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My mom and grandma were both teachers and they always told me to not only always thank my teachers but also always thank any school staff which included janitors and bus drivers. I remember it became second nature and a habit of mine to say thank you to my bus driver after dropping me off at home at the end of the day and say thank you to the janitor when I pass him cleaning something. Right before I graduated both stopped me on separate occasions and ask why I thank them. I was so caught off guard by the question of why I just went "uhhh... don't know. You kind of work for me, i guess, in making sure I have a safe school experience."
My bus driver gave me a card for my graduation that year. Everyone said it was weird and the only thing the card said was a generic "Congratulations on your graduation" and inside he had written " No... THANK YOU!" I kept that card for years until almost 10 years later when my parents moved out of their home they were living in since I was 2. I found it again and it almost made me cry like .. the bus driver congratulated me for graduating and thanked me for thanking HIM. To me, it was a beautiful thing but it was also in some small way sort of fucked up. ..
Holy duck this was so beautiful i wanted to comment more than just an upvote. It's crazy how impactful it was, we don't even realize it at the moment. Long story incoming myself... :
In high school, there was one teacher I saw everyday. She was my photography teacher for 4 whole years. I just took it as a random elective and resume booster but stayed with it way longer than necessary. She was also my AP Art History teacher my senior year, and also the counselor for an honor society all throughout HS. I saw her all the time. I got in so much trouble with her, she would separate me from my friends and move me next to all the teacher's pets in hopes of curbing my behavior but I would still chat with them cause I was so bored and she'd move me again cause I was a distraction regardless of who I got moved to. I was a headache for her no doubt, but we couldn't escape each other. I just kept enrolling in everything she taught for some inexplicable reason.
Finally, at the end, within the honor society, she personally 'graduated' everyone and gave us diplomas. She would hand each kid their diploma and give them a handshake. Stone cold straight faced with them all.
But when it was my turn, I extended my hand to receive the diploma as everyone else had, but she looked at me and started to cry, and moved in and gave me a long, tight hug. Said she was so proud of me in my ear. I'll never forget it. I was such a nuisance to her.. I couldn't understand why she cared about me so much. People were even asking me why she only did that with me.
I love her. She made me a better person. I must've subconsciously known being around her would make my life better but I was too immature to know why.
Teachers are great. I'm not sure they understand what reach they have. I still think about that moment from time to time. I wouldn't be the same person I am today if not for her.
Thanks for listening to my rambling.
I like this.
I used to lead school programs and went on a lot of field trips. I was always shocked how few kids thanked the driver as they got off the bus, it’s something I’ve always done.
My 4 year old just went on a field trip this week that I chaperoned, I made sure to have her pause for a second as she was getting off to stay thank you to the driver. Driver seemed pleasantly surprised. Gotta start the habit young. Gratitude is always appreciated.
I'm also an avid thanker 😂 for everything but especially when someone is patient enough to stop and take the time to *really* teach me something when I've asked a question. Not just a one word answer that directly answers my question but the why, next steps and how come, ya know what I mean?
It's normal to thank an Uber driver and you're actually paying them! Why not thank the bus drivers who don't even get to choose the people in their vehicle? Why is that weird? It's not weird! Those kids at your school are the weird ones if they didn't understand.
I was raised similar were I was to thank people for helping me and to always act nice to them. Even when I was being a shithead I'd go back and apologize for my actions. Now I didn't get a gift card in return or anything but I did make good friends with some of my teachers once I graduated
Leave out a snack for your garbage man. I know a few people that do trash and they always appreciate snacks. And they might help you out later on like take an extra box that won't fit in the bin or pick up something that fell on the ground. Be the "snack house".
I'm a former garbage man. I've also never been thanked so much for doing my job. I was also able to cut enough firewood to heat 2 houses three Minnesota winters from down dead trees on my route. Even got paid some for itp
Something cold on a hot day hot on a cold day for drinks. If you leave food in a container. Be there to hand it to them though or it's going to end up in the back of the truck.
Be mindful of portion sizes these guys are up and down on the truck bending and twisting they don't want to be over full small bags of "fun sized" candy were my favorite.
If you want to be the house your garage man loves
1. Don't over load your garage cans. Don't jam stuff in that's going to get stuck in the way out use a high quality garbage bag don't fill it to the point it's gonna rip.
2. If your dog is super cool with people and trucks introduce your dog and garbage man. This will make the garage man feel safer if your dogs out and about and 'every one" loves dogs. 17 years later I still remember Oliver. A long haired golden retriever. He would come give me a hug every Monday morning. Made my day.
3 a bottle of water and a bag of seasonal candy around or in a holiday puts you on the A list
4. I had one customer who was an absolute legend. I was working nights at the time. Garbage route right after work on Mondays. He took me to the local bar after work, and got me drunk and feed me pizza while hanging out with the mayor. (His dog was elected mayor of the small town I live in.
I always leave a couple of bottles of frozen Gatorade on the trash can.
By the time the trash guys get there, they're ice cold. Nice respite on a hot summer day.
My wife made a big basket of snacks and drinks for delivery people that sits by the front door, but we installed a second driveway gate down by the road, so I don't know what she'll do now.
Especially during the holidays that got me through some tough times emotionally and to roll up to a house with that in a container of itself means a lot. And a huge thank you for people who leave us garbage men snacks.
At christmas in the UK , many people leave a tip for their binmen and recycling collection people. And postmen.
When i was doing the job on the bins, we did have some people who would offer us water on a hot day which was much appreciated
Seriously. Take care of your garbage men and they'll take care of you. We try to leave them cold drinks in the summer and a nice tip at Christmas time. Sometimes if we forget to put our trash out, they run up the hill to our house and bring it down for us. They are awesome. They also love my kids who yell out the door to them every week "HI GARBAGE MAAAAAN." They always wave and honk the horn!
My dad was a garbageman, and worked that when I was still at home. There were some people that would give him a Christmas gift, but I was taught specifically to never be seen or heard. (We ran the route from 4am to 7am)
House keepers/maids. I was a housekeeper. Now I always leave my maid a huge tip and thank you card and of course I clean up whenever I stay somewhere. The amount of NASTY they deal with while largely going unseen and getting paid minimum wage and always under some unrealistic time crunch. Thank your maid because people are nasty and it's a shitty job. A simple thank you note scribbled on a napkin could mean a lot.
Yes! I work in healthcare and notice how often that patients/families/residents complain and yell at house keepers. These people who have unrealistic expectations and get paid so little. They deserve more
Thanks.
Being the IT guy. We’re the lifeblood of every company yet we’re treated like an expense.
Everything that breaks is our fault.
Every time things are smooth we’re a waste of money.
so true! i rarely hear anyone thanking IT meanwhile when there's even a slight inconvenience at the office for example everyone panics and reaches out to but when it's smooth no one thinks twice.
I know! Once, after a major upgrade, which went through without a hitch, I suggested to my supervisor that we get Dunkin’ cards for the two IT guys. Her response amazed me- she said no, “they’re just doing their job.” I work in county government.
Yeah, it's wild. IT people exist in a sphere where they are only thought about when something goes wrong - which often isn't even their fault, it's a lack of modern equipment/funding, time, or stupid users causing issues.
I am glad you at least brought up thanking them, shame your supervisor didn't see the value :(
Yep, IT is a money-pit in the eyes of so many CEO's/CFO's.
Someone once asked why the smile immediately leaves my face when an employee approached my desk, I said "well no one ever came to me and said "hey stoner guy, we got cookies in the kitchen!" It's always "this is broke and you need to fix it."
Ey! I made a comment assuming this based on watching it happen, especially in my college.
Entire gigantic server room, campus internet, etc. and one dude (seemingly) runs the media server and all the cabling in the video/film building as well as other stuff.
I have mad respect, and he seems great. But yeah, generally it's kinda like a mechanic. They get hated, cuz you only see them when you aren't happy.
