different job experiences, Redditoryakuzakiwamam asked:
"People who haven’t ever worked 9 to 5 job - what do you do for a living?"
Servicing customers outside of a cubicle setting reveals a whole new set of rules.
In The Kitchen
"Cook/chef. My hours are 'ugh, fine.'"
– COCAINE_EMPANADA
"Ya’ll it’s crazy, I went from bar manager at an Irish pub (working every night till 2-230 AM) to UPS management side (overnights) to Taphouse manager at a microbrewery and now I’m off every day except one by 5 and I’m still not used to it. I am sooo lucky."
"I’m finding out what it’s like to have a life after 15 years of missing out on everything."
– theghostofourprivacy
"Kitchen manager here. Two managers, dating, took the entire week off. They’re in Japan. Guess who’s covering for them. Please send help."
– _teyy_teyy_
Checking In
"Hotels & hospitality ....hotels are always open so hours can be all over the place, depending on what department you work."
– sendatuenergy
Dog Whisperers
"Dog boarding is the same. I always get a laugh around the holidays when clients are shocked we work on days like Thanksgiving and Xmas. Well, you left your dog in our care, isn’t the point to have them fed, watered, and exercised every day?!"
– Distinct_Safety5762
"LOL - that was as bad as when I worked Sundays at a store. The church ladies would come in and say 'Why are you working? It's the Lord's day.' I'd say, 'Why are you shopping? It's the Lord's day.' They'd get angry at me and walk away.
"Ummm, wut?"
– anon
Unglamorous
"Waste management - never had the makings of a varsity athlete."
– msodhi
"Mechanic. I do 9-1. Not the "1" that would make it a good life."
– Automatic_Square_907
"If you're going to slave away like that in an incredibly high demand role at least stack some cash and retire early.... There's absolutely no reason for a generic auto mechanic to work 16 hours a day."
– gulbronson
Some people don't realize that any time off is a luxury.
Crazy Business Hours
"Yup when I worked retail countless people would comment about why we are open on a holiday while they were in our store on said holiday!"
"At one place, we did have a couple of regulars who made a point of not buying stuff on holidays. We had one guy who would come in and tip us and wouldn’t let us give him anything. This was at a Starbucks about 18 years ago."
– Raznill
"We had a woman in our store once say to an associate 'Why aren’t you open on Christmas Day?' to which she responded 'because we have families too', which shut her up really quick but also is our go-to whenever someone said anything like this (all the time for some reason)"
– geenersaurus
"When I worked at 7-Eleven, we had an older regular who would always bring us in oranges when he came in to buy his scratch tickets, and on holidays, it would be a full-sized chocolate bar."
"He was easily one of my favorite customers despite his strange (to me) way of picking out the tickets."
– dekan256
The Scribe
"I’m a writer. It’s a double-edged sword. I can usually sleep in, but I’m never off work. There’s some measure of guilt involved in almost any hour I take to myself."
– BustinMakesMeFeelMeh
Those working the graveyard shift shared their experience.
The Loneliest Hours
"Yep I worked night audit for awhile. 11pm-7am or 12am-8am. "
"2-4am is the loneliest hours ever."
"The worst part was my days off were during the week so I actually had to be awake at normal times to get things done. So Monday at 7am when I got off work I had errands to run and wouldn’t get to sleep until noon."
– ilurvekittens
Inconvenient Days Off
"I worked midnights, first as a night auditor for a few years and then as a lab technician for a few more. You bring up a great point that most people that have not worked the shift would not realize, the days off were the worst aspects of the shift."
"I did it over 25 years ago when on-demand streaming did not exist, and AOL hadn't really taken off, so I am certain it is better now."
– wjcott
Goodbye To Social Life
"I know how are those errands can be. I'm a hardcore night owl, so I thought working 6 to 4 am would be fine for me, but it isn't. The job was never hard, but the way it f'ks up all social activity and makes any errand a pita made even good money not worth it."
– Ar1go
Worth The Wait
"I worked graveyard for several years. One day after work I went to Walmart and tried to buy some beer. The cashier told me they couldn't sell it until 7:00 am, which I understand."
"But she added a thing about how 'MOST PEOPLE aren't trying to buy alcohol at 6:45 in the morning.' B*tch, this is 5:00 pm for me. I gave her a sh*t eating grin and said, 'That's cool, I'll wait.' I Stood there by the register, beer in hand, until 7 rolled around, and I got my treats."
– LaBradence
People in education weigh in.
Higher Learning
"I'm a Teacher in higher education. Why work 5 days a week when 3 pays the bills? Some weeks, I have 4 days of work, and some weeks, I have barely 3. It's a pretty good gig, to be honest."
– ArrogantlyChemical
The Unicorn
"Yes- my partner is a professor and his work-life balance is unmatched. Only struggle is there aren't many tenure-track jobs. He is a unicorn. 100k a yr. Summers and winters off. Only goes in 3 days a week. The rest of the time he does research or reads."
– BakedBrie26
Working in entertainment, my hours were all over the place.
As a union member, I've been compensated well, and "work" at the theater, cruise ship, and theme parks was never dull.
While the shifts were hardly boring and were pretty short, the lack of a tight schedule did spoil me and ruin me for life. Although I must admit that working every holiday got old quickly.
