Scummiest Profession

nwadeicer · Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:09 am

As the title implies, what do you feel is the profession that makes you feel like you need to take a shower after saying it. I would definitely say being an ATTORNEY. You can't watch TV more than 5 minutes without seeing a commercial for "Has a pigeon shat on you?" Call Bob, "I will sue the S^#^ out of that pigeon" I can't travel a block without seeing an injury attorney billboard or an attorney's face plastered on a bus. The one that made me shake my head the most was one from Morgan & Morgan reference "has your child been bullied at school?" Seriously? So yes, being an attorney has to be the scummiest profession one could make a career in.

L-188 · Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:12 am

I think for a while we had a state represented that drove a septic truck when the legislature wasn't in session.

seb146 · Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:18 am

Fruit salesman is the oldest profession but the "scummiest" profession has to proctologist.

Max Q · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:17 am

I nominate car salesmen and Indian telemarketers.

B777LRF · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:23 am

Consultants, far and above, living the idea that you can borrow my watch and charge me money to tell me what the time is. Second place goes to journalists, a bunch of lazy incompetents who would rather make up a story that is bound to attract clicks, than doing proper research and broadcasting a fair and true story.

Insurance brokers, bankers and lawyers share the last place on the podium.

Francoflier · Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:16 am

The whole investment banking industry?...

Seriously though, there is an art to being a good salesman, but there are also those scumbags who will stop at nothing, including lying and taking advantage of the elderly or the mentally frail to make a sale.

aloges · Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:37 am

Lobbyist

Your work consists of sweet-talking, intimidating and bribing democratically elected representatives into acting against the interests of the people they represent just so the business(es) who hired you get a competitive advantage. Congratulations!

Airstud · Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:58 am

Quoting nwadeicer (Thread starter):

De-icers.

rabenschlag · Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:17 am

Quoting nwadeicer (Thread starter):

As the title implies, what do you feel is the profession that makes you feel like you need to take a shower after saying it. I would definitely say being an ATTORNEY. You can't watch TV more than 5 minutes without seeing a commercial for "Has a pigeon shat on you?" Call Bob, "I will sue the S^#^ out of that pigeon" I can't travel a block without seeing an injury attorney billboard or an attorney's face plastered on a bus. The one that made me shake my head the most was one from Morgan & Morgan reference "has your child been bullied at school?" Seriously? So yes, being an attorney has to be the scummiest profession one could make a career in.

This is culture specific. In Germany, attorneys are not allowed to advertise, and payment is also regulated. Also, liability laws are less lenient. No, attorneys are definitely not scummy in Germany.

I'd agree with Aloges and say lobbyists.

VapourTrails · Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:41 am

Quoting Max Q (Reply 3):
I nominate car salesmen and Indian telemarketers.

I think anything that has anything to do with toilets, or cleaning up other people's mess.

Max Q · Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:50 am

Quoting VapourTrails (Reply 9):
I think anything that has anything to do with toilets, or cleaning up other people's mess.

Those are honest, hard working people, car salesmen and Indian telemarketers are not fit to lick their boots.

melpax · Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:19 am

Quoting rabenschlag (Reply 8):
This is culture specific. In Germany, attorneys are not allowed to advertise, and payment is also regulated. Also, liability laws are less lenient. No, attorneys are definitely not scummy in Germany.

Advertising by lawyers & contingency fees were banned here for many years. Advertising here is not as sleazy as in the States, but you still have radio & TV lawyer ads that go with ' injured at work/been unfairly sacked/missed out on an inheritance/no win-no fee', etc.

Car accident compensation here is handled by the 3rd party insurance schemes run by the states - these are no-fault schemes, and payouts are limited by law, similar situation with workplace injuries. The lawyers still have their hands in the till though, offering to 'guide you through the process'.

Consultants are the real bottom-feeders in my opinion, charging millions to create havoc that they then get paid millions more to attempt to fix!

akiss20 · Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:43 am

Why all the hate on telemarketers? Obviously I hate being called as much as the next guy, but it's not like the people making the call have any power whatsoever over who they call or when. Direct your hate at the companies and their execs who make these decisions. The people on the other end of the line are just working a menial job.