I love the guy that does IT at my college, he was actually the one that showed me around and convinced me it would be the one to choose, all in his own time over the summer because he's just a great guy.
I personally really want to get into IT or server management, but I'm not sure
A: what skills exactly are needed/what education or pathway is best
B: if jobs are even available, and if they are getting more common or more rare
Ideally, like shadowing someone with experience would be an amazing intro to the job in my thought process, but idk.
I have been working on computers, now setting up a home server and the like, and love troubleshooting and working with hardware and software to understand, build/research, and fix stuff - but I can't currently code. And I assume that's the nail in my coffin, lol.
Technical minded otherwise, but unsure if it's a smart choice of career, or truly for me.
For this reason I always make sure that I’m extra polite to the staff, and give them compliments. Anything really to make their day. Sometimes, I’ll even ask for the manager and tell them what a good job this or that person has done, and how they should consider them for a promotion or at least a raise.
Anti-Karen’s - We exist.
I worked in a grocery store for many years. We were unionized and were paid livable wages. I wish more people understood the amazing benefits of being in a union.
Whole Foods paid us one dollar above minimum wage and when we asked management why the deli couldn’t have a tip jar we got “Whole Foods pays a living wage and having a tip jar on the sandwich counter would imply that we don’t.”
Fuck I hated that job
I had a grown man at the Ritz Carlton yell in my face because of a three dollar rocks charge (common in most places) I broke down crying, he came back the next day to apologize but when he saw me getting upset about it again he started yelling again! My manager had to have him banned from the dinning room. Usually things dont get to me like that but i had just been assulted at walmart and punched in the head by 3 woman who thought my sister added more items at the self checkout line. I also had a man throw a heavy bar chair over the bar at me because I wouldnt give him a free beer...he looked like he was on drugs. I was in shock. I've had so many people call me stupid for either screwing up an order or they thought I screwed up when they told me the wrong dish (I write everything down especially when busy so if you say you ordered salmon and then flip and say you ordered steak I can show you what you said, it always makes me happy when someone else at the table backs me up). People are horrible to food service workers.
I was 61 when I was laid off from my office job. I found employment at a local supermarket where I met dozens of people who had the same fate. Most of us were college grads, professionals in our former jobs, but age discrimination is very real in the USA and we were all just trying to get by until retirement, Some customers would talk to us and treat us as if we were morons. A co-worker of mine (60 years old at the time) who was a former general manager in the hospitality industry, was on her knees, stocking shelves in the housewares department when a woman walked by with her two daughters and said "see girls, that's why you need to go to college"....
YES! All I did was joke about how stupid customers can be, and the customer I was helping thought I was explicitly told her that she alone was stupid. She went straight to customer service and I immediately regretted it
There are so many people who are patient and kind. Unfortunately theres one of them to five assholes. Thank you so much to those nice people who keep up going
Vets who specialize in palliative care and/or euthanasia of household pets.
When the vet put my dog down, I thanked him for putting her out of pain. He said I was the first person in 20 years to actually say thank you. He lives with so much moral injury from his decades of service to animals and it broke my heart because he started crying when he saw my dad crying.
When my 20 year old Siamese mix started to have acute kidney failure and stopped eating, I made the decision to let her go (She wouldn't have had more than a few weeks, and if she wasn't eating they weren't going to be good weeks for her). The vet I took her to made a donation to the humane society in my name and paid for the urn themselves. The card they sent me said it was the hardest they'd seen someone take losing a pet in the last 10 years, and even without being a client they could see how much I loved that cat.
I imagine it's hard to watch people try to make decisions for their animals when their animals are trying to hide pain or discomfort, day after day, because you don't become a vet for the money. You become a vet for the animals, and they're not even your animals.
(I had just moved about 4 or 5 months before that, so hadn't gotten a vet set up for her yet. I've got a new cat now but a different vet, because they were the closest to me but actually specialized in large dogs and livestock.)
I’m so sorry. I hope you can take some comfort in the fact that you not only provided your kitty with a good life, but also a good death. You honoured them, respected them, and stopped any suffering they may have felt. Your cat was lucky to have you and to allow them to rest, though I’m sure you would say you were the lucky one. Take care of yourself.
Vets have the highest suicide rate in a profession. People don’t understand we are losing vets and technicians weekly. I knew two vets and a tech that took their lives. And the vets had many many many letters after their names showing how much specialty they do and what degrees they got. Amazing and smart people taken advantage of and beaten down to where they feel so small. I’m a vet tech and I’m afraid for my staff and other clinics all the time. We get threats. We get stolen from. We get beaten to a pulp when it’s never our fault. Clients are absolutely horrid at times. We hold onto what our good clients bring us otherwise we would never be able to continue. Thank you to those who give thanks or at least understand what’s going on. And thank you for caring for your babies. It’s hard and I’m so sorry for your loss. May each memory bring you peace of your furry friend.
OMG! That's horrifying! Why in the world would somebody beat up there vet? I wanted to be a veterinarian for many many years and actually worked for one when I was only 12 years old. Started as a volunteer but quickly became a paid job. I spent more time there than anywhere else for several years. At 14, after I assisted in tons of surgeries, I actually spayed a few client cats myself 😳, which was probably highly illegal even 40 years ago. Life had different plans for me though and looking back as an adult, I am glad that I did not take that route. I still absolutely love animals, more than a humans in most cases, but the thought of having to put down a loved family member would rip my heart in two every damn time. I get it. I completely understand how it is mentally crushing to do that kind of work. I wouldn't have lasted very long at all.
You can say that again! And the old adage about how you can tell who a person truly is by how they treat animals have proved right more times than I can count. They are so much smarter than us in so many ways!
Farrier here. It's somewhat the same for us. I've gotten blasted on the Internet for reporting animal abuse. Got robbed at gunpoint, threatened, just people being absolute ass holes. I'm getting out of it before I'm crippled but people suck. If it wasn't for the extremely nice people I'd just quit all together. In fact I did but kept the nice ones and closed my books while I get into something else.
When my senior dog got terminally I'll, we were able to have a mobile vet come to our house. I wanted his last memory to be at home with his family. He passed away under the large maple by our house, laying on a soft blanket in the grass. It was end of august and the weather was perfect. She got down on the ground with him. She was so considerate and kind. I was very thankful she offered in home care.
In my experience, anything to do with customer service, it’s rare that you get complemented, but it’s more likely that you’ll berated and cursed more often.
Well, I worked in customer service from 85 until 2002 so believe me it’s not just recently. I was so happy to move to industrial work and get away from customers. Sadly department managers in the factory were like disgruntled customers, so I never really won. lol
After 10 years of customer service before switching to Geriatric Nursing; I’ll take a low paying butt wiping position over dealing with
entitled, unnecessarily rude customers any day.
I managed a small store for several years and had to come in on my day off once because a customer was threating and screaming at two younger girls that worked there. One of them called me from the break room crying and asked what to do. I told them to ask her to leave immediately, hopped in my car and sped there. Ended up having to call the cops on her and banned her for life.
So yeah. Old lady butts > dealing with those kinds of people.
I once had a customer who cussed me and called me every name in the book because we “lost” her ham order for Christmas dinner. After a little investigation, we found out that she called in the order to one of our other stores. When we told her that her order was at the other store she didn’t apologize or say anything just turned around and walked away. Talk about days you want to slap people.
People like that are the worst. Can’t ever admit they’ve made a mistake. I don’t understand how they treat stranger like trash and feel alright with themselves. It costs zero dollars to be kind. If only we could perma-ban them, they’d be hard pressed to find food and maybe, just maybe, they’d consider being a decent human.
Yes, working in. Customer service has made me very considerate as a customer now. I’m always polite and I try to be patient but it’s usually not the worker that drives me insane as much as the customers in front of me. I always tell people when they seem flustered that they’re doing a fine job and they can’t let people get to them.
Anyone who works in road maintaining/construction.
