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We’re all a bunch of whiners when it comes to our jobs. However, there are certain friends of yours that take that complaining to a whole other level. You know who I’m talking about. The friend who talks about his overbearing boss throughout the entire meaningless pre-season NFL game you’re trying to watch. The girl that stresses you out with her spiel about the 60-hour week she just worked while you’re trying to talk about last night’s slutty escapades at brunch. Strangely enough, it seems like these friends always have the same kind of jobs, and frankly, a lot of the complaining seems unnecessary. Let’s break it down.
The Teacher
Oh my god, teachers. We get it. You’re criminally underpaid, you work way longer hours than the school day, and kids are a nightmare. Yes, that sucks, but that’s also all information I knew well before I entered college. You chose to be a teacher because you probably love kids or something. You made your own bed, so stop bitching about lying in it. Also, if you teach grade school, you’ve got to stop complaining about how hard it is. No one believes you. Is creating a lesson plan for each day time consuming? Yes. But is the actual material hard? Of course not; we all learned it when we were kids.
Hell, even I was a straight-A student up until high school, and I’m a known slacker. Sure, babysitting a bunch of kids (or even worse, teenagers) sounds like my worst nightmare, but that’s why I chose a profession where I never interact with them. Plus, you get three fucking months of vacation. Yes, there are hard aspects of your job, but none of them will make me feel bad for you when you work literally 25% less of the year than I do.
The Advertising/PR person
I work in this industry and I still don’t understand the constant need for bitching. Yes, the hours can be extremely long. Like, “bring a sleeping bag to the office for a few days” long. And I would be fine with all the complaining if it only happened during these extreme crunch times. But it doesn’t. Talk to someone from an ad or PR agency, and you’d think that every single project they work on is the end of the world and weeks past deadline. Sure, the job can be stressful, but the work environment more than makes up for it. Agencies are filled with cool, young (usually attractive) people who get to hang out in sleek, fun offices and wear t-shirts and joggers. My office has a pool table, foosball table, board games, a fully stocked break room, and most importantly, a full bar, and that’s par for the course. You are not allowed to bitch about working long hours when we all know most of those hours is spent with a drink in your hand, dicking around with your friends.
The Nurse
Out of all of your friends that won’t stop whining, nurses are by far the most in the right to do so. They do arguably more work than doctors and get paid a fraction of the salary. They work nights, weekends, and holidays, and they deal with people like your drunk ass when you hurt yourself doing some dumb shit like face planting down the stairs at the bar. Nurses have earned the right to bitch a lot, yet somehow, they still manage to surpass even that amount. No one you’ve ever met will complain as much as a jaded nurse. Are patients difficult? Yes, but that’s because they’re at the emergency room on one of the worst nights of their life, while you’re just at another day at work.
The heartless shit I’ve heard come out of nurse’s mouths when I worked in the medical industry still shocks me to my core. They’ll shit-talk cancer patients for giving them attitude, call patients idiots for not knowing shit about how their organs work (like any of us without training do), and most of all, rip their coworkers apart behind their backs. If you think high school cattiness was bad, you’ve never seen four middle-aged women in scrubs just absolutely gutting another nurse about her recent divorce in a whispered conversation.
The Server
Server. Waiter. Waitress. Whatever they call themselves, they are the exact opposite of nurses. Their job could not be easier, but they are the number one cause of bitching in the friend group. I worked in the service industry for the past year and I was always constantly amazed by the gratuitous bitching of the people that had the easiest job in the building. Work is dead? They’re bitching to get cut because they’re not making any money. Work is busy? They’re bitching at how much running around they have to do. They complain when they get early shifts, late shifts, doubles, and when they don’t get doubles. Sure, the hours can suck, and the lack of weekend is annoying. But when you’re getting paid anywhere between twenty and forty bucks an hour in tips for a job that requires no training, schooling, or honestly, any specific level of intelligence, you lose your right to complain.
I’m not saying being a server means you’re stupid by any means, but I am saying that you can be stupid and still be a good server. Just smile, don’t be mean to customers, and accept that you’ll probably be yelled at/tipped like shit at times.
The Startup Person
Working at a startup can be both extremely difficult and very stressful, and honestly, they have good reasons to complain. They’re sacrificing consistent hours, good pay, and a clearly-defined job for the dream of making it big. Sure, it sucks now, but it’ll all be worth it when they get bought by Google or Facebook for 100mil and can spend the rest of their lives floating around the Mediterranean on a yacht. It takes balls to sacrifice for a slim chance at a big prize, and I respect that. Because of this, my issue is less with the amount of bitching, but with how they bitch.
