I did retirement home training and used to think it was a sweet job. Then I got in the business and underestimated how demoralizing it was as they give you the easy elders in training while the others make you, or at least me, really think of the fact the job just amounts to an unkarmic freebie.
Any job working for a PBM (pharmacy benefit manager). Completely unnecessary third party parasites that drive up health care costs.
Politicians. Don’t get me wrong, we do need them, but I strongly oppose the existance of people who never did anything else.
I believe we’d be better off with a new set of randomly chosen citizen every so often. Kinda like jury duty.
The process of choosing government officials at random is called sortition. It’s certainly not the worst method.
Oh hell no. You know how braindead most people are at something relatively simple like driving a car, managing finances, or logical decision making? And then you want to roll the dice and let potentially ‘the average’ citizen to partake in government? This also means you have to be fine with the dumbest motherfucker you have ever come across, making policy decisions.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell naw. Fuck, we have some dense pieces of shit in govt/politics here in the states, but I know that we can do way, way, way fucking worse. Hell. No.
Well maybe braindead is still better than professional selfish corrupt assholes bending the system towards them across many decades.
If you cannot trust in a randomly selected group of people making good decisions, can you trust in any kind of democracy? I, for one, prefer ‘dumb’ people being directly involved instead of having a lying contest every so often to see which actively evil person can get the most ‘dumb’ people behind him.
While I can’t argue with your point, it does at least require a small amount of effort to get elected, vs just picking names out of a hat or whatever.
Any role at those finance firms that just buy up other companies to eat their profits. What do you provide? Nothing, you take already baked potatoes and make sure all the shredded cheese is scraped off into your gullet and thats it.
Vulture Capitalists?
That mental image is gold. And yeah, corporate raiders suck.
Marketing. Anything having to do with marketing.
I’m a big fan of Bill Hicks’ philosophy in regards to those people.
Not aware of Bill Hicks’ take, but marketing effectively amounts to manipulating people into buying things that they otherwise would not.
There’s only 3 kinds of advertising that work on me.
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“My business supports [thing I like] financially!” Ok, that’s fair. You donate to them, I purchase from you over competitors.
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“Hello, I run [business]. I make sure to patronize [other business] to support [business] because [other business] does quality work. Check them out!” For some reason, this resonates with me. It sounds way more honest.
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“Here is a picture of tasty food”. FOOOOOOOD 🤤
There is exactly one ad that worked on me. It was a poster for a bottle of Oasis that said “you’re thirsty, we have quotas, let’s help each other out.”
I got a postcard in the mail for Granta, a literary journal. On one side it said “Just subscribe, you know you want to.” On the other side it said “We promise, no poetry. Ever!”
(sigh) Subscribed.
Discovered one of my favorite books and authors that way:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/118585.Into_the_Heart_of_Borneo
Rebuttal/fact check:
- they donate 0.0015% of every $10+ purchase you make, on a Shursday, when it’s raining meatballs; additional terms and conditions apply
- [other company]: “we’ve never heard of them in our lives, but alright I guess?”
- “here is the food we advertise! and here is the garbage we slap together next to the dumpster out back that we actually serve at our fine establishments!”
Don’t trust anyone who needs to advertise. If they were actually good products/services, they wouldn’t need to advertise, as word of mouth and reputation does that for you. You don’t see any Rolls-Royce ads on primetime television…
If you find yourself interested because of advertising, always, always be skeptical of all claims. Don’t just believe, but research, verify.
If they were actually good products/services, they wouldn’t need to advertise
How do they get their first customers without advertising?
Friends and family, others who know you and your skills, etc
Jesus Christ dude, get some therapy. Not everything is bullshit all the time.
Have you been to the USA?
They have some really nice mountains! (The one they haven’t carved the to off)
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Marketing itself can be good, sadly the whole industry has gone off so far into the dark path that it’s irredeemable at this point.
Disagree with the first part. Agree with the second.
When I’m dictator they’ll be among the first up against the wall.
Fortunately for them, my lack of ambition and crippling video game addiction ensure I’ll never be dictator over anything more than my two cats.
Going after that anger dollar, I see. Big market.
Bad marketing makes me want to ship my pants.
Influencers. Just ad extensions.