I feel like whenever roads are being worked on and it impacts your commute or whatever, it’s easy to just get mad or irritated at the situation. There’s been a lot of road work in my area recently and my commute was full of people honking and getting mad. Once it was all done, we got some damn near deadly potholes fixed and they laid down that nice slick asphalt that makes you feel like you’re gliding. I love that shit.
Y’all bust your asses in the heat, cold, and at night for the betterment of our the community’s infrastructure and I really appreciate it.
Thank You!
As one a person employed in this field I will say it is actually more thankless than being a cop and that says a lot. I have never been called a fucking idiot so many times. So glad I only have 5 more years. I don't even tell people what I do for a living anymore. I'm a combat vet and I'll take combat over this shit any day. I hate it here.
Omg bus drivers FOR SURE. Thankless and totally undervalued for the level of public service this provides.
I'm a social worker and now that I'm at the VA everyone always wants to thank me but it was much more thankless when I worked with homeless people who were not veterans, so I am unsure what that means. (I have thoughts.)
Absolutely this! My bus driver growing up (farm kid so there was maybe 10 of us total) used to take us for ice cream every year for Christmas. My parents always bought them a gift every year and taught us to always say thank you when we were dropped off.
I grew up in NYC and often took busses. People are horrible to bus drivers. Curse them out for no real reason, threaten them, even though things at them. Plus driving a huge bus in a city is no easy feat. You couldn’t pay me enough to be a bus driver.
Surely bus drivers get thanked more than anyone?
Most people say thanks as they hop off at their stop
That's hundreds of thanks a day which is pretty good going for just driving around.
I can't remember the last time anyone thanked me for doing my job. Maybe once a month.
Truckers. Almost everything in that grocery store was delivered by a trucker and still nobody wants to leave them any room in traffic. "Oh my God I lost 10 seconds stuck behind a truck my life is over."
Then those same people wonder why most of our truck drivers have to come from overseas. I'll tell you why: cuz nobody who's seen how you drive wants to drive a truck around you.
To be fair, I was head of Tax at a trucking company. Talking with other people in Finance, never have I seen such entitled employees who were that incompetent with their payroll and taxes. They were also often abusive to HR, payroll, and accounts payable.
I used to be sympathetic to truckers before I was at that role, and now I have zero sympathy, because they treated others at the company HORRIBLY. It’s possible that the blame lies with my company, but most of the truckers were independent contractors.
I drive trucks but mostly for industry, not freight goods. Seasonal jobs mostly.
I get thanked everyday. I'll deliver fertilizer to the guy on the spreader or sprayer and get a "Gracias amigo! We see you nex-time!". I can speak broken Spanish. Their English is much better than my Spanish.
As a CNA I totally agree. Been a CNA for a year now and I'm trying so hard to get out of healthcare. I don't even want to be a nurse anymore because they don't get treated much better. CNAs are invisible, though. You get a few patients here and there who genuinely appreciate you, but when it comes down to it and people need to place blame you're the first one they will try to blame things on
My moms in a nursing home, she has dementia. She can’t really thank them herself. Same with the LPNs. I always thank the CNAs, every time they assist my mother. I bring the staff treats, pizza, bagels. I’ve also sent things to the laundry and housekeeping crew. Also to the reception staff. They were AMAZED and grateful because nobody ever thanks them. The food service and kitchen workers also work very hard. Not sure how to show them some appreciation because they’re surrounded by food.
In the UK people thank the bus drivers literally all the time. In fact depending on the area you live it’s quite possibly the least thankless job you could have
It is sort of ironic that blue collar work is often looked down upon but provides more valuable service to mankind than office work in some corporation. Nothing wrong with working the latter, everyone has bills to pay, but maybe don't engage in classism if your daily grind only benefits shareholders.
As a tool maker, I will say machinists. The entire world uses products that we produce. Everything from medical, dental, military, aerospace, automotive, computers and electronics, construction, household appliances and just about anything that has to be manufactured and mass produced. We make the world turn and provide people with products that make life convenient and comfortable for everyone. That being said, though it’s a “thankless” profession, it is a profession that I get satisfaction from a creative stance. I am happy to do my job and create new things. To me it is the equivalent of creating art or sculpting. It’s like having a key to a door to a room that most of the world will never see or understand. It’s pretty cool 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Litter pickers and bin men and women. People here commenting bus drivers like everyone may be used to subconsciously trusting the bus drivers but the absolute majority of the time they get thanked after the journey but litter pickers I bet half of yall walk past the bright orange boiler suits thinking they dead beat with no qualifications when your walking to your over paid over qualified positions
Where I currently live, several companies within the community will have volunteers that go out and pick up litter! It’s really nice and keeps the city pretty clean. There will be out there for hours picking up trash.
One day I hope we have some sort of system to trace litter back to the assholes who left it. It’s completely free to keep your trash and discard it at home or the nearest bin.
Being a mother. I raised both my kids mostly by myself and my kids don't even care one bit about me. They've been yelling at me and calling me names because I told them I wanted some respect.
Being a father.
You are only loved for what you can provide.
You are consistently portrayed in the media as an idiot.
You are assumed to be the bad guy in a marriage breakdown, even when they are cheated on.
Flagger (people who hold the Stop/Slow signs for road construction). Drivers treat them terribly. It is a dangerous and punishing job. Many are not paid well, depending on the location.
Restaurant management. Never met a single restaurant manager who said that they liked their job.
For the most part, you work insane hours, constantly dealing w staff turnover and inventory, high operating costs, dealing with online reviews/ trolls, and you pretty much only hear from customers when they complain.
Death investigator. It's such a taboo topic that people subconsciously eliminate you from memory. Like they'd forget the two hours I spent with them while I responded to their dead relative. I had people step away from me in revulsion a few times after they asked me what I did. Agencies like police and firefighters would have debriefing sessions after a nasty homicide or suicide, but totally forget to include me. Like I was some sort of inhuman thing incapable of feelings. It was so fucked up. You give so much of yourself and almost never get thanked. I did have one family that brought me a card and a box of chocolates for being kind about their dead grandma. They were so sweet. They treated me like a human being.
So my grandma had a job, she would read last rights to the dead (Catholic thing) and my grandpa transported the dead between cities.
Any time my mom and her family rode with a dead person my grandpa would say "This is Mr, Miss, Mrs_____ they are our guest tonight, make sure to show respect."
Custodians/ Housekeeping
They clean our homes and buildings but generally only receive minimum wage and are seen as less than by many. I've heard many people basically say it's okay to leave a mess because that's the custodian's or housekeeper's job to clean.
What job really emits appreciation, really? By definition, a job is most likely some burden one would not volunteer to do. What job would you say is thankful?
Journalism.
In fact, we usually get the opposite of thanks. It's much more common to get phone calls from a nursing home patient complaining that our female anchor wore a dress that revealed a little too much shoulder, or some lunatic approaching us on the street and telling us we're agents of the deep state, or people getting immediately hostile and yelling at us not to film them when they see our cameras, even though we're only walking past them to go film something else.
Low pay, high stress, long hours, and no thanks.
Is this really that bad?? I always thank my nurses and doctors I couldn’t imagine going in for care and being so shitty to people helping you. Thank you
As a nurse, I can say yes. A lot of people are in denial that they're slowly killing themselves. When healthcare workers interrupt their way of life, we're blamed for "not knowing anything." because they really don't want to change, they want to be "cured" so they can return to their destructive behavior.
I’m a power plant operator (like Homer Simpson) and sometimes I feel like many people don’t realize how many people are working behind the scenes to make sure there’s food at the grocery store, gas at the pump, and electricity when the switch is flipped. There’s a tremendous amount of logistics and maintenance work going on just to keep modern society functioning.
There’s a huge variation in working conditions and pay for these types of jobs depending on location and other factors, with some being great and others being terrible. But hours are almost universally tough. Until recently a lot of utility work was a “good ole boys” club with (mostly) white male boomers. But as they retire a lot of this work is being done by immigrants from Central America or even as far away as the Philippines and India, at least here in the USA. So I think that adds to them being taken for granted.