I call it “complain-bragging,” and it’s a rampant issue in the startup community. Every startup employee has a drastically inflated ego, and will work that cocky attitude into all their “complaints.” You’ll hear things like “Ugh, the other directors and I have to finalize our presi for our angel investors,” knowing damn well they gave themselves those titles. They’ll whine about acquisitions and mergers like they’re on the doorstep, despite being four guys in a crappy loft talking about making “Uber, but for surfboards,” or some shit. And not a single sentence will come out of their complaining mouths that doesn’t include at least seven jargon buzzwords just to make themselves feel important. Startup people: Your app probably blows, and you’re not the next Steve Jobs. Unless you do get bought, in which case I never doubted you, and please save a spot for me on that yacht..
Image via Shutterstock
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Nick Arcadia
The opposite of a life coach. Email or DM me if you want some bad advice: nickarcadiapgp@gmail.com
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people who work on Capitol Hill, you knew what you were getting into, everybody hates you with that stuck-up attitude that makes you think you’re better than everybody else, and you don’t have my sympathy.
Most annoying person I’ve ever met was a fucking scheduler for a member I had never heard of. Not even a senator. STFU
Those of us who have been here a little while realize our lives are such a comedy of errors that there’s not a ton to brag about. Its way closer to Veep than it is to House of Cards.
I feel like that mostly describes the people who are in the assistant to the assistant positions. Everyone else has had a girl laugh in their face about bragging about working on “the Hill” enough times to stop acting like it’s amazing or unique.
Nothing gets me more heated than the pretentious first-year staffer who thinks they’re the next Remy Danton/Frank Underwood.
My teacher friends love to point out, unprovoked, that they don’t actually get summers off because they still have to prepare for the next year. Sure you have to make lesson plans, but most of them Snapchat themselves doing it while drinking wine and watching Netflix or from the beach/lake house. They’re not doing that 9-5 while stuck in a cubicle.
Most of the teachers I know teach the same class every year. Can’t they just…reuse the same plan? It’s not like we’re rapidly discovering new facts about the War of 1812.
This right here. Unless you’re teaching an ever-evolving subject, once you get through your third year or so you don’t really need to do any more planning. You should be at the point where each day is scheduled out for certain material. I have several family members who are/were teachers who all took that approach.
Must suck to be poor
You should have seen the bender my old roommate that is a teacher went on this summer. Eventually he was complaining about being bored, not actually the teaching part.
I’m a teacher and I had two days of inservice this summer. Watched the entire series of SVU, played golf 1-2 times/week, and saw every movie I wanted. I say all this not to brag, but to attest that summers off are worth any headaches during the school year and complaining teachers suck.
Agreed, as a teacher I’m able to supplement my income by waitressing full time during the summer. The extra cash is pretty sweet and honestly I try not to complain about my job because I really do enjoy it.
Hitting 40% of the categories.
TBH tho sounds like a sick deal. Fart jokes all year and then mad cash during the summers.
You sound like a massive loser
Dude… You havin’ a bad day?
My roommate is a teacher. All of his “grading” that he does while hes home is in front of a tv. He had his lesson plans done for the year by July, and was appointed the department head. Constantly bitching about how hes salary and doesn’t get paid for the extra hours he works. What I don’t get about how they complain about they’re “not paid” when that is what happens to every person who has a salary job. You’re not paid for the extra hours you work, and you’re paid extra for the hours you don’t.
My girlfriend is a teacher and since I am not allowed to say anything negative about her job when she complains I may just send her this article
You forgot the engineer who is making significantly less then everyone else in their graduating class…. I’m that guy.
Retweet, definitely guilty of this
Downside to working in bumfuck nowhere is getting bumfuck nowhere pay.
I don’t know what field your in or what the hell you are talking about. All middle of nowhere engineering jobs in my area pay significantly better then a job in a city; because they have too or no one would take them.
you’re*
General Civil Engineering in northern California. All of my old college friends that work in cities are making way more than I am.
All of you poors will end up working for me someday
Go back to TFM
Can confirm nurses shit talking abilities. I’ve heard things come out of my fiancé’s mouth that I can’t even legally repeat on this website
My significant other and I both work in advertising – me in creative, her in account services – and the amount of bitching I hear from her and my colleagues is unreal. IMO, this is one of the consequences of working in easily one of the most circle-jerky professional industries there is. No other industry has as many awards and trade publications as advertising, and the only purpose of these is to feed everyone’s egos while sustaining everyone’s false perception that our job is sooo haaaaard :'(
It reminds me of the people in college who would spend hours upon hours in the library “studying” for exams, except they’re spending more time tweeting and texting and posting about how stressed they are from studying than they do *actually* studying.
I work on the creative side too — I’ve seen account managers break down crying at their desks and I’m always just like…how can you possibly take this job so seriously.
not a job, but hearing college kids complain about school work/life grinds my gears more than any of these others. Welcome to hell who gives a shit.
I don’t have anything meaningful to contribute but I fucking love your username
I wanted to shout out the good ol days on TFM, while still let people know I let the frat go. Thank you for the recognition friend
1-5: Teachers
Being the friend who complains the most about their job. PGP
Freelance photographers
still trying to convince the world iphone cameras don’t look as nice as their 2k investment(see: waste of money)