“influencers” should not exist in their form today. If you are to peddle a brand, you get to be responsible (as in legally liable) for the claims made
my feeling is, is if you are going to be selling a product and you use certain words or phrases like “scientifically proven” or “research shows…” that you need to reference your claim.
That’s not enough… not just because nobody would read it but because there is a LONG tradition of marketing funded junk science so they could very easily come up with some shitty paper that backs whatever they are saying.
The tobacco industry was famous for this and for years they produced studies that showed smoking was good for you
The tobacco industry still actively does this. For example, they published papers promoting vaping as a public health initiative–tobacco cessation or harm reduction, they called it. One of the doctors, for example, was a sex therapist. Another got his medical degree in the Virgin Islands. All published under the guise of a legitimate “think-tank” with the basic premise of, “how do we address the public health impact of smoking?”
See? Literally, this behaviour is why we can’t have nice things
Any position in the for profit medical payment processing profession, it should be single payer through taxes instead.
Any investment position that exists to leech money out of successful companies instead of providing cash to improve the business. Basically any part of.a vulture capital firm.
Any pseudo pretend medical profession that has decades without evidence it works like chiropractors. I’m fine with mediums and other charlatans that at least put up a ‘for entertainment purposes only’ sign and don’t have a history of causing injuries to their clientel.
Anything involving targeted advertising since it relies on scooping up personal data.
Debt collectors. The businesses took the risk when they loaned money or provided some kind of service on credit. Selling debt to collectors who maliciously lie and guilt people into paying money they don’t really owe or tricking them into paying debt that would disappear after a period of time is horrible. There are no respectable debt collection companies.
This is pretty much my list. Middlemen. I wouldn’t say absolutely without value but it’s gotten out of hand.
There are some middlemen positions that add value, like many distributors who smooth out the transportation between manufacturing and retail, but there sure are a lot that insert themselves into the supply chain to suck money out without adding anything.
Debt collectors. The businesses took the risk when they loaned money or provided some kind of service on credit.
I don’t use debt collectors any more, but I have a construction company and a few times a year people just decide not to pay for their work. If someone really truly refuses to pay I could take them to small claims court, and I have, but it’s a ton of work and lawyers won’t bother with anything under 10k. I’ve literally had a judge say “so petty” about me taking someone through small claims for a $1200 they’d been dodging for years So some jerk can stiff me for $1500 and I have basically no recourse. I’m not talking about some impoverished person who I took advantage of, these are people with nice homes who make a habit of not paying bills. I’ll work with people who are short on cash and honest.
Even though debt collectors are 0/3 in the times I’ve used them, it’s at least something to fire off a final ‘fuck you and your credit’
Even though debt collectors are 0/3 in the times I’ve used them, it’s at least something to fire off a final ‘fuck you and your credit’
What a glowing recommendation!
Advertisers. For-profit advertisers mostly. They intentionally skew people’s understanding of the world for the benefit (usually) of the rich.
Paparazzi, insurance companies (and I work in insurance), pay day loan companies/positions, and whoever cooks the chicken at cane’s cause that shit be dry as hell.
Their sauce too, omfg I like chicken but it’s like dipping the thing in liquid shit. How the fuck do they think this is the ideal sauce? Did they hire yes-men with no functional taste buds to decide on their sauce? When they were popping up around me a few years ago, family and friends tried them a couple times each. Everyone thought that, while the chicken is fine, the sauce kills it. Nobody I know has been back in… 7 years?
Cane’s mystified me. They will have lines around the block in my area and I just don’t get it.
Bathroom attendants - since people got all the high value stuff.
I don’t mean people that clean the bathroom etc.
I mean the guy that stands at the sink and makes awkward small talk before handing you a towel you could have got yourself and expects a tip.
EDIT: Y’all I’m pretty sure no one’s having sex or shooting up in the bathroom at the fucking Eiffel Tower restaurant in Las Vegas … Coke - probably. I don’t know where anyone else has seen a bathroom attendant, but every place I’ve seen one at I’ve been wearing a suit…
Bathroom attendants play a key role in maintaining cleanliness and providing a touch of personalized service, especially in high-end establishments. Their primary responsibility is to ensure the restroom remains clean, sanitary, and fully stocked with supplies. However, their role goes beyond just cleaning. At upscale locations, bathroom attendants offer a variety of helpful services, such as providing guests with towels, cologne, gum, or mouthwash. They also discreetly help you leave the restroom looking your best—whether that means making sure your shirt is tucked in properly, your tie and gig-line is straight, or there’s no toilet paper stuck to your shoe.
