Every job has its bad days, and every profession has people who can be kind, stressed, generous, or downright unpleasant depending on the moment. Of course, being “mean” is usually about pressure, burnout, or personality, not always the job itself. That said, some professions seem to attract, create, or reward behavior that comes off a little harsher than average. Whether it’s long hours, constant conflict, or having power over others, certain roles can bring out sharper edges more often.
Recently, redditor CRK_76 sparked a conversation by asking a simple question: “What profession has the meanest people?” Curious to see which jobs had earned that reputation, and, of course, people were quick to weigh in with the careers they thought deserved the title.
Below are the top-voted and most often repeated professions commentors thought have the meanest people:
1. “Hospital billing and admin.”
“No joke when we had my son the billing admin came to my room dressed like she was going to church. She had on full pearls and a goddamn cape. Like, you’re the lady that is telling people what their astronomical bill is going to be and that is the outfit you choose to send the message?
She also complained that people yelled at her for stealing her money a lot. I wonder why.”
“Impound lots, towing companies.”
“One of the nicest people I know almost physically fought a cashier at an impound lot on my behalf. We went there to pick up my car and were told that I had to pay in cash, so we left to get cash. Upon return, she told us that in addition to cash, it had to be EXACT CHANGE ONLY… Why couldn’t she tell us that in the first place? She just had the nastiest attitude and clearly hated her job.”
3. “Sales. It’s full of two-faced, backstabbing pricks who will screw anyone over (including their best friends and family) if it means they’ll make a quick buck. I got out of it and made a career change to marketing/media a few years ago, but I still have to deal with salespeople, and their behavior disgusts me. Then I’ll wonder, Was I ever that bad? My inner voice will then answer, ‘If you have to ask, then your answer is yes.'”
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4. “Lots of very slimy people in the antique/vintage world. Like 50% of the people are nice folks who have an appreciation for old stuff, but the other 50% are scum bags who are looking to take advantage of anyone they can. People will funeral track so they can get a jump on dead people’s stuff.”
5. “Car rental desk person. Ouch!”
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6. “I’m a nurse, and I swear to God, some surgeons are fucking psychopaths.”
7. “Software Engineering. Imagine every person you ever saw bullied in high school getting a bachelor’s degree and deciding they’re going to bully everyone else now, with their entire identity being: ‘I’m smarter than you because I’m a developer.’ Every single team I have worked on has at a minimum one narcissistic developer torturing the rest of the team. They’re some of the most insecure, rudest, and most insufferable people to deal with. That being said, there are many nice people in software engineering. It’s not everyone. BUT IT’S A LOT OF THEM.”
8. “Roofers, there are some nice ones. I like to consider myself nice, but there are some very nasty people in my trade.”
9. “Nurses. I fucking hate nurses. I’m a nurse.”
10. “MDs in academia are pretty up there. I worked at a university hospital for around 10 years, loved the work, but the way people behaved around each other made me think that I can’t stay there forever since I didn’t want to turn into that kind of person.”
11. “Insurance claims. I left healthcare and briefly worked in this field, and honestly, it was disgusting to see how much shit these people talked about you after they hung up the phone with you. Not only that, half of them could give a fuck less about you, your car, or even if someone died. Two people that I know, one a family member by marriage, and two, someone who was a friend that is now not a friend of mine anymore, both work for insurance, and they have shown me that they are incredibly cruel and coldhearted people.”
12. And lastly, “The ‘son’ in any business named ‘[blank] and Son’s.’ SOB was given not only a job, but a business, and is still a miserable f-ck.”
“I interacted with the “& Son” once. The father had passed away, but I had dealt with him, too. Father was reasonable enough, but the son acted like he built the business from the ground up instead of it being handed to him by his dad.”
Source – https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/professions-with-the-meanest-people