To wonder if people are really so ignorant about some jobs?

[Laquitar]

Or do they just pretend to be ?

It just seems to me like some people just sit there criticising every shop assistant they come across, bus driver, waiter, CM, cleaner, airport staff, and of course....teacher.

And the ignorance about what people in those jobs do or the ignorance about employment law is unbelievable. Are really grown ups there who don't know that bus drivers work with timetable, that restaurants rely on turnover, that all employees are entitled to lunch break and holidays, that CMs, cleaners, builders, plumbers, are S.E. and the the difference between SE and employee or that teachers don't work only the hours they teach? Basic facts about job duties, rights, tax, profit etc.

AIBU to think that some people should try and do these jobs? Or at least try to learn about them.

TheArmadillo your post made me laugh (in a good way). I loved it so much i've read it twice.

From now on every time i speak to a receptionist your words will come in to my mind 'they don't want to see you. Thats why they employ me'.

agree that many people think that 'some ' jobs are beneath them without knowing what they entail.

YANBU, there is a difference between complaining about bad service at ground level, and having a massive go at the front line staff for something which they have no control over and is a company issue.

It is not fair to have a go at the 16 year old stocking shelves in ASDA over the ethics of stocking fish from wherever! OK to complain if said 16 year old cant/wont politely direct you to the fish isle if you can't find it, not okay to take out your hate for the Wallmart family on them! (especially if you are SHOPPING there! so what moral highground do you think you're on?)

I have one of those jobs that people say "eugh I couldn't do that" about... I always think "REALLY? you'ld REALLY rather go on JSA, have your family go without etc", its not immoral, I'm not selling people things they don't need and cant afford, I can sleep at night, and no its not my dream job either but its an important service. Could all those people who say that to me REALLY not do it if the only other choice was benefits/poverty? Most of the people who say that to me know I am actively job hunting for something different but in the mean time I CAN do it, it wont kill me! And I can't help but think that most of the rude people COULD do it too if they didn't have their nice pleasant jobs to do instead!

I also hate when people see someone doing what they think is a lowely job and assume that that is the only job they ever have or will do and are not capable of doing anything else ever! Like how they suddenly gush over the dog groomer they used to talk down to when they find out they've got a place to train as a vet, or how they start gushing over the health carer they used to think was thick when they find out they're actually medical students etc! ITS STILL THE SAME BLOODY PERSON! Are they still in their first ever job or what?

lolol I love that too. 'If they wanted to see you they wouldn't employ me'

I'm not a 'real' teacher because I 'only' teach music. My job is cushy and all teachers are part timers.
My husband is a thieving plumber who is always out to scam people out of their money. Surely he should drive to your house and spend 4 and a half hours sorting out your rancid toilet blocked with your toddlers baby wipes for 48p plus parts?

As a teacher, I personally devise the school dinner menu. And the guidelines about authorised absences.

Someone I know is a senior develoment officer for parks and open spaces. People think he picks up dog shit in the parks.

I work in care and if I hear ,oh I couldn't wipe bums for a
living one more time I will scream.

I cannot stand the way some people look down on certain jobs andthe people who do them. I used to work in a well known department store and once got told by a customer I was just a monkey on a till like all shop assistants , I actually had to go through two interviews a assesment centre and
countless role plays before I got the job .

Job snobbery says a lot more about the person looking down on the job than the person doing it.

I've found that people look down their noses at me because of my job. One of my dh's family have even passed on that attitude to their 7yr old dd

There is no-one at my work who's life ambition was to clean/maintain buses. I've got medical quals, my team include carpenters, plumbers, butchers. Every one of them qualified but unable to make a living at it. So they work with me, earning enough to keep their families going.

lol I don't know about ignorance regarding the job, but some people are completely ignorant and assume that because I work in a supermarket that I am uneducated .........I have a PG Dip in Public Health (HV) which is my other job
When I recently represented a colleague at his disciplinary hearing the manager who chaired it said in a patronising voice 'you did really well, have you done this before', to which I replied 'yes, but mostly in child protection!

meetings that is , not disciplinaries!

I have been asked numerous times to fix people's PCs.

I can't. I write and maintain accounting software that runs on mainframes. When my office PC breaks I call the support guy.