Most of their cleaning duties are performed between guests. While you’re washing your hands, they might simply offer you a towel or a spritz of cologne. But when the restroom is empty, attendants are hard at work, wiping down surfaces, checking stalls, and restocking supplies to ensure everything remains in top shape. This constant attention prevents the need for the restroom to be closed for cleaning by some sweaty guy in filthy coveralls swearing and muttering randomly, instead keeping the space clean and functional seamlessly throughout the night.
Bathroom attendants also provide a subtle layer of security, monitoring restroom usage to prevent smoking, drug use, or other inappropriate activities. In some cases, particularly at nightclubs, this may even be their primary responsibility. While lower-end venues may employ bathroom attendants to create a more VIP atmosphere, the attendants in these settings are often more like an extension of front-door security and are there to keep things safe and orderly, rather than to provide the full range of services seen in higher-end locales.
Next time you encounter a bathroom attendant, ask them how you look before leaving the restroom. They’ll likely be happy to offer a quick adjustment or a friendly compliment, ensuring you leave looking sharp. In a way, they’re like an underappreciated wingman, helping you make the best impression possible. They’re also usually wired into the rest of the house, so if you’d like the bartender to come by your table with something special or have some other special request, they can help take care of it.
Bathroom attendants are there to discourage drug use and bathroom sex. That’s literally their primary purpose. The fact that they have towels and mints is secondary to the fact that they’re just a walking overdose deterrent.
That’s why they’re commonly seen in clubs and bars where people would be inclined to do drugs or have bathroom sex.
It’s usually an old woman, and that keeps drunk bros from getting out of hand, assholes from littering paper towels, and you can just get your own damn towel.
I think it’s mainly higher end places thinking actual towels would be a nice touch but not willing to pay for them to be lost or stolen
War profiteers. If you work for a company like Raytheon or Lockheed Martin then you are doing an incredible amount of harm to the world and I have even less respect than I have for people in the military. These companies are constantly looking to fuel conflicts, destabilize, and pump all sorts of weapons into every corner of the globe. These people are the true scum of the earth, they are among the worst people who have ever lived.
“the job just amounts to an unkarmic freebie.”
sorry, something about this phrase is not clicking in my mind, what do you mean?
Managers without empathy.
Sounds a bit like doctors without borders now when I think about it, it’s maybe already a clan.
Are there still places that legally mandate car refueling operators? That seemed like a job that literally only existed to give some people a job.
Yes. And it’s really dumb.
Not just in the states either. They do it in Mexico and some of the operators use their job to rip off tourists. You have to make sure they reset the meter before they start pumping your gas.
Looking at you NJ, you ridiculous grift if a state.
If you’ve never seen the disaster some morons have caused at pumps…
I’ve read this response online and have seen online videos, but never met anyone who actually saw any such disaster. I’m not convinced this is at all common
Not necessarily common, but probably common enough.
Mexico, Peru, and New Jersey, USA are 3 places I know still do this.
Oregon does, or did if they stopped.
There are undoubtedly people beginning to say the same thing about supermarket checkout attendants now. That doesn’t seem like a good thing to me.
that seemed like a job that literally only existed to give some people a job
That is exactly what it’s for, and it prevents a lot of worse problems just by existing. It significantly reduces crime rates by allowing people who otherwise couldn’t earn income, and provides a way for ex-cons to successfully reintegrate into society and not relapse, as well as providing low/no skill labor. It gives some a sense of purpose - retirees who physically can’t do any other work for example and need something to do.
It is literally there to give people jobs and its a good thing.
This is why I’m in favor of mandating everyone use horse-drawn carriages. Can’t let those carmen be out of work, spreading hooliganism
People downvoting you are very self-centered, they don’t understand the importance of a job for lots of people. Until we have UBI, jobs like these will always be necessary.
Anyone who is trying to sell me something
Boy, you don’t know what you’re missin’!
If only it were possible to maintain this state indefinitely
