Here's a fun fact about being a writer and editor: It's a solitary activity that requires significant concentration. I'm often just sitting at my computer with my glasses on and trying hard to not get eye strain. Don't get me started on what it's like to be a freelancer. It is by no means glamorous. Ernest Hemingway I am not (though it'd be nice!).
After Redditor HouseGraham asked the online community, "What's a dirty insider secret in your profession?" people spoke candidly. Are you surprised?
"I also see people..."
I work in a medical lab. I see people touch everything without gloves ALL THE TIME. I also see people use their phones with gloves on ALL THE TIME.
"In many cases..."
Consulting: In many cases, your boss hired us because he doesn't trust your ability to do the job. We will go talk to you, take your ideas, package them nicely, and present them to your boss. And charge your company a small fortune while doing this. If your boss realized that you really are competent, we'd be out of work.
"The sheer amount of hours..."
People in the military make wasting time an art form. The sheer amount of hours we spend getting compensated by taxpayers to do absolutely nothing is astonishing.
"The code behind..."
The code behind the software/application you're using is an absolute mess.
"If we refused..."
Health insurance.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If we refused to cover something for you, COMPLAIN. File a complaint with the Department of Insurance in your state. Complain to your Human Resources department if it's employer-provided.
So many people accept the first thing they're told. Don't. Be aggressive.
"Pricing for custom work..."
Pricing for custom work is very subjective. Treat us well and we'll figure the price very fairly. Act like a jerk, there are plenty of ways to pad the bill. Start the conversation by demanding a discount and the price goes up 20% before your precious 10% discount comes off.
"A whole lot..."
A whole lot of IT guys aren't that tech savvy. They just know how to Google well.
"Most trucks are lumbering..."
Old school outlaw truckers absolutely do still exist. If you ever have a livestock truck that's tricked out blow by you doing triple digit speeds at night, he's waaay overweight and running illegal logs.
Most trucks are lumbering beats of burden, but anything agricultural stopped progressing with the rest of the laws two decades ago.
"Unless someone was actually interviewed..."
I'm in marketing and write a lot of press releases. Unless someone was actually interviewed by a reporter, every quote you read was written and thought up by someone other than the person allegedly saying it.
"I have a lot to say..."
I work in construction. I have a lot to say but I'll leave you with this one: never look behind the walls, in the ceilings, or in any crawl spaces or otherwise tight and infrequently visited places in your house/building, unless you want to find soda and beer cans from decades past.
"I've never been properly trained..."
Work as a production welder making vehicle frames. I've never been properly trained in welding let alone have any idea what "structural welding" is.
"We eat your food."
Yeah, I'm a house cleaner. We eat your food, know where your pot is (thank you) and twice I've borrowed your most beautiful dress.
"We sell the ones..."
Library. We trash hundreds of books a year. This one always starts arguments and people get hurt feelings about it. People donate moldy, yellowed, dirty books that no one has wanted to read in twenty years, let alone now. We sell the ones that aren't gross and we trash the rest. Less than 1% will make it to the circulating collection. Half of people's "donations" to libraries are 2 steps away from illegal dumping in my opinion. We don't have the staff to go through the amount of books we regularly receive. (Before covid)
But ignoring donations, we trash our own dirty/ worn books too. Yes, we can sell some. (If they were weeded for being unpopular) But we don't have the staff for it.
"But just donate it to another library/charity/ whatever" We aren't donating gross books. They don't want them either.
Oh, this is another dirty secret but for publishing:
You know those, "do this contest and your local school/ library wins 1000 books"?
They're trash. They're used by publishers to clear their warehouses of books they over printed. A library could "win" and suddenly have 800 copies of the same book. Or even just 15 copies each of various books that they either already own or no one wants. The amount of work it takes to process this large influx will take weeks, and if the library refuses, the community retaliates by asking why they're refusing free books. The only time these contests are good is when they offer a cash alternative prize or let the library buy whatever books they want.
"If you ever get a pre-approval letter..."
If you ever get a pre-approval letter for a loan (specifically a mortgage) that are not worth the paper they are printed on. They're is so much verbiage in those things protecting the lender they have no absolutely no weight in a transaction. So many people walk in our office and ask for those to "show the seller they're serious" and it's completely unnecessary.
"I once saw another driver..."
Trucker here.
Trailers rarely get washed out between loads. Most shippers and receivers dont have washout stations, and even if they did, there usually isn't time to do so, because our schedules are extremely tight.
If its something particularly nasty, like garbage, I'll call the company and ask if they can move an appt back so i can washout, but not all drivers do this.
I once saw another driver, after offloading the nastiest, unwashed fly ridden aluminium recycling I've ever seen, pull off and blow right by the washout station. At my next pickup (at a food distribution warehouse) i saw the same dude, still no washout. I could smell his trailer 4 docks away. And the loaders didnt give a fuck either.
"I left teaching for too many reasons..."
Schools don't help the kids who need it most. If two kids need help, one kid has a 20 average in a subject, and one has a 55, the one with the higher grade is more likely to receive help, because that one is far more likely to pass the tests if he/she is helped. This also applies to poor students. A lot of tutoring or other resources happen after school. Students in poverty usually ride the bus. This means the students with less money often can't stay to get help even if they need it. I left teaching for too many reasons to count, but this was the reason that hurt the most.
"I work within the communications department..."
I work within the communications department of a school, which means I have to proofread a lot of communications from teachers before sending them out. It's a good thing I do otherwise parents would receive a lot of poorly-worded, grammatically incorrect, waffly drivel from the very people teaching their kids!
"There is no certification..."
Dog trainer here: There is no certification or licensing for the profession. Literally anybody can say they are a dog trainer. People with "certification" just paid money to a website and took some unregulated classes from that site and got a "certificate of completion." When looking for a trainer, look at years of experience and knowledge of animal behavioral science.
"Sometimes..."
I work in digital marketing. Sometimes part of my job is stalking specific people on social media and keeping a record of what you post.
We thank all of these professionals for spilling the tea!
Do you have any confessions to share? Let us know in the comments below.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@rewindrobbie/Instagram
@alysonaird/Instagram
@elfordio74/Instagram
@jessyr2025/Instagram