# What is obvious in your profession that others may not know? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290 "2019-08-27T02:45:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/41 "2019-08-27T15:23:11Z")
In almost all cases, you’re gonna want an M30 at the end, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/42 "2019-08-27T15:27:04Z")
That the actual physical/tangible results of our department’s productivity, that is, the actual reason we’re there seems largely just a coincidence and byproduct to local management, whose greater concern are basically “the numbers” as a metric that measure and track said output. Upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/43 "2019-08-27T15:32:33Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > What that’s not is Pharma-specific… This: > [@](#): > > Here’s an EU-specific bonus, which actually came up in conversation on Sunday. The manufacturer stated on a pack of medicine isn’t necessarily the company which manufactured the medicine I think it’s surprising for a medicine. The people I was talking to on Sunday were certainly surprised. > [@](#): > > What is obvious in your profession that others may not know? So I think I’m on topic. j ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/44 "2019-08-27T15:42:34Z")
Cashiers do not set store policy, but we have to follow it. We are being recorded at the register at all times, with a close up camera for the register’s till. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/45 "2019-08-27T15:46:23Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > That not all professors are lefty liberals and the vast majority us couldn’t care less about our students politics. Also, we work during the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/46 "2019-08-27T15:46:33Z")
If almost every case, if a lawsuit is brought against an individual, it is because that person has insurance. That little old lady at the defense table during trial isn’t going to be bankrupted by a fair award for the plaintiff. She has insurance. Jurors are not supposed to know that, but they should. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/47 "2019-08-27T16:00:47Z")
Your child’s school teachers know, possibly better than you do, how your child acts when you aren’t around. That’s why they roll their eyes when you begin a statement with “My child would NEVER…” ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/48 "2019-08-27T16:18:33Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > That “administrators” at a college is a pay classification (non-faculty and salaried). These include people in IT, Financial Aid, Student Life, Admissions, Athletics, Annual Fund, Business Services, HR, Library, and Public Safety. > > Yet people still complain about how schools have so many administrators. Interesting. I always thought that someone in administration at a university meant that they were the dean, vice president or president of some department or another or the support staff who work directly under those individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/49 "2019-08-27T16:25:47Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I think it’s surprising for a medicine. The people I was talking to on Sunday were certainly surprised. Yeah, but what I mean is that people are surprised about that in every manufacturing field. It’s not something people don’t expect about Pharma specifically, it’s something people don’t expect about manufacturing in general. The reputations on which people are often basing their choices often have more to do with marketing than with actual specs or actual processing guarantees. People are terribly surprised when you make them read the small letter in a package of frozen peas and it says “imported into the EU by ES-12345678-B” or “manufactured in Italy by JH-48766897” too, and in a lot of fields we don’t even get that information. Pharma often doesn’t have better processes and procedures than other fields, but worse ones. Pharma regulations have historically being reactive and their application is notorious for focusing almost completely on getting the form right. And that certainly is something which does surprise people about Pharma manufacturing. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/50 "2019-08-27T16:26:08Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > You cannot just “blow up” a small GIF of your logo to make a larger, useable version of your logo. And don’t ask me to make the type in your logo “user-editable,” so you can change it at will. Nobody but the designer (me) should be able to edit your logo. That’s why I convert the type to outlines. If you want changes in your logo, tell me and I’ll do it for you. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/51 "2019-08-27T16:27:07Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > While your doctor/nurse practitioner may truly have your medical best interest as their first priority, the health care delivery system they work for/with has their own continued financial success as their first priority. To go along with this, most doctors are not rich. For the most part doctors make enough money to be in the upper middle class. Doctors also tend to work 8-10 hour days (or longer) 5 or 6 days a week. If you see someone out on the golf course, sailing their yacht, or drinking at a fancy bar at 2 PM every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday that person is probably not a doctor. In other words, the high cost of health care in the US is not due to doctors making huge salaries. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/52 "2019-08-27T16:29:22Z")
