I spent most of my adolescent and teen life making money from babysitting and tutoring, so I was really excited when I got a job as a hostess at a restaurant. Not only was it at a place my friends frequented, but I would finally be able to relate to all the people who had jobs at a real company.
I worked at that restaurant for a year and a half, but it only took me a month to learn that once I left, I’d never again want to serve.
Hosting is grueling. You have to be on your feet for hours at a time. The job also sours your outlook on people in general. Guests are rude, or they ask you to make a modification and scream bloody murder once you do it. They ask you to move to another table, and you accommodate them, but then the servers get mad at you for adding to their load or taking away the potential of tips.
Now that I’m removed from that situation, I mostly think of the good times. However, whenever someone asks me if I’d ever host again, I have to stop myself from laughing in their face.
Redditors faced the same plight with certain kinds of jobs, and were only too eager to share what those jobs were.
It all started when Redditor figinjosejospe asked:
“What’s a job or profession you’d absolutely never take?”
Ring, Ring
"I will never work a call center again."
"I did it for two weeks and quit."
"You essentially cold call people, and they hate it. 90% of the time no one ever answers, 9% of people that do just yell obscenities at you, and the 1% that actually talks with you will hang up after finding out you're selling sh*t."
– gowol46265
"Call center, I don't like to annoy people and be yelled at"
– Alaskina
"I did this for like 3 days and I quit. I was tricked. I thought I’d be an assistant and after 2 days they gave me a phone and headphones, list of people to call... worst few hours of my life. I of course immediately quit. I did not have a job for another 2 months but I'm so glad I quit."
– Dry-Comb5708
Ooops
"Anything with responsibilities that are too serious where if I f**k up someone dies or I ruin their lives (doctors, lawyers, politicians etc)"
– ceeyaz
"I quit nursing school over that same fear."
– InterestingMethod722
No Temperment, No People
"Teaching. Wouldn't have the patience for it."
– LucyVialli
"Similarly I couldn't be a Doctor. I wouldn't have the patients for it."
– skrilledcheese
Never Again
"I'll never go back to customer service"
– Caturix6
"Same here, worked for one year. Never lost so much faith in humanity in my entire life up to that point."
– deprimeradblomkol
"It’s a curse because no matter what I tried to apply for, the recruiter would see my past customer service skills and they’re like “I think customer service would be your best fit!”"
– utopicunicornn
No Rest For The Weary
"Anything in fast food."
"Workers get treated like sh*t by management and customers, and they're underpaid for the amount of work expected of them."
– Deleted User
"Leans against the wall for 3 seconds."
"Manager: Screeching."
– rockets-make-toast
The "Ick" Factor
"Sewage work. My disgust sensitivity is too high for that."
– Middle-Struggle3207
"theres a wall of sh*t coming right at you!!"
– karmagod13000
"My stepdad was an electrician at a sewage treatment plant and he used to tell a story that a colleague of his had to do a "dive" suited up in roughly scuba gear into the sewage to make some repair"
– randallwade
Life Or Death Homework
"Definitely would never be a lawyer, my parents are lawyers and have watched so many other lawyers die young because of the stress of the job. If you think about it, it’s like having homework for the rest of your life only some of the most important decisions rely on your ability to argue. It’s a bunch of paperwork and court dates, I don’t know anyone that enjoys being in court. It’s a glamorized profession but in reality it’s very hard to get rich in and it’s a even harder profession for women. Notice most of the rich lawyers you see are old white men. I would argue it’s one of the worst jobs."
– Reddituser0857
"Spot on. Been a lawyer for more than a decade. It is never ending homework assignments."
– WillSimp4Roast
Looking For A Purpose
" Security guard or some sort of a doorman / receptionist at a place where hardly anything happens."
"There aren't many things worse than doing absolutely nothing for 8 hours per day."
– Scuka1
"Can confirm. When I was 18 I worked in a place that paid amazingly well and all I had to do was show up and play chess and chain smoke cause there was never anything to do. It was awesome for about a month, after that I was so bored and felt genuinely useless. Like all I was contributing to society at large was taxes. Sucked after a while."
– Latter_Ostrich_8901
The Service Industry
" Waiter. I'm 100% sure I would break so many plates and glasses that at the end of the day I'd be oweing the restaurant money"
– SlashingManticore
The Truth Sets You Free
"I worked at a telemarketing place for less than a week. It was the worst job I have ever had (and I once worked at a dairy unloading and cleaning the delivery trucks after they were done, in August). It was in the '90s and there was a script specifically designed to trip people up and agree to changing their long distance provider. After the second day I'd just tell the people, "Yeah, I'm captain scammer, calling from Scammy McScammers long distance service, do you want us to rip you off and change your service without your knowledge". Still people would be ok with it."
– Comfortable_Life9173
Heartbreaking.
"Child welfare worker. My father did that as his third and final career and counted the days until he was eligible for retirement. He just couldn’t stand it. He was providing a needed service for the community, but got no love from any of the other players. Kids hated him because he was removing them from their (abusive) parents. Parents hated him because he was taking their kids, however justified. Lawyers were endlessly attacking him, and judges liked to crap on the social worker. It’s not as if the pay was any good either. That is a job I would never do."
rexep59959
Most jobs are thankless, but that last one really takes the cake!
Do you have any jobs to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
@hebagowayed/Bluesky
@waitmanwbeorn/X
@eighthoften/Bluesky 
@antigonesdream/Bluesky 
A1