The most unhappy occupation

medved said:
What do you think is the most unhappy occupation? The one people are most anxious to escape from...

I have read that dentists are pretty miserable. (Not sure why). I have also read that lawyers in big law firms are pretty miserable, despite the high pay. But surely there much be worse jobs than these.
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I read that dentists are one of the highest paid per hour worked profession. The article said most can get away with a 4 day work week and still bring in north of $300k. Not sure how true that is, but if it is, not sure why they would be so miserable.
 
Anyone doing difficult manual labor for near minimum wage.
 
I always thought law enforcement would be an awful job. You see the worst in our society. Pretty hard to not become cynical. Marriages often don't last, alcohol abuse common. Also agree that child protective services would be heart breaking.
 
COcheesehead said:
I read that dentists are one of the highest paid per hour worked profession. The article said most can get away with a 4 day work week and still bring in north of $300k. Not sure how true that is, but if it is, not sure why they would be so miserable.
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They're frequently bit.
 
NW-Bound said:
All this talk about miserable jobs makes me happy that I am retired.

But I am also old. One day, I may wish to be young again, even if it means I would be back in working age.
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You are not old. Wait until you get to 90.
 
Dentists used to have the highest rate of suicide, probably caused by chronic mercury poisoning.
 
msieweke said:
Dentists used to have the highest rate of suicide, probably caused by chronic mercury poisoning.
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If Lewis Carroll had known that, Alice might have attended the Mad Dentist's Tea Party.
 
Silver said:
Roofers working in Florida during the summer's 95+ heat. I always feel badly for them and don't know how they do it.
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At least they get paid decent. Any factory in the US is going to be around 100 degrees in the summer and many pay far less than what roofers make.
 
Marita40 said:
I'd say any job that is repetitive and boring, something where you simply sit all day and do the same thing endlessly.
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Obviously what is considered a bad job varies from person to person. I just started a new job where I am on my feet 8-12 hours/day lifting 1000lbs/hr in a non temperature controlled warehouse. I would take a 30% cut in pay to do an office job where I can sit regularly and the heaviest thing I have to lift is a stapler or a mouse.
 
A poop truck operator. They used to come to the back side of my house with a hose when I was little, and the smell was just so overwhelming that it made me gag every time.
 
Can't imagine anything worse than child protective services or any social worker.
 
Callitaday2022 said:
The guy who drives around and pumps out the outhouses
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Or the poor saps who have to service lavatories on airplanes. On more than one occasion, I saw a poor, young Airman open the cap where a dump valve had frozen open and take a very disgusting blue (or not so blue anymore) bath. Gives me chills thinking about it.

We called them the SST drivers (S* sucking truck).

Also, CPS workers have a thankless, difficult job. I have done some volunteer work with CASA (helping kids in state custody) and most of the cases are absolutely heartbreaking. In Texas, caseworkers rarely last more than 2 years before moving on to some other form of social work.
 
COcheesehead said:
I read that dentists are one of the highest paid per hour worked profession. The article said most can get away with a 4 day work week and still bring in north of $300k. Not sure how true that is, but if it is, not sure why they would be so miserable.
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I remember reading about dentist's high rates of suicide about 30-40 years ago. I hadn't thought about the mercury posining aspect (and you may recall that dentists used to work without protective gear -- no gloves, face masks, etc.) but that makes sense.

As one who spent too many hours in dental chairs...

Way back then, we weren't educated on dental care beyond brushing our teeth. People typically only went to the dentist for fillings, extractions, and major things like that. Many countries/communities didn't have flouridated water, so more people had cavities, in general. The drills that dentists used were so coarse and low speed that your jaw would vibrate mightily as the dentist slowly drilled away, all the while you were waiting for him to hit a nerve. Some dentists charged extra for numbing a tooth prior to working on it, so some patients who were averse to paying extra or who were too poor were in a lot of pain when the dentist's drill would get close to a nerve. In general, the whole experience of going to a dentist was fraught with thoughts of something very likely painful....but necessary. I can't imagine most dentists enjoyed being the inflictors of pain.

These days we have learned a lot about dental care and prevention....flossing, using all sorts of cleaning appliances (ultrasonic toothbrushes, dozens of varieties of toothpastes), water-jets for cleaning out tooth/gum areas that might become periodontal issues, etc. Further, we are trained to get our 2/year cleanings...with xrays peridoically. Plus there's a huge interest in keeping our teeth looking nice, so options for cosmetic dentistry (crowns, caps, veneers and the like, abound), also more adults getting braces or wearing invisalign straighteners, etc. Also, we now have options for bone reconstruction, dental implants, etc instead of ill-fitting dentures.

So, all in all, a visit to the dentist these days is much more likely to be a relatively pleasant experience than back in the 'dark ages' of when I was growing up.

I have no idea how dentists' incomes may have changed over the years, but I suspect that all this 'new fangled stuff' is adding a lot to the bottom-line. :LOL:

omni
 
Spent career in water and sewer so have seen just about all the fun aspects of dealing with sewage. Also had garbage collection and landfills for a while; some funny stories about that. You either get used to it or you don't and for those who do and stay, they're a pretty happy bunch IMO. Now, for the funnest part I ever saw....

In sewage plants there's the stuff that floats to the top. Guess what it's called? Scum. It's "handled" (my first boss used to be infuriated at the term sludge handling...who the hell "handles" that stuff anyway:confused:?) in various ways. Some plants had what were called scum pots. Basically pressure vessels that fill up by gravity flow, and then pneumatic valves close and pressure blows the vile mixture to its destination. Worst duty I ever witnessed was the dude in the full tyvek suit, gloves, etc cleaning out...the scum pot! Ah the good old days.
:LOL:
 
When I was in grad school 25 years ago studies showed that many dentists were very smart and wanted to be doctors. They could not get into med school so did dentistry as a 2nd choice and then found it mind numbing boring. But they had bills, lifestyle for that career and frequently felt hopeless so committed suicide.
 
H2ODude said:
Spent career in water and sewer so have seen just about all the fun aspects of dealing with sewage.
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My husband worked in that field too. He always said the fishing was great, lots of brown trout, and some white trout, too.
 
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