VapourTrails · Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:55 am

..I may have misinterpreted the original post, but there is a saying, it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, that could be an apt description for any (part of) any job, or profession. As far as a lot of cleaning jobs go, I admire the people as I would anyone, that I met or interacted with, that came across as a decent human being, but ...it's a scummy job!

ElanusNotatus · Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:01 am

I am surprised that no one has said politician.

I never realised that these untrustworthy, back-stabbing, highly paid professional liars and hypocrites were held in higher regard than used car salesmen. After all, from the latter you actually get something, even if it is only a lemon. From the former all you get is deceit and disappointment.

VapourTrails · Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:11 am

Quoting ElanusNotatus (Reply 14):
I am surprised that no one has said politician.

I was tempted, but I restrained myself!

I am not overly keen on real estate agents, or I should say, the job of..

Letting agents / property managers would be a bit of a 'scummy' job to do perhaps..

ltbewr · Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:22 am

Political office holding. It is almost an universal that political officer holders are seen as criminals, liars, accept bribes, abuse their positions, beholden to special interests groups, usually corporations and the richest with some exceptions.

DarkSnowyNight · Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:33 am

Quoting nwadeicer (Thread starter):
I would definitely say being an ATTORNEY.

Those guys who make sure you have rights?

Quoting nwadeicer (Thread starter):
You can't watch TV more than 5 minutes without seeing a commercial for "Has a pigeon shat on you?" Call Bob, "I will sue the S^#^ out of that pigeon"

Have you ever actually sued someone before? I've been through this about a dozen times now (this happens when you have a scumbag/deadbeat ex-wife who doesn't know what Contract Law is or how Consent Orders work), and I can assure you it is nothing like as casual a process as this post suggests. Or cheap.

Most junk cases (which is probably what you're imagining) get either thrown out or just plain rejected by prospective attorneys. By the time your grievance gets heard, chances are the issue is already pretty out of hand and the time and headache to get it remedied are pretty substantial. So having representation that is capable of resolving at least some of that is actually a pretty great thing.

In any case, if it's casual litigation you hate, you're looking at the wrong people. It's your fellow citizens that are the problem. In those cases, (and really all of them), Civil Litigation Attorneys wouldn't have jobs if not for the general assholery of the public. Actually very much like cops that way...

Quoting Max Q (Reply 3):

I nominate car salesmen and Indian telemarketers.

Meh... I always think those guys are more sad and desperate than scummy. Although I do know a car salesman that's actually pretty cool.

Quoting francoflier (Reply 5):
The whole investment banking industry?...

I think we have our winner. Especially when you look at how they went right from the sub-prime housing loan busts to a new form of the same thing, selling outrageous interest rates on crapass used cars and installment loans. It's like the whole industry just pretended 2008 didn't happen or something, SMH.

Quoting ElanusNotatus (Reply 14):
I am surprised that no one has said politician.

Maybe you'd prefer the alternative?

Pyrex · Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:00 pm

Quoting aloges (Reply 6):
Your work consists of sweet-talking, intimidating and bribing democratically elected representatives into acting against the interests of the people they represent just so the business(es) who hired you get a competitive advantage

Or seen in another way... your work consists in protecting you from some extortionist politician that has way too much power and will pass a bill of attainder to destroy you and your entire industry if needed if you don't pay up. Do you also have vitriol against a shopkeeper that decides to pay up when Tony and Vinnie come around the shop with a baseball bat to collect their "insurance money" saying things like "Nice little shop you have here, would be a shame if something were to happen to it"? If you don't like the practice you should direct your hatred towards politicians and their ability to legally discriminate against companies / people, but that would be admitting that abuse of power by government is a serious issue, which is something I am sure you cannot bring yourself to admit.

Quoting DarkSnowyNight (Reply 17):
I think we have our winner.

I was going to say "I suspect you have no idea what the investment banking industry is, let alone the "whole" of it" but then I read the rest of your post and you confirmed it clearly, so no more suspicion required.

BestWestern · Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:25 pm

Fox News anchor is down there with the worst.

IMissPiedmont · Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:10 pm

I suggest preachers, lying to people as your job requirement is about as bad as it gets.

luckyone · Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:23 pm

Politician. Whores in suits.

flymia · Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:55 pm

Quoting nwadeicer (Thread starter):
I would definitely say being an ATTORNEY.