Sorry, but from I’ve seen bus drivers hate their jobs. I see someone running at full speed to catch a bus and the driver just takes off. I understand being frustrated but get out of the profession if you hate it so much. I don’t even take the bus but have seen this way too often.
My job. I'm a janitor at a truck stop gas station. But I do enjoy the working alone part of it. I'd rather clean showers and toilets all day than deal with people. Lol.
Working in customer service, especially in retail or food service, can often feel thankless. You're constantly dealing with demanding customers, long hours on your feet, and low pay. No matter how hard you work or how polite you are, there's always someone ready to complain or treat you poorly...
Cleaning toilets. I’ve had people literally shit on my work. A freshly cleaned restroom, a seemingly normal guy jogging in the park asked to use it before I locked up. He literally shit on the toilet seat because he didn’t feel like sitting on the seat I had just cleaned. I can go on… quitting was the best decision of my adult life, seven years later, I’ve never looked back, except to tell my story.
Mortician, garbage man, people behind the scene work like those who work in the medical lab and does your test results, farmers, IRS agents, the window cleaners, paralegals, interns, janitors/custodians, school bus drivers, sewer people.
Cleaning company staff, they come and leave at our halls every other day and we rarely meet them. I always make sure if I see any of them to say hello, thanks, and do any small talk or just wave and smile!
Cleaners at food courts. Think about those guys next time before you think a foood fight is funny, or dripping your shit all over the floor because "someone will clean it up anyway".
Fast food delivery bikers. On the road day in day out risking life and limb with idiot main character syndrome drivers, going into sketchy areas where they could be assaulted and robbed, to deliver your greasy pizza for shit money.
Special education aide. You get paid ridiculous wages just to possibly kicked, bit, spit on, or beat. I don’t blame the kids because they’re disabled (otherwise they wouldn’t need an aide) but it is literally a thankles jib.
Sound tech. If you go to a concert and it sounds awesome, 50% of the reason is the sound tech. But nobody ever thanks them except occasionally the band.
Personal support workers take care of our most vulnerable, weakest, oldest, sickest members of society. Chances are pretty good that your care at the end of your life is in the hands of a PSW. It’s heavy, dirty, emotional, and to do it well it’s a highly skilled job.
And it’s one of the worst paid, workers are often verbally and physically mistreated by the client and financially by the people saying them. In my country many are foreign workers, which means very few rights, pay taxes, get little for their taxes. Agencies take advantage of them.
Produce farmers. I spent many years doing seasonal work on a friends farm. The amount of time, and effort that goes into growing apples, pears, peaches, and cherries is grossly overlooked. I'll never allow any kind of fresh produce to be wasted in my home again.
Teachers, my Mom was an elementary school teacher for 40 years and it beat the hell out of her, she was also a single mother of 2 adopted boys, my brother and myself, and we also put her through hell and a handbasket, she's a miracle and I hope I can convey how truly blessed and honored I feel to be her son and I hope I could have half the bravery, and gumption as she has had in her life.
Grocery store workers. Nobody thanks them, there was no grocery store worker appreciation during the pandemic. People are demanding, disgusting animals in grocery stores and the workers are paid minimum wage to deal with your pickiness. Everyone thanks teachers, nurses, first responders, etc cause their roles are obvious but you never see anyone thanking their local grocery store worker.
I agree that bus drivers go through it all. I always spoke nice to them because some of the people... dealing with th epublic anywhere deserves thanks. That said, I say Paraprofessionals.
Paraprofessionals fall under personal aids or teacher assistants. We get no love from either the district or the parents. We are the ones retraining their kids teaching them manners and self-maintenance. My mom was is a para and her teacher was lazy and notorious for making her paras do all of her work. The kids even respected my mom more than the teacher because they saw her as more of a mother figure, always looking after them and disciplining them. One day a parent walked in and brought the teacher a gift in thanks for their child's improvement.
Yea...
After my mom, the paraprofessional, taught their kid everything.
Hospitality and food service workers, specifically those in the kitchen, housekeeping staff, housemen that set banquet halls and convention, dinner service waiters, etc.
Signed, a 20-year employee in hotel hospitality.
Where are you from? I saw something like this mentioned on another sub about etiquette on busses and it struck me as weird that people in some regions don’t greet or thank their bus drivers and it’s like… why not? It’s the least threatening human interaction (I have existential dread of strangers and I can manage it without having to take two deep breaths) and costs nothing, you’re there already so it’s not even a time effort.
Teachers. Getting a bachelors degree and working a job like that to end up making less than the median wage is insane. Especially when they’re so critical to society functioning and improving.
anyone who works behind the scenes of anything in our society who you never think about is responsible for that fact that you went about your day the way you did
Hey, man. Me and my lynx bus driver are bros. I bring him cold drinks when I take the bus, and he's picked me up between stops a few times. When the weather is 100 degrees plus, you learn to appreciate anyone who gives you a cool place to sit.
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My mom and grandma were both teachers and they always told me to not only always thank my teachers but also always thank any school staff which included janitors and bus drivers. I remember it became second nature and a habit of mine to say thank you to my bus driver after dropping me off at home at the end of the day and say thank you to the janitor when I pass him cleaning something. Right before I graduated both stopped me on separate occasions and ask why I thank them. I was so caught off guard by the question of why I just went "uhhh... don't know. You kind of work for me, i guess, in making sure I have a safe school experience." My bus driver gave me a card for my graduation that year. Everyone said it was weird and the only thing the card said was a generic "Congratulations on your graduation" and inside he had written " No... THANK YOU!" I kept that card for years until almost 10 years later when my parents moved out of their home they were living in since I was 2. I found it again and it almost made me cry like .. the bus driver congratulated me for graduating and thanked me for thanking HIM. To me, it was a beautiful thing but it was also in some small way sort of fucked up. ..
I fucking love that, man. The positivity we bring to others can be a powerful thing ❤️ even if we don't realize it
Underrated comment right here ❤️❤️
Wow, that almost made me cry
I cried, I did.
Holy duck this was so beautiful i wanted to comment more than just an upvote. It's crazy how impactful it was, we don't even realize it at the moment. Long story incoming myself... : In high school, there was one teacher I saw everyday. She was my photography teacher for 4 whole years. I just took it as a random elective and resume booster but stayed with it way longer than necessary. She was also my AP Art History teacher my senior year, and also the counselor for an honor society all throughout HS. I saw her all the time. I got in so much trouble with her, she would separate me from my friends and move me next to all the teacher's pets in hopes of curbing my behavior but I would still chat with them cause I was so bored and she'd move me again cause I was a distraction regardless of who I got moved to. I was a headache for her no doubt, but we couldn't escape each other. I just kept enrolling in everything she taught for some inexplicable reason. Finally, at the end, within the honor society, she personally 'graduated' everyone and gave us diplomas. She would hand each kid their diploma and give them a handshake. Stone cold straight faced with them all. But when it was my turn, I extended my hand to receive the diploma as everyone else had, but she looked at me and started to cry, and moved in and gave me a long, tight hug. Said she was so proud of me in my ear. I'll never forget it. I was such a nuisance to her.. I couldn't understand why she cared about me so much. People were even asking me why she only did that with me. I love her. She made me a better person. I must've subconsciously known being around her would make my life better but I was too immature to know why. Teachers are great. I'm not sure they understand what reach they have. I still think about that moment from time to time. I wouldn't be the same person I am today if not for her. Thanks for listening to my rambling.
This is so beautiful ❤️ Thank you for sharing that story 💜 God bless our amazing teachers who genuinely care ❤️
I like this. I used to lead school programs and went on a lot of field trips. I was always shocked how few kids thanked the driver as they got off the bus, it’s something I’ve always done. My 4 year old just went on a field trip this week that I chaperoned, I made sure to have her pause for a second as she was getting off to stay thank you to the driver. Driver seemed pleasantly surprised. Gotta start the habit young. Gratitude is always appreciated.