1. Health _insurance_ is not health _care_. 2. Yes, you are covered if you don’t have your card. The card isn’t magical, it’s just convenient. 3. We hate this system too. Anyone who argues otherwise is unduly profiting from the American health insurance system, or they don’t understand it at all. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/53 "2019-08-27T17:24:10Z")
When working on a GUI interface, things that look simple to do visually can be very complex to implement. So a “simple” change might actually take days to complete. Making a website work and designing a usable website are two different skills and most people are not skilled at both. If only one person is doing the work it is a toss-up which will take the most time //i\ ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/54 "2019-08-27T17:39:18Z")
> [@icon](#): > > When working on a GUI interface, things that look simple to do visually can be very complex to implement. So a “simple” change might actually take days to complete. > > Making a website work and designing a usable website are two different skills and most people are not skilled at both. If only one person is doing the work it is a toss-up which will take the most time > > //i\ As someone who professionally drives (engineering) processes and depends on online sites and tools (the below is not aimed at you, **icon** ): [ul] [li]If it takes you 40 hours to “fix” the UI but saves 20,000 engineers an hour a year each, do the math before you explain its more cost effective to roll it out as-is.[/li] [li]If the website requires training, you’ve failed the assignment. (Processes _do_ require training, websites implementing processes shouldn’t require additional training to start using them)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/55 "2019-08-27T17:50:06Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Doctors also tend to work 8-10 hour days (or longer) 5 or 6 days a week. And even I, a layman, know that they had to work damn long and hard to become a doctor in the first place. They’re one of those professions where, when you pay them for helping you, you’re paying them not only for the time and effort they give you directly, but also for the time and effort they put into gaining the skills and knowledge to be able to help you. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/56 "2019-08-27T18:03:27Z")
In many years as an doctor, I learned many things about people and patients. The sickest patients make the least noise. The patients who receive better care often complain the most. You can’t tell how people will react to stressful situations. Most people have remarkable levels of dignity and compassion. It is remarkable how well the “red flags” of drug seekers work, and kind of strange most adopt the same approach. People and doctors read way too much into tests and imaging. Instinct is really important. Good doctors may not be able to really explain why they are making the right decision, but they often do. A system which demands perfection regardless of limited resources, inadequate staffing and indifferent administration is a system which is broken. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/57 "2019-08-27T18:45:37Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > If almost every case, if a lawsuit is brought against an individual, it is because that person has insurance. That little old lady at the defense table during trial isn’t going to be bankrupted by a fair award for the plaintiff. She has insurance. Jurors are not supposed to know that, but they should. I have no idea if this is true or not, but many years ago I asked my insurance agent about an umbrella policy. He told me not to get one since people are more likely to sue, or sue for more, if they find out you have it. Where they may have sued for whatever the maximum is that your insurance would pay out, maybe $50k, now they know you’ve got another million they can try to get. Then when I switched to a new agent, I mentioned that and she said she’d never heard of it and suggested I DO get the umbrella, which I have now. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/58 "2019-08-27T19:15:36Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > In many years as an doctor, I learned many things about people and patients. > > The sickest patients make the least noise. > The patients who receive better care often complain the most. > You can’t tell how people will react to stressful situations. Most people have remarkable levels of dignity and compassion. > It is remarkable how well the “red flags” of drug seekers work, and kind of strange most adopt the same approach. > People and doctors read way too much into tests and imaging. > Instinct is really important. Good doctors may not be able to really explain why they are making the right decision, but they often do. > A system which demands perfection regardless of limited resources, inadequate staffing and indifferent administration is a system which is broken. Agreed, especially on the last point. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/59 "2019-08-27T20:13:39Z")
Yes, the design for my very large widgety thingy is done all on computer. While it takes only 5 minutes to move Tab A and Slot B a millimeter to the left, it will interrupt delivery of your very large widgety thing by six months or more as machine scripts need to change, raw material needs to be sourced, customs clearances resubmitted, metal fatigue testing rerun, etc, etc. That’s why we made you triple-pinky-swear six months ago that you really really wanted what you wanted, no take-backsies. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290/60 "2019-08-27T21:20:07Z")
Just because I plan my art work extensively on the computer, long before I actually start working on it, doesn’t mean the computer does the work FOR ME. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-obvious-in-your-profession-that-others-may-not-know/839290.md?page=4)