Ok, here’s the deal. You post what job it is you currently have (or used to have, if you think it’ll be more interesting ;)). You pick one thing that “everyone knows” about your job, and say how true it is (so for example, it’s a popular conception thanks to the CSIs and the like that DNA testing labs can get you results within the hour - in this case, a misconception). And you add one more thing that most people do not know about your job, but that you think we’d find interesting.
I’d start it off but i’m unemployed at the mo. This is less of a game and more a just general minor ignorance fighting/information spreading thing, but I think it could be interesting.
Everyone “knows” that the travel is glamorous - platinum status on airlines, hotels, etc. - and that you get paid a TON of money. Reality is that I just get to spend more time in airports dealing with flight delays, stay at hotels more than I sleep in my own (more comfortable) bed, and work more a LOT hours than the 8-5 people that are generally my clients for probably less pay.
I used to have a job testing explosives and munitions. Everybody knows that I just blew shit up all day. In reality, It took about two or three weeks of construction (not counting all the design work) to set up a test series, and between one day and a full week to clean up the range after a test. Sometimes the cleanup was even longer after a test series.
Regardless, the job was still exciting, and I’d still be working there if they paid more. As soon as I’m done with school, I’m going to go back to something similar, for sure.
I am an insurance agent. Everyone “knows” that insurance agents push you to buy coverage you don’t need because they work on commission.
In reality the majority of agents don’t earn commission at all and just want you to be properly protected so that you don’t get blindsided by a check that is 30% less than what you expected when your house burns down.
I am a recruiter for the US Army. Everyone “knows” that I lie to people to get them to join.
In reality, people lie to me about their law violations, medical issues, and dependents. I know of no successful recruiters who lie to their applicants.
I am an English professor. Everybody knows that I go around correcting people’s grammar.
In reality, the more training people have in my field, the less likely they are to perceive mechanical correctness as the sole or the main criterion that defines good writing. English professors spend less time marking sentence-level errors than professors in other disciplines. English professors who specialize in rhetoric and composition spend less time marking such errors than literature professors. We’re too busy trying to teach argument, analysis, evidence, organization, and citation, and the rhet-comp people are armed with a bunch of studies showing that explicit grammar instruction doesn’t actually improve student writing, although I’m somewhat skeptical about this point.