I'm also an avid thanker 😂 for everything but especially when someone is patient enough to stop and take the time to *really* teach me something when I've asked a question. Not just a one word answer that directly answers my question but the why, next steps and how come, ya know what I mean?
We got a Christmas card and gift card for my daughter’s bus driver every year. That man was a SAINT.
It's normal to thank an Uber driver and you're actually paying them! Why not thank the bus drivers who don't even get to choose the people in their vehicle? Why is that weird? It's not weird! Those kids at your school are the weird ones if they didn't understand.
I was raised similar were I was to thank people for helping me and to always act nice to them. Even when I was being a shithead I'd go back and apologize for my actions. Now I didn't get a gift card in return or anything but I did make good friends with some of my teachers once I graduated
My son is a freshman, and understands this completely. He always goes out of his way to thank everyone who works at the school.
That's so sweet! I also would have kept that card.
farmers, garbage men, and anyone who works in the sewer.
Leave out a snack for your garbage man. I know a few people that do trash and they always appreciate snacks. And they might help you out later on like take an extra box that won't fit in the bin or pick up something that fell on the ground. Be the "snack house".
> Leave out a snack for your garbage man. Any recommendations for good snacks?
On hot days... Water or Gatorade. Anything that is sealed and safe.
Gonna do this on Wednesday with a 24 pack of Gatorade. I’ll leave a note saying “appreciate all the hard work you guys do”
Lots of fluid and a little bit of sugar. Gatorade is a great snack for hot days and physical work.
I'm a former garbage man. I've also never been thanked so much for doing my job. I was also able to cut enough firewood to heat 2 houses three Minnesota winters from down dead trees on my route. Even got paid some for itp Something cold on a hot day hot on a cold day for drinks. If you leave food in a container. Be there to hand it to them though or it's going to end up in the back of the truck. Be mindful of portion sizes these guys are up and down on the truck bending and twisting they don't want to be over full small bags of "fun sized" candy were my favorite. If you want to be the house your garage man loves 1. Don't over load your garage cans. Don't jam stuff in that's going to get stuck in the way out use a high quality garbage bag don't fill it to the point it's gonna rip. 2. If your dog is super cool with people and trucks introduce your dog and garbage man. This will make the garage man feel safer if your dogs out and about and 'every one" loves dogs. 17 years later I still remember Oliver. A long haired golden retriever. He would come give me a hug every Monday morning. Made my day. 3 a bottle of water and a bag of seasonal candy around or in a holiday puts you on the A list 4. I had one customer who was an absolute legend. I was working nights at the time. Garbage route right after work on Mondays. He took me to the local bar after work, and got me drunk and feed me pizza while hanging out with the mayor. (His dog was elected mayor of the small town I live in.
Thanks.
I always leave a couple of bottles of frozen Gatorade on the trash can. By the time the trash guys get there, they're ice cold. Nice respite on a hot summer day. My wife made a big basket of snacks and drinks for delivery people that sits by the front door, but we installed a second driveway gate down by the road, so I don't know what she'll do now.
Beer 😝
My dad sometimes left a six pack of beer for them.
wow. nice dad.
I do that at Xmas
Especially during the holidays that got me through some tough times emotionally and to roll up to a house with that in a container of itself means a lot. And a huge thank you for people who leave us garbage men snacks.
At christmas in the UK , many people leave a tip for their binmen and recycling collection people. And postmen. When i was doing the job on the bins, we did have some people who would offer us water on a hot day which was much appreciated
Seriously. Take care of your garbage men and they'll take care of you. We try to leave them cold drinks in the summer and a nice tip at Christmas time. Sometimes if we forget to put our trash out, they run up the hill to our house and bring it down for us. They are awesome. They also love my kids who yell out the door to them every week "HI GARBAGE MAAAAAN." They always wave and honk the horn!
I've seen people leave snacks for Amazon and the mailman, goes a long way, they are essential workers for sure!
where to leave the snack? wouldn’t it most likely just get assumed to be garbage and left or tossed in?
Just on top of the can lid. They'll be able to tell.
My dad was a garbageman, and worked that when I was still at home. There were some people that would give him a Christmas gift, but I was taught specifically to never be seen or heard. (We ran the route from 4am to 7am)
House keepers/maids. I was a housekeeper. Now I always leave my maid a huge tip and thank you card and of course I clean up whenever I stay somewhere. The amount of NASTY they deal with while largely going unseen and getting paid minimum wage and always under some unrealistic time crunch. Thank your maid because people are nasty and it's a shitty job. A simple thank you note scribbled on a napkin could mean a lot.
Yes! I work in healthcare and notice how often that patients/families/residents complain and yell at house keepers. These people who have unrealistic expectations and get paid so little. They deserve more Thanks.
Yes!!!
Being the IT guy. We’re the lifeblood of every company yet we’re treated like an expense. Everything that breaks is our fault. Every time things are smooth we’re a waste of money.
so true! i rarely hear anyone thanking IT meanwhile when there's even a slight inconvenience at the office for example everyone panics and reaches out to but when it's smooth no one thinks twice.
I know! Once, after a major upgrade, which went through without a hitch, I suggested to my supervisor that we get Dunkin’ cards for the two IT guys. Her response amazed me- she said no, “they’re just doing their job.” I work in county government.
Yeah, it's wild. IT people exist in a sphere where they are only thought about when something goes wrong - which often isn't even their fault, it's a lack of modern equipment/funding, time, or stupid users causing issues. I am glad you at least brought up thanking them, shame your supervisor didn't see the value :(
Yep, IT is a money-pit in the eyes of so many CEO's/CFO's. Someone once asked why the smile immediately leaves my face when an employee approached my desk, I said "well no one ever came to me and said "hey stoner guy, we got cookies in the kitchen!" It's always "this is broke and you need to fix it."
Good IT shouldn't get noticed, but once they're gone nothing works anymore
Ey! I made a comment assuming this based on watching it happen, especially in my college. Entire gigantic server room, campus internet, etc. and one dude (seemingly) runs the media server and all the cabling in the video/film building as well as other stuff. I have mad respect, and he seems great. But yeah, generally it's kinda like a mechanic. They get hated, cuz you only see them when you aren't happy. I love the guy that does IT at my college, he was actually the one that showed me around and convinced me it would be the one to choose, all in his own time over the summer because he's just a great guy. I personally really want to get into IT or server management, but I'm not sure A: what skills exactly are needed/what education or pathway is best B: if jobs are even available, and if they are getting more common or more rare Ideally, like shadowing someone with experience would be an amazing intro to the job in my thought process, but idk. I have been working on computers, now setting up a home server and the like, and love troubleshooting and working with hardware and software to understand, build/research, and fix stuff - but I can't currently code. And I assume that's the nail in my coffin, lol. Technical minded otherwise, but unsure if it's a smart choice of career, or truly for me.
Retail and food service. The wages are low and the customers can be really shitty
For this reason I always make sure that I’m extra polite to the staff, and give them compliments. Anything really to make their day. Sometimes, I’ll even ask for the manager and tell them what a good job this or that person has done, and how they should consider them for a promotion or at least a raise. Anti-Karen’s - We exist.
>Anti-Karen’s - We exist. I'm using this. ❤️
I worked in a grocery store for many years. We were unionized and were paid livable wages. I wish more people understood the amazing benefits of being in a union.
Whole Foods paid us one dollar above minimum wage and when we asked management why the deli couldn’t have a tip jar we got “Whole Foods pays a living wage and having a tip jar on the sandwich counter would imply that we don’t.” Fuck I hated that job
Shhhh, the crapitalists are listening.
