# Secrets You Know Because Of Your Job **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2014, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829 "2014-12-10T07:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/101 "2014-12-19T00:01:52Z")
> [@missred](#): > > I know that many of your entrees and sides in chain (and sometimes other) casual dining establishments are glorified TV dinners. Honestly, this isn’t a secret. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/102 "2014-12-20T01:46:15Z")
I used to know how much Victoria Principal, Larry Hagman, and all the rest were paid to act on _Dallas_. I was working on budget tracking systems at Lorimar Telepictures. The agreement of confidentiality has long since expired, but I don’t remember any of it, or imagine that anyone cares enough to know. For sure Larry Hagman doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/103 "2014-12-20T06:30:10Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The poor parts of America look a lot like the third world. When people say this I am almost certain they have never seen the real Third World. If in spite of actually having been there, they still say any part of America looks like the Third World, then they are saying it to make a social or political point. In fact, it is a point that I find a good deal of merit in, but it still doesn’t support the assertion. The poorest section of any U.S. city is orders of magnitude better, in material quality life, than the poor sections of Mumbai, Sao Paolo, or Karachi. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/104 "2014-12-20T08:00:40Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The poor parts of America look a lot like the third world. I have never seen anywhere in America that look as bad as the poor parts of Manila, and I seriously doubt that you have either. [![](http://nomadicalsabbatical.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Manila-Slums.jpg) ](http://nomadicalsabbatical.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Manila-Slums.jpg) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nQ_ogmgFDfg/maxresdefault.jpg "Manila's Smokey Mountain Slum") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ_ogmgFDfg) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/105 "2014-12-20T14:50:13Z")
I made cell phones for almost 15 years. I knew what devices were coming out long before the leaks. And lots of obscure things about them. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/106 "2014-12-20T16:03:02Z")
I know what really goes on during unconventional hydraulic fracturing activities (specific to the region I work in - it’s different everywhere) and unconventional drilling. I am involved in, support or manage the potential and actual environmental impacts. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/107 "2014-12-20T20:20:51Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > The poorest section of any U.S. city is orders of magnitude better, in material quality life, than the poor sections of Mumbai, Sao Paolo, or Karachi. The poorest rural sections are appalling. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/108 "2014-12-20T22:57:27Z")
> [@Lucretia](#): > > If your surgery is abdominal in nature, I have to clean, or ‘prep’ your abdomen, and I have specially designed q-tips to clean out your belly button. If it’s nasty, I will judge you, and tell the whole OR team that you have a nasty belly button. Given that the only non-dental surgery I’ve ever had was for an umbilical hernia, I certainly _hope_ somebody cleaned that thing out! And I don’t particularly care what anybody thought about it 😛 > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That was also true for me when I was actively working as a pharmacist. > > My dad would sometimes ask me, “So, are there any interesting patients in the hospital?” and I would usually reply, “Sure! Can’t tell you about them, however.” Once in a while, there would be a patient I could mention because I found out about it outside the hospital - the 2-year-old in hospice (read about it in the newspaper), the mayor had prostate cancer (it was on the news), that kind of thing. I work in a retirement/assisted living facility (as a cook), and just ran into a situation that I mean to ask a manager about. A couple weeks ago, a new resident moved in. She’s a lady who has attended the same church with me for the last 19-20 years. She hadn’t been living here for a week when she had a heart attack (or something, I’m not quite clear) and is now in the ICU at the local hospital. My first inclination, when I heard this, was to call my church and let them know, so that they could get her on the prayer chain. But I didn’t because, as far as I know, my doing so would be some kind of “breach of privacy”, and could get both me and my employer in trouble should her family complain about it. In any case, her son and grandchildren regularly came to church with her, so it’s probably safe to assume that the son let the church know. > [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > From working at many libraries, I have learned that often the most straitlaced and moralistic individuals (think ministers and priests) will check out and presumably read the most sexually oriented material (ancient and modern) available. How else can they properly know what to preach against? ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/109 "2014-12-21T01:55:14Z")
I’m a doctor. A lot of people tell me things about their lives that they don’t want generally known. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/110 "2014-12-21T03:52:10Z")
I once worked for a person who was a partner at a large law firm who was on the recruitment committee. I got to see the supersecret list of which law schools we could recruit from, and how deep. Not what you’d think! For instance at one supposedly highly prestigious law firm they would look at applicants who were in the top 3%, while at a couple of much less well known ones they would go as low as top 10%. And if the applicant was in certain desirable demographics for the purposes of diversity you could go a little lower–these were also not what you’d expect. (A distinct shortage of Native Americans for instance.) This was highly guarded information at the time. Things have really changed since then, the firm has a different name, and the desirable categories are probably also different, but at the time it was a fun thing to know. I also had access to…well, no. I still can’t reveal that one. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/111 "2014-12-21T04:11:06Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I used to see some very interesting Medicare claims, when they would come in for payment review. Think the show “Sex Sent Me to the ER”. One involved a guy dressed as a superhero, jumping off a dresser and hitting a ceiling fan. Did he at least fall with style? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Dracula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/54ee81/32.png) [@Count\_Dracula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Dracula)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/112 "2014-12-21T04:16:57Z")