Sometimes people get quite hostile when I explain why I can't fix their computer. They assume that I am either lying about my job, or making up an excuse not to help them.

Okay I haven't read this article but.... the title alone seems so appropriate for this thread!

www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/what-people-dont-get-about-my-job-from-a-rmy-soldier-to-z-ookeeper/244231/1/

Oh yes the computer thing. I qualified in electronic engineering and apparently that makes me an expert in computers. I used to get fed up with people saying "oh you'll know all about computers", "you should be able to fix this" etc and then trying to be funny with the "what did you do for three years then?" and "university of life" crap. I actually don't know that much about them and like many others call IT support if mine breaks down at work.

TheArmadillo - I am a receptionist too! And your words are so true.

I get loads of chancers ringing up asking to speak to whoever and I ask if they are expecting their call... Well umm no... Well I can guarantee they will not speak to you then!! They are so bloody insistent.

Most people think they have the hardest job in the world and that everyone else is just sitting around doing fk all for a living.
I teach (sometimes) although I am not a teacher, and I once heard "Oh it must be nice to rock up and just talk about your favourite subject for 5 hours".
Yeah, I do love that part, but not the 25 hours of behind the scenes work it takes to put it all together with video clips so that your learning experience is varied and snazzy.

"So you're a buyer? - I love shopping, too! Hahahahaha!"
If I had a penny for everytime...

I hate programmes like 'Grand Designs'.

Everyone with a few hours viewing and a bit of DIY behind them is an Architect.

"Pendeen - of course you don't need 7 years training and 2 degrees to do what you do. Don't be silly. It's easy"

Enough to make me weep!

Well I'm Army so of course all I am trained for is killing people....even on MN where I was told that I shouldn't be here as I couldn't be a mum of a baby whilst going out and killing babies...

See, when I say to someone I couldn't do their job it's more in awe. Eg. my friend works with disabled children and I am in awe at her patience, dedication etc. I suppose I "could" do her work if it was that or nothing (although I would need training), but I'm still impressed with her job.

I agree that a lot of people look down on a lot of the jobs mentionned here, about how "easy" they are, how you don't need qualifications etc. But I notice a lot of people are talking about low-paid jobs. As soon as you're paid a decent wage then people are equally dismissive of your job, but are also rude about how well-paid you are.

I work as a consultant (won't specify the sector just in case I get outed) and I get told we get paid loads for doing nothing, for telling the customer what he already knows and that we're reponsible for closing down worksites, getting people laid off etc. That is a total misunderstanding of our jobs.

And of course, civil servants are only desk polishers and pen pushers sucking the money from taxpayers. God forbid that people actually bother finding out what we really do.

Point to note, even the people in MI5 and MI6 are civil servants.....

haha! My Dh works for the CSI (yes they actually call themselves that now..) and everybody, without exception, says 'ooh, I'd LOVE to do that'. It's not like it is on telly folks, honest! It's looking at stomach contents, taking body parts out of freezers, standing around in the freezing cold wating for a footprint to be analysed, and there is never ever a lightbulb moment which solves the crime! Dull, dull dull! (he says anyway ) I'm still convinced they sit around eating pasties all day myself..

I work in finance so of course I am directly responsible for the credit crunch and the fact that your son/sister/friend couldn't get a mortgage, and when not bankrupting countries I am to be found using YOUR money to waste on champagne to spray around and light cigars from between the thighs of well-built young men.

I wish.

This thread has made me giggle at times.

I worked for a while in a social services dept taking referrals and going to homes to assess children who my need to be removed from their parents care to enter a residential unit.

I told a relative about this and she thought that SS went door-to-door asking kids if they were okay or did they need to be cared for elsewhere The fact that this relative was a teacher for 30 years and had children herself made me

Also, a very naive friend upon hearing that I now work for Women's Aid asked me, "...is that like the Women's Institute?"

I think the secretary/PA role is one of the most misunderstood. I came across many people (mainly my dm) who thought my role was making tea, copy typing the odd letter and filing - none of which were part of my role.

I am a graphic designer. The piss gets taken a lot, and people also assume I can fix their computers (?)

Having worked in retail and food service I always make the effort to be polite and use eye contact etc etc. It really annoys me when the person serving me doesn't reciprocate and throws my change / card etc at me.