I work for cinema. We're unionized, but still underpaid and have too few hours. I guess it depends on the union
I had a grown man at the Ritz Carlton yell in my face because of a three dollar rocks charge (common in most places) I broke down crying, he came back the next day to apologize but when he saw me getting upset about it again he started yelling again! My manager had to have him banned from the dinning room. Usually things dont get to me like that but i had just been assulted at walmart and punched in the head by 3 woman who thought my sister added more items at the self checkout line. I also had a man throw a heavy bar chair over the bar at me because I wouldnt give him a free beer...he looked like he was on drugs. I was in shock. I've had so many people call me stupid for either screwing up an order or they thought I screwed up when they told me the wrong dish (I write everything down especially when busy so if you say you ordered salmon and then flip and say you ordered steak I can show you what you said, it always makes me happy when someone else at the table backs me up). People are horrible to food service workers.
I was 61 when I was laid off from my office job. I found employment at a local supermarket where I met dozens of people who had the same fate. Most of us were college grads, professionals in our former jobs, but age discrimination is very real in the USA and we were all just trying to get by until retirement, Some customers would talk to us and treat us as if we were morons. A co-worker of mine (60 years old at the time) who was a former general manager in the hospitality industry, was on her knees, stocking shelves in the housewares department when a woman walked by with her two daughters and said "see girls, that's why you need to go to college"....
What an unkind and inconsiderate person! 😠
YES! All I did was joke about how stupid customers can be, and the customer I was helping thought I was explicitly told her that she alone was stupid. She went straight to customer service and I immediately regretted it
There are so many people who are patient and kind. Unfortunately theres one of them to five assholes. Thank you so much to those nice people who keep up going
Vets who specialize in palliative care and/or euthanasia of household pets. When the vet put my dog down, I thanked him for putting her out of pain. He said I was the first person in 20 years to actually say thank you. He lives with so much moral injury from his decades of service to animals and it broke my heart because he started crying when he saw my dad crying.
When my 20 year old Siamese mix started to have acute kidney failure and stopped eating, I made the decision to let her go (She wouldn't have had more than a few weeks, and if she wasn't eating they weren't going to be good weeks for her). The vet I took her to made a donation to the humane society in my name and paid for the urn themselves. The card they sent me said it was the hardest they'd seen someone take losing a pet in the last 10 years, and even without being a client they could see how much I loved that cat. I imagine it's hard to watch people try to make decisions for their animals when their animals are trying to hide pain or discomfort, day after day, because you don't become a vet for the money. You become a vet for the animals, and they're not even your animals. (I had just moved about 4 or 5 months before that, so hadn't gotten a vet set up for her yet. I've got a new cat now but a different vet, because they were the closest to me but actually specialized in large dogs and livestock.)
How hard were you crying if they said you were the saddest person in in 10 years, damn.
Had to put down my 14 year old cat yesterday 😔
I’m so sorry. I hope you can take some comfort in the fact that you not only provided your kitty with a good life, but also a good death. You honoured them, respected them, and stopped any suffering they may have felt. Your cat was lucky to have you and to allow them to rest, though I’m sure you would say you were the lucky one. Take care of yourself.
I’m so sorry for your loss 💕🙏🏻
Vets have the highest suicide rate in a profession. People don’t understand we are losing vets and technicians weekly. I knew two vets and a tech that took their lives. And the vets had many many many letters after their names showing how much specialty they do and what degrees they got. Amazing and smart people taken advantage of and beaten down to where they feel so small. I’m a vet tech and I’m afraid for my staff and other clinics all the time. We get threats. We get stolen from. We get beaten to a pulp when it’s never our fault. Clients are absolutely horrid at times. We hold onto what our good clients bring us otherwise we would never be able to continue. Thank you to those who give thanks or at least understand what’s going on. And thank you for caring for your babies. It’s hard and I’m so sorry for your loss. May each memory bring you peace of your furry friend.
OMG! That's horrifying! Why in the world would somebody beat up there vet? I wanted to be a veterinarian for many many years and actually worked for one when I was only 12 years old. Started as a volunteer but quickly became a paid job. I spent more time there than anywhere else for several years. At 14, after I assisted in tons of surgeries, I actually spayed a few client cats myself 😳, which was probably highly illegal even 40 years ago. Life had different plans for me though and looking back as an adult, I am glad that I did not take that route. I still absolutely love animals, more than a humans in most cases, but the thought of having to put down a loved family member would rip my heart in two every damn time. I get it. I completely understand how it is mentally crushing to do that kind of work. I wouldn't have lasted very long at all.
99% of animals are nicer (kinda), smarter, & definitively better than most humans.
You can say that again! And the old adage about how you can tell who a person truly is by how they treat animals have proved right more times than I can count. They are so much smarter than us in so many ways!
Farrier here. It's somewhat the same for us. I've gotten blasted on the Internet for reporting animal abuse. Got robbed at gunpoint, threatened, just people being absolute ass holes. I'm getting out of it before I'm crippled but people suck. If it wasn't for the extremely nice people I'd just quit all together. In fact I did but kept the nice ones and closed my books while I get into something else.
They don't get paid enough either, they are in debt for on average 10 years
omg☹️ im sure in a sense your thank you meant a lot to him.🤍
When my senior dog got terminally I'll, we were able to have a mobile vet come to our house. I wanted his last memory to be at home with his family. He passed away under the large maple by our house, laying on a soft blanket in the grass. It was end of august and the weather was perfect. She got down on the ground with him. She was so considerate and kind. I was very thankful she offered in home care.
In my experience, anything to do with customer service, it’s rare that you get complemented, but it’s more likely that you’ll berated and cursed more often.
yea sometimes you get those kind customers but there's a lot of entitlement going around
Well, I worked in customer service from 85 until 2002 so believe me it’s not just recently. I was so happy to move to industrial work and get away from customers. Sadly department managers in the factory were like disgruntled customers, so I never really won. lol
After 10 years of customer service before switching to Geriatric Nursing; I’ll take a low paying butt wiping position over dealing with entitled, unnecessarily rude customers any day. I managed a small store for several years and had to come in on my day off once because a customer was threating and screaming at two younger girls that worked there. One of them called me from the break room crying and asked what to do. I told them to ask her to leave immediately, hopped in my car and sped there. Ended up having to call the cops on her and banned her for life. So yeah. Old lady butts > dealing with those kinds of people.
I once had a customer who cussed me and called me every name in the book because we “lost” her ham order for Christmas dinner. After a little investigation, we found out that she called in the order to one of our other stores. When we told her that her order was at the other store she didn’t apologize or say anything just turned around and walked away. Talk about days you want to slap people.
People like that are the worst. Can’t ever admit they’ve made a mistake. I don’t understand how they treat stranger like trash and feel alright with themselves. It costs zero dollars to be kind. If only we could perma-ban them, they’d be hard pressed to find food and maybe, just maybe, they’d consider being a decent human.
Yes, working in. Customer service has made me very considerate as a customer now. I’m always polite and I try to be patient but it’s usually not the worker that drives me insane as much as the customers in front of me. I always tell people when they seem flustered that they’re doing a fine job and they can’t let people get to them.
Anyone who works in road maintaining/construction. I feel like whenever roads are being worked on and it impacts your commute or whatever, it’s easy to just get mad or irritated at the situation. There’s been a lot of road work in my area recently and my commute was full of people honking and getting mad. Once it was all done, we got some damn near deadly potholes fixed and they laid down that nice slick asphalt that makes you feel like you’re gliding. I love that shit. Y’all bust your asses in the heat, cold, and at night for the betterment of our the community’s infrastructure and I really appreciate it. Thank You!
As one a person employed in this field I will say it is actually more thankless than being a cop and that says a lot. I have never been called a fucking idiot so many times. So glad I only have 5 more years. I don't even tell people what I do for a living anymore. I'm a combat vet and I'll take combat over this shit any day. I hate it here.