I happen to have the “real” Santa Claus e-mail address. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/113 "2014-12-21T05:58:46Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > Alright. Here’s one. It even has the added benefit of actually being true. > > There are no alien bodies stored in the basement of the Pentagon. Not one. > > _Massive Disappointment_ Basement, OK. What about the lab tens of stories below the surface? ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/114 "2014-12-21T13:45:19Z")
Once I got my first professoring job, I was dead excited because at last I would find out if it were true: if your uni roommate commits suicide, do you get an automatic 4.0? (the big rumour on campus when I was an undergrad). ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/115 "2014-12-21T13:55:41Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Stuff that get’s well cooked afterwards, gloves not needed except for desired protection. Some people will use gloves when handling frozen product, but otherwise, yes. There’s no way you can shape a loaf of bread while wearing gloves. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/116 "2014-12-21T14:03:19Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > The gasoline you buy at a gas station probably wasn’t refined at that company’s refineries. > > Discount gas stations may very well be selling gasoline refined by major company refineries, even if that discount gas station company has its own refineries. > > (Reason: most gasoline is shipped via pipeline. In order to get a better shipping rate, most gasoline is shipped “common code”. Common Code means, I’ll give you X gallons of unleaded at pipeline start and will pick up X gallons of unleaded at pipeline end. It doesn’t matter if it’s the same unleaded gasoline I gave you. To be fancy, gasoline is considered a fungible product. > > Some odd occurrences of common code shipping: In some cases, the shipper may actually pick up the gasoline at the pipeline end BEFORE they’ve given it to the pipeline company at the pipeline start!) A friend up in Maine was telling us that there’s a pipeline that loops from Portland up to Montreal and over to Saint John NB. Crude oil is unloaded at Portland and goes up to Montreal for refining. It then goes back to the Irving Oil depot in Saint John where the tankers fill up and then deliver it to Boston and points south. The depot near me is split into three – one part is for home heating oil, one I presume is for discount gasoline (I’ve never seen a name brand tanker truck there), and the third is attached to a company which refines oil products for use in different manufacturing applications. Everything is stored in tanks and connected by different pipelines. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Medlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/117 "2014-12-21T14:43:38Z")
When I was a mailman I knew who was having an affair, who was (privately) gay, who had fertility problems, other medical issues, financial problems. I knew about peoples’ drug habits, porn habits, and alcohol problems. I knew who sold naked pictures of themselves to finance nice vacations. It was like being a priest or a bartender. People confided in me, and it never went any farther. ---
**Author:** ![RingsOfPylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3da27b/32.png) [@RingsOfPylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RingsOfPylon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/118 "2014-12-21T15:10:56Z")
I’ve worked for various government agencies from both the inside and the outside. It is nothing short of amazing that many government departments haven’t imploded from incompetency, let alone kept their external damage to a minimum. No normal business would be able to get away with some of the things that government agencies do. It is like walking into a completely different world, where laws of physics and economics and propriety no longer apply. Truly, it is the definition of insanity. If I relayed some of the typical stories, you wouldn’t believe them. Heck, I wouldn’t have believed them if someone else told me about them. These are the types of goings-on that never reach the news. Even after all these years and knowing what to expect, it still leaves me muttering to myself and wondering if it’s just me - maybe I’m the crazy one and they’re normal (shudders). Thankfully, I’ve also had the advantage of working for various businesses - large to small - so I have some grounding into well-run and rational operations, along with conscientious employers and employees. Not to make it all sound bad, I’ve learned to surrender to it and just appreciate the humor and irony in the craziness. Much of it is actually quite humorous if you don’t mind forgetting that you are often over-paying for it. Comedy is not cheap, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/119 "2014-12-21T16:30:59Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Honestly, this isn’t a secret. Yeah, but I knew which ones. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829/120 "2014-12-21T16:44:31Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > The poorest section of any U.S. city is orders of magnitude better, in material quality life, than the poor sections of Mumbai, Sao Paolo, or Karachi. Having been to these cities and many US cities, the I can say that is palpably untrue. Maybe the reason is that poverty in the US is mostly an urban phenomena, while in Third World, the poverty is in rural areas. And its bloody awful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secrets-you-know-because-of-your-job/706829.md?page=7)