Misconception About Your Job/Major?

[vellavu]

"Computer Science? Can you fix my computer?"

and

"Physics? I heard that Relativity is wrong because of the Twin Paradox, isn't it?"
"Physics? I like Quantum Mechanics because it affirmed me that everything is a mess so I can stick to my (insert their favorite pseudo science) belief happily."

What are people's mis-reactions towards yours?

 

[thetopher]

"You're in publishing? Could you give my book/manuscript/novella to somebody who could publish it?"

There really isn't an 'in' with knowing a copywriter. 😉

 

[GwenRaiden]

From studying complementary therapies (massage, reflexology, aromatherapy) and after telling people this in conversation, all you get is "Ohh, can you rub my back?". Damn right I can. If you pay me. Ugh.

Being a stay-at-home parent:
"Oh so you just sit on your arse all day watching daytime TV?"
"That's so much easier than having a job"
"You must have so much free time to do whatever you want".

No. There's generally zero "sitting down". The little dictators DO NOT ALLOW IT. And the only TV is THEIR TV. I've worked a plethora of different jobs and titles and this is the most difficult one yet. It's a 24/7, on call 24 hours a day job.
Not seeing or talking to another adult (at least, IRL) some days can be a bit of a mental challenge. Talking to a toddler and a dog all day usually means when I do talk to another adult, they generally don't understand a word I'm saying anyway.

 

[Washburne]

"All you do is play and/or have coffee." but maybe mostly "Children doesn't learn anything from playing. It's just fun so why the need for (educated) teachers." Oh, and just because I work with kids it doesn't mean that I love having kids around me all the time and I don't love babysitting.

That's of course simplifying things but it's the gist of it. Being male in a female heavy environment can also lead to conclusions about me as a person but those I mostly find amusing.

 

[Taake]

Before: "You're a personal trainer? Can you get me into shape/make me look like Angelina Jolie?" Answer: maybe, but not for free and also no, just no.

Now, studying religion and politics;
"Is that even relevant anymore? and What does that have to do with religion?"

Being a stay-at-home parent:
"Oh so you just sit on your arse all day watching daytime TV?"
"That's so much easier than having a job"
"You must have so much free time to do whatever you want".

It's my sister's boyfriend who is going to be home with the baby now. He was jazzed, so much 'relax' time to look forwards to.. oh how we laughed. She just started walking 😉

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

That just because I work at the store, doesn't necessarily mean that I know how all of the several thousand items we sell actually work! 😡

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Electrical engineering? Isn't that all about math and isn't math all about numbers? Saying math is about numbers is like saying literature is about the alphabet. Most of engineering is about choices where there are a number of ways to do something and you have to evaluate and decide what you want to do. Sometimes it is about numbers, sometimes it is about the money available but at all times, the question is, "What do you want to accomplish?" You can propose several solutions and determine what each of them leads to and what unwanted characteristics they may have.

My hobby is restoring antique radios and some people may say that it's obsolete, everybody streams nowadays and there is nothing much left on radio. Some people do stream, but I have always been fascinated that a signal that may be a millionth of a volt can be separated from all the other signals including ones that may be stronger and changed using electronics into sound and video. Some people see only a dusty chassis when I acquire some radio from the 1920's or a television from the 1940's. I see it as an archaeological dig, determining what I have, whether it was the best design someone could possibly do or whether it was built to a price.

The problem is that in the arts, most people know enough to enjoy a book or movie whereas there is a barrier to understanding engineered items and that is, you have to understand the basics of engineering.

 

[Blaze]

"Oh are you like a mad scientist?"

...wait a second, this one is actually true. What was the thread about again?

 

[The Bronze]

Being a stay-at-home parent:
"Oh so you just sit on your arse all day watching daytime TV?"
"That's so much easier than having a job"
"You must have so much free time to do whatever you want".

Yeah I don't like my job and I imagine it would take me ages to get bored of staying at home and doing what I wanted (like going back to being a student/unemployed). However sod giving it up to stay at home with a child! That sounds like a nightmare and I've got no idea why anyone would assume it's easy.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

So, when folk find out I write for a living they politely ask me to recommend a good book, so I do, I politely say Wuthering Heights. As if I'd suggest anything I've written, I have come to the belief that people will buy all sorts of crappy books as long as there is a good picture on the cover.

 

[Bluebird]

I'm female and work in a male dominated trade, and have done for 8 years, so I've heard everything you could ever imagine a girl putting up with in a "man's" job. The funniest remarks I get are the condescending ones, because they're so ridiculous. Surely you are aware of your own behaviour?!

Like "is there a man around?" and the disappointment when I tell them it's just me I'm afraid.

Or the times when I've been speaking to a client and I realise their eyeline is looking behind me. Clue: a man is behind me. They want to speak to the man.

Funny thing is, "the man" they're so desperate to get the attention of, always has to ask me the technical questions.

The advantage of being female in a male dominated trade - you do less work even if you have the most knowledge.
Disadvantage - it makes you feel worthless every day, yay!

I really dunno why anyone has this misconception. Surely I'm useful to my company if they ain't fired me yet.