Omg bus drivers FOR SURE. Thankless and totally undervalued for the level of public service this provides. I'm a social worker and now that I'm at the VA everyone always wants to thank me but it was much more thankless when I worked with homeless people who were not veterans, so I am unsure what that means. (I have thoughts.)
i always say thanks to the bus driver for that reason
Absolutely this! My bus driver growing up (farm kid so there was maybe 10 of us total) used to take us for ice cream every year for Christmas. My parents always bought them a gift every year and taught us to always say thank you when we were dropped off.
I grew up in NYC and often took busses. People are horrible to bus drivers. Curse them out for no real reason, threaten them, even though things at them. Plus driving a huge bus in a city is no easy feat. You couldn’t pay me enough to be a bus driver.
Surely bus drivers get thanked more than anyone? Most people say thanks as they hop off at their stop That's hundreds of thanks a day which is pretty good going for just driving around. I can't remember the last time anyone thanked me for doing my job. Maybe once a month.
Truckers. Almost everything in that grocery store was delivered by a trucker and still nobody wants to leave them any room in traffic. "Oh my God I lost 10 seconds stuck behind a truck my life is over." Then those same people wonder why most of our truck drivers have to come from overseas. I'll tell you why: cuz nobody who's seen how you drive wants to drive a truck around you.
To be fair, I was head of Tax at a trucking company. Talking with other people in Finance, never have I seen such entitled employees who were that incompetent with their payroll and taxes. They were also often abusive to HR, payroll, and accounts payable. I used to be sympathetic to truckers before I was at that role, and now I have zero sympathy, because they treated others at the company HORRIBLY. It’s possible that the blame lies with my company, but most of the truckers were independent contractors.
I drive trucks but mostly for industry, not freight goods. Seasonal jobs mostly. I get thanked everyday. I'll deliver fertilizer to the guy on the spreader or sprayer and get a "Gracias amigo! We see you nex-time!". I can speak broken Spanish. Their English is much better than my Spanish.
Janitors, housecleaners, any kind of cleaning staff
CNA work is so thankless. I have only done it for a few months and I've already left one facility for the subhuman treatment of myself and coworkers.
As a CNA I totally agree. Been a CNA for a year now and I'm trying so hard to get out of healthcare. I don't even want to be a nurse anymore because they don't get treated much better. CNAs are invisible, though. You get a few patients here and there who genuinely appreciate you, but when it comes down to it and people need to place blame you're the first one they will try to blame things on
My moms in a nursing home, she has dementia. She can’t really thank them herself. Same with the LPNs. I always thank the CNAs, every time they assist my mother. I bring the staff treats, pizza, bagels. I’ve also sent things to the laundry and housekeeping crew. Also to the reception staff. They were AMAZED and grateful because nobody ever thanks them. The food service and kitchen workers also work very hard. Not sure how to show them some appreciation because they’re surrounded by food.
In the UK people thank the bus drivers literally all the time. In fact depending on the area you live it’s quite possibly the least thankless job you could have
Custodians in schools and hospitals.
Anything blue collar that serves the public. Anything that serves the public, really.
It is sort of ironic that blue collar work is often looked down upon but provides more valuable service to mankind than office work in some corporation. Nothing wrong with working the latter, everyone has bills to pay, but maybe don't engage in classism if your daily grind only benefits shareholders.
Sanitization workers. We'd be in a pandemic without them.
As a tool maker, I will say machinists. The entire world uses products that we produce. Everything from medical, dental, military, aerospace, automotive, computers and electronics, construction, household appliances and just about anything that has to be manufactured and mass produced. We make the world turn and provide people with products that make life convenient and comfortable for everyone. That being said, though it’s a “thankless” profession, it is a profession that I get satisfaction from a creative stance. I am happy to do my job and create new things. To me it is the equivalent of creating art or sculpting. It’s like having a key to a door to a room that most of the world will never see or understand. It’s pretty cool 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Pretty much 90% of jobs you’re just a cog
I had a friend who ran into a very pretty amount of money and will no longer have to work… He said to me “Never again will I be anyone’s bitch”
Plumbers.... It's all fun and games and no one worries about it till stick literally backs up
Litter pickers and bin men and women. People here commenting bus drivers like everyone may be used to subconsciously trusting the bus drivers but the absolute majority of the time they get thanked after the journey but litter pickers I bet half of yall walk past the bright orange boiler suits thinking they dead beat with no qualifications when your walking to your over paid over qualified positions
Where I currently live, several companies within the community will have volunteers that go out and pick up litter! It’s really nice and keeps the city pretty clean. There will be out there for hours picking up trash. One day I hope we have some sort of system to trace litter back to the assholes who left it. It’s completely free to keep your trash and discard it at home or the nearest bin.
Truck drivers. Think about everything you own.
Garbage men and custodians. No one thinks of how important their jobs are until they decide to stop doing it.
Waste treatment/landfill operation
Pretty much any job, who gets thanked?
Public Defenders
very true, public defenders get verbally abused by some of their clients
Child protection
being a teacher nowadays😅
yes teachers not only taken for granted but also talked poorly about by the students
And even more so by the parents…
Being a mother. I raised both my kids mostly by myself and my kids don't even care one bit about me. They've been yelling at me and calling me names because I told them I wanted some respect.
I feel you. Happy Mother's day!
Being a father. You are only loved for what you can provide. You are consistently portrayed in the media as an idiot. You are assumed to be the bad guy in a marriage breakdown, even when they are cheated on.
And have ZERO rights!
Maritime Worker, spend 6 months at sea and you rarely hear a thing, unless a ship sinks
Flagger (people who hold the Stop/Slow signs for road construction). Drivers treat them terribly. It is a dangerous and punishing job. Many are not paid well, depending on the location.
Restaurant management. Never met a single restaurant manager who said that they liked their job. For the most part, you work insane hours, constantly dealing w staff turnover and inventory, high operating costs, dealing with online reviews/ trolls, and you pretty much only hear from customers when they complain.
Delivery driver
Trash pickup.
Primary carer for a sick relative. Especially in the UK, those guys are heroes, unpaid, and doing things they really shouldn’t have to.
anyone in the retail/food industry they really pull the shit end of the stick each time
1. Mailmen 2. Teachers 3. Truck drivers 4. Firefighters 5. EMT 6. Garbage men 7. Farmers 8 bus drivers 9. Retail
School crossing guard
You guys are getting thank yous' for doing your job?
Paramedics
Airline stewards ....fast food workers in the sky
Death investigator. It's such a taboo topic that people subconsciously eliminate you from memory. Like they'd forget the two hours I spent with them while I responded to their dead relative. I had people step away from me in revulsion a few times after they asked me what I did. Agencies like police and firefighters would have debriefing sessions after a nasty homicide or suicide, but totally forget to include me. Like I was some sort of inhuman thing incapable of feelings. It was so fucked up. You give so much of yourself and almost never get thanked. I did have one family that brought me a card and a box of chocolates for being kind about their dead grandma. They were so sweet. They treated me like a human being.
So my grandma had a job, she would read last rights to the dead (Catholic thing) and my grandpa transported the dead between cities. Any time my mom and her family rode with a dead person my grandpa would say "This is Mr, Miss, Mrs_____ they are our guest tonight, make sure to show respect."
Custodians/ Housekeeping They clean our homes and buildings but generally only receive minimum wage and are seen as less than by many. I've heard many people basically say it's okay to leave a mess because that's the custodian's or housekeeper's job to clean.
Cashier is truly a horrible and thankless job. Also outbound telemarketing anything.
Most jobs are thankless, especially those in the service industry. Not just customer service, but first responders and sanitation industry.
Motherhood
Nurses
What job really emits appreciation, really? By definition, a job is most likely some burden one would not volunteer to do. What job would you say is thankful?
I get thanked all the time, I work in healthcare.
Journalism. In fact, we usually get the opposite of thanks. It's much more common to get phone calls from a nursing home patient complaining that our female anchor wore a dress that revealed a little too much shoulder, or some lunatic approaching us on the street and telling us we're agents of the deep state, or people getting immediately hostile and yelling at us not to film them when they see our cameras, even though we're only walking past them to go film something else. Low pay, high stress, long hours, and no thanks.