From studying complementary therapies (massage, reflexology, aromatherapy) and after telling people this in conversation, all you get is "Ohh, can you rub my back?". Damn right I can. If you pay me. Ugh.

I'll pay you!
 

Wildfly: Haha, when i worked at an ISP there was this client with a forti who demanded to speak with a man so i transferred him to our dumbest representative then sat back & enjoyed the show.

Brilliant strategy 😀

 

[Xin Rong]

"I'm a primary school teacher" - Worst responses so far, a couples of years into my career:

• "You must be a paedo if you're a bloke and chose to work with kids
• What's it like having a woman's job?
• It's just babysitting
• How hard can it be, all you do is colour in?
  
• Those who can't, teach, those who can't teach, teach primary"

 

[Blaze]

"Do you blow things up?"

...wait, this one is also true 😛

But in all seriousness, I think the biggest misconception about doing research is that people think it's easy to find a job, and that you make a lot of money. Both of which are completely false. One, I can barely find a job, so I'm doing some sort of internship that is paid below minimum wage, and two...well I'm paid below minimum wadge, and I work unpaid overtime almost every day. Sure, in 30 years from now I might make a great salary, but getting there is a lot of hard work. It's a lot of dedication, and very little rewards. Because as it happens, usually a lot of the research we do doesn't really work that well. That's why one project, or even one aspect of the project, can take years to achieve.

And then you have those assholes who claim that we've already found the cure to cancer and that were withholding it to make more money. Newsflash people, scientist don't care about the money the pharmaceutical industry makes, because we don't see a dime of it, so I guaranty you if someone found the cure to cancer, it would be all over the scientific community (actually, companies hate working with us because we don't care about the money, we care about putting our knowledge out there). Or you have those that believe vaccination is useless and it gives you autism or some type of other non-sense. It's really frustrating dealing with those people and trying to explain how vaccines actually work.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

That always bugs me too. For this reason:

 

[vellavu]

Really? I heard that in 1970 the government created earth and people and all the fake memories. Is it true?

I also heard that the government created dinosaur fossils and fine tuned it's C14/C12 ratio, just to test the faith of its believers. Is it true?

 

[Blaze]

Really? I heard that in 1970 the government created earth and people and all the fake memories. Is it true?

I also heard that the government created dinosaur fossils and fine tuned it's C14/C12 ratio, just to test the faith of its believers. Is it true?

lol someone actually tried to tell me the second one was true a while ago, or something along those lines. I think it was something about God putting those fossils out there just to mess with us. Like, dinosaurs never existed, clearly!

 

[Mr Trick]

That I have one😛

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

My hobby is restoring antique radios and some people may say that it's obsolete, everybody streams nowadays and there is nothing much left on radio. Some people do stream, but I have always been fascinated that a signal that may be a millionth of a volt can be separated from all the other signals including ones that may be stronger and changed using electronics into sound and video. Some people see only a dusty chassis when I acquire some radio from the 1920's or a television from the 1940's. I see it as an archaeological dig, determining what I have, whether it was the best design someone could possibly do or whether it was built to a price.

The problem is that in the arts, most people know enough to enjoy a book or movie whereas there is a barrier to understanding engineered items and that is, you have to understand the basics of engineering.

My boyfriend restores midcentury TV consules. He loves old radios too. Do you have any pictures of your radios? I'd love to see them.

So, when folk find out I write for a living they politely ask me to recommend a good book, so I do, I politely say Wuthering Heights. As if I'd suggest anything I've written, I have come to the belief that people will buy all sorts of crappy books as long as there is a good picture on the cover.

Sadly, this is true. Im not much of a fiction writer, but when people hear that I have a degree in english literature, they ask me the same question. I always say Jane Eyre. They don't get what I mean when I say ENGLISH literature...they think it means literature in english...but my degree is in literature from ENGLAND, meaning mostly Victorian-era english writers 🙂 They'll ask if I have read the latest Tom Clancy novel, yeeesh.

In regards to what I do...a couple years ago, I actually quit my day job that I hated to work full-time in theatre, my passion. I got a surprsing amount of pushback. I think people were jealous that I was brave enough to do what they weren't. *shrug*

So now I stage manage plays, and I love it. It doesn't pay great, but that's okay. The biggest misconception non-theatre people have is when I tell them what I do, for some reason they think I manage a MOVIE theatre, lol. When you say theatre these days, people automatically think you mean movies. Its a bummer.

I'm loving hearing about what everyone does for work!

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Joan the Vampire Slayer,
you stage manage plays? Oh lucky you! I keep trying to write stage plays but the local theatre is so small (6-7 metres wide) To write a play where the actors don't deafen each other when projecting their voices.
A pet obsession of mine is the actual language of this damned Microsoft Word, I would prefer to write in English UK but I'm stuck with English US.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

My boyfriend restores midcentury TV consules. He loves old radios too. Do you have any pictures of your radios? I'd love to see them.

I tend to have a lot of Philco radios and quite a few RCA radios. The cathedral cabinet was one of their favourites and this is a model 60 from about 1932 or 1933. This is a good 5-tube set with an electrical design that was continued for a number of years in lesser cabinets.

The internals of a Philco Model 60:

I have a picture of a restored Philco 37-116 in the thread about "what are you doing today?".