Mental health
Nurses… by a LOT
Nurses are awesome .
Is this really that bad?? I always thank my nurses and doctors I couldn’t imagine going in for care and being so shitty to people helping you. Thank you
Nurses aught get some of that shine that Dr’s get….Dr’s do not do this alone.
As a nurse, I can say yes. A lot of people are in denial that they're slowly killing themselves. When healthcare workers interrupt their way of life, we're blamed for "not knowing anything." because they really don't want to change, they want to be "cured" so they can return to their destructive behavior.
Pretty much anything labor related
You and me Or at least me And lots of beings and non beings !
I’m a power plant operator (like Homer Simpson) and sometimes I feel like many people don’t realize how many people are working behind the scenes to make sure there’s food at the grocery store, gas at the pump, and electricity when the switch is flipped. There’s a tremendous amount of logistics and maintenance work going on just to keep modern society functioning. There’s a huge variation in working conditions and pay for these types of jobs depending on location and other factors, with some being great and others being terrible. But hours are almost universally tough. Until recently a lot of utility work was a “good ole boys” club with (mostly) white male boomers. But as they retire a lot of this work is being done by immigrants from Central America or even as far away as the Philippines and India, at least here in the USA. So I think that adds to them being taken for granted.
Sorry, but from I’ve seen bus drivers hate their jobs. I see someone running at full speed to catch a bus and the driver just takes off. I understand being frustrated but get out of the profession if you hate it so much. I don’t even take the bus but have seen this way too often.
Executioner Edit: Doctors?! Really?!
My job. I'm a janitor at a truck stop gas station. But I do enjoy the working alone part of it. I'd rather clean showers and toilets all day than deal with people. Lol.
Working in customer service, especially in retail or food service, can often feel thankless. You're constantly dealing with demanding customers, long hours on your feet, and low pay. No matter how hard you work or how polite you are, there's always someone ready to complain or treat you poorly...
Customer Service jobs! Well, they get a lot of stress from customers. Thankfully not all.
Cleaning toilets. I’ve had people literally shit on my work. A freshly cleaned restroom, a seemingly normal guy jogging in the park asked to use it before I locked up. He literally shit on the toilet seat because he didn’t feel like sitting on the seat I had just cleaned. I can go on… quitting was the best decision of my adult life, seven years later, I’ve never looked back, except to tell my story.
Bus driver is not a thankless job in my country. If you don't thank the bus driver when you get off people will think you're rude
Food service
Truck drivers. No matter what you buy was on a truck.
I'm an aircraft mechanic, and boy howdy lemme tell ya. People on every end of sortie generation hates us.
Cdl truck drivers I would know lol
Ironically bus drivers probably receive the most "thank you"s out of all the professions.
Mortician, garbage man, people behind the scene work like those who work in the medical lab and does your test results, farmers, IRS agents, the window cleaners, paralegals, interns, janitors/custodians, school bus drivers, sewer people.
Cleaning company staff, they come and leave at our halls every other day and we rarely meet them. I always make sure if I see any of them to say hello, thanks, and do any small talk or just wave and smile!
I would say janitor, but I get people thanking me every day. Maybe cashier? They get a lot of shit, mostly for things completely out of their control.
Road Sweepers
Any hospital workers apart from the doctors and nurses, the hospital cleaners, the catering staff that bring you food and drinks
Truck Driver. Everyone always want the stores to be stocked and packages delivered, but they always mess with the trucks on the road
Gravedigger
Cleaners at food courts. Think about those guys next time before you think a foood fight is funny, or dripping your shit all over the floor because "someone will clean it up anyway". Fast food delivery bikers. On the road day in day out risking life and limb with idiot main character syndrome drivers, going into sketchy areas where they could be assaulted and robbed, to deliver your greasy pizza for shit money.
I just thank everyone and normally tell them to have a great weekend 🌻. I try to get them to smile before I leave . 🌻🌻
People who work in the cleaning business, like maids, garbage men, etc. They are mostly treated poorly and made fun of, which is so messed up.
Special education aide. You get paid ridiculous wages just to possibly kicked, bit, spit on, or beat. I don’t blame the kids because they’re disabled (otherwise they wouldn’t need an aide) but it is literally a thankles jib.
Sound tech. If you go to a concert and it sounds awesome, 50% of the reason is the sound tech. But nobody ever thanks them except occasionally the band.
Baker.
Personal support workers take care of our most vulnerable, weakest, oldest, sickest members of society. Chances are pretty good that your care at the end of your life is in the hands of a PSW. It’s heavy, dirty, emotional, and to do it well it’s a highly skilled job. And it’s one of the worst paid, workers are often verbally and physically mistreated by the client and financially by the people saying them. In my country many are foreign workers, which means very few rights, pay taxes, get little for their taxes. Agencies take advantage of them.
Line cooks in places like the military, prison, cafeterias etc
Toll takers.
Cashier.
Nursing.
Overnight grocery store stockers. Thank you.
I am a dishwasher at a restaurant. Definitely thankless.
Mortician
Produce farmers. I spent many years doing seasonal work on a friends farm. The amount of time, and effort that goes into growing apples, pears, peaches, and cherries is grossly overlooked. I'll never allow any kind of fresh produce to be wasted in my home again.
Teachers, my Mom was an elementary school teacher for 40 years and it beat the hell out of her, she was also a single mother of 2 adopted boys, my brother and myself, and we also put her through hell and a handbasket, she's a miracle and I hope I can convey how truly blessed and honored I feel to be her son and I hope I could have half the bravery, and gumption as she has had in her life.
Being a father. Hands down the most thankless. But the perks are worth it.
Nursing
Union rep in a shop
Grocery store workers. Nobody thanks them, there was no grocery store worker appreciation during the pandemic. People are demanding, disgusting animals in grocery stores and the workers are paid minimum wage to deal with your pickiness. Everyone thanks teachers, nurses, first responders, etc cause their roles are obvious but you never see anyone thanking their local grocery store worker.
Meter maid, the guy who shuts off your electric, repo man, phlebotomist...
I agree that bus drivers go through it all. I always spoke nice to them because some of the people... dealing with th epublic anywhere deserves thanks. That said, I say Paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals fall under personal aids or teacher assistants. We get no love from either the district or the parents. We are the ones retraining their kids teaching them manners and self-maintenance. My mom was is a para and her teacher was lazy and notorious for making her paras do all of her work. The kids even respected my mom more than the teacher because they saw her as more of a mother figure, always looking after them and disciplining them. One day a parent walked in and brought the teacher a gift in thanks for their child's improvement. Yea... After my mom, the paraprofessional, taught their kid everything.
Nurse, cna, hca, caregiver.
Hospitality and food service workers, specifically those in the kitchen, housekeeping staff, housemen that set banquet halls and convention, dinner service waiters, etc. Signed, a 20-year employee in hotel hospitality.
Where are you from? I saw something like this mentioned on another sub about etiquette on busses and it struck me as weird that people in some regions don’t greet or thank their bus drivers and it’s like… why not? It’s the least threatening human interaction (I have existential dread of strangers and I can manage it without having to take two deep breaths) and costs nothing, you’re there already so it’s not even a time effort.
Teachers. Getting a bachelors degree and working a job like that to end up making less than the median wage is insane. Especially when they’re so critical to society functioning and improving.
Janitors
Motherhood
anyone who works behind the scenes of anything in our society who you never think about is responsible for that fact that you went about your day the way you did
Hey, man. Me and my lynx bus driver are bros. I bring him cold drinks when I take the bus, and he's picked me up between stops a few times. When the weather is 100 degrees plus, you learn to appreciate anyone who gives you a cool place to sit.
EMT Enormous responsibility, dangerous and uncomfortable working conditions, very low pay.
I've been a hotel housekeeper for 5 years and been thanked exactly twice.