Everyone hates an attorney until they need one, sort of like how people hate the cops, but if someone is robbing them or threatening to kill them who do they call? The cops. If some drunk driver slammed into you, caused you a week of lost wages, ruined your car, injured you, who would you call? An attorney.

pvjin · Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:15 pm

Quoting flymia (Reply 22):

At least around here attorneys, judges and such earn ridiculous amounts for the amount of work they do, and the end results this useless legal system delivers aren't that good, a lot of sentences that totally defy logic and common sense of justice. I'm sure many of them are actually interested in doing their job properly, but some certainly aren't. I think it would be most healthy if the earnings in these professions were halved, the legal studies are currently totally overrated here simply due to the ridiculous salary people in that area of profession can earn.

casinterest · Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:24 pm

Politicians, Lobbyist , and Consultants all get my vote with the following adage.

"There is money to be made in solving a problem, but there is so much more money to be made by convincing people that the problem needs to be studied for more time or blame on something else".

bjcc · Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:52 pm

Lawyers!

Line them all up against a wall, and bang bang bang!

2 reasons,

1, they were the enemy when I was a Policeman. Although always good to argue a point of law with them and win!

2. Compensation Culture. A spoof Ad in the UK went something like this:

"Been injured by a trip or fall? Then look where you're bloody going!"

Oh and before shooting them I'd make them pay, not just for the round, but the gun and the wages of the fine upstanding member of society charged with dispatching them.

Adipasquale · Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:07 pm

When saying attorneys are scummy, you are being a bit broad. I definitely agree that personal injury attorneys (the ones who have all the billboards) are scummy, but that is only one type of practice. Many law offices do not advertise and are much more respectable. I work in an office that deals mostly with labor law and while I may be biased and many will disagree with me, I do not find labor law scummy. We represent for the most part unions and people who have been or are being taken advantage of by private corporations and the government.

Osubuckeyes · Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:20 pm

Any FIFA position under Sepp Blatter.

Payday/auto title loan salesmen/collector.

Anyone that works for a Traffic "safety" camera company.

wingman · Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:24 pm

Forum moderators..

and post goes bye bye in 3,2,1..

PhilBy · Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:30 pm

My vote goes to the Dunnakin-diver.

Edited for spelling correction.

[Edited 2015-06-30 09:32:22]

diverted · Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:34 pm

Anyone in politics or Wall Street. (Hard to tell the difference these days)

Ambulance Chasers (Tort Law)

Those whose professions appear to be just existing, maybe some headlines from a sex tape or two ala Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton.

How about pilots who are willing to fly for next to nothing? They've made regional flying a pretty scummy job.

StarAC17 · Tue Jun 30, 2015 5:00 pm

Human resources positions that do nothing else other that create unnecessary corporate bureaucracy that is created to justify their own jobs.

There is a need for HR especially in large companies but their presence in day to day operations should be minimal.

Quoting adipasquale (Reply 26):
I work in an office that deals mostly with labor law and while I may be biased and many will disagree with me, I do not find labor law scummy. We represent for the most part unions and people who have been or are being taken advantage of by private corporations and the government.

Good and reputable Law Firms along with other professional industries get most of their business from referrals and do minimal advertising.

Quoting diverted (Reply 30):
Those whose professions appear to be just existing, maybe some headlines from a sex tape or two ala Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton.

That is our fault, if you have the guilty pleasure of watching TMZ or those entertainment shows then that is what keeps those people alive. We don't pay attention then they disappear.

fallap · Tue Jun 30, 2015 5:13 pm

Pilots, a bunch of drunken suicidal computer operators :b

[Edited 2015-06-30 10:15:47]

sccutler · Tue Jun 30, 2015 5:40 pm

Quoting rabenschlag (Reply 8):
. In Germany, attorneys are not allowed to advertise

As it was in the United States, until the United States Supreme Court declared that attorney advertising was protected free speech. As a practicing lawyer, I am often ashamed and embarrassed at some of the advertising I see done by my colleagues in the bar.

Quoting ElanusNotatus (Reply 14):

I am surprised that no one has said politician.

I would agree, if we can modify the category to "career politician." These, along with the massive and mostly-unaccountable bureaucrat class which is the natural adjunct to a career politician, have as their greatest mission the perpetuation of discord, mistrust and conflict among members of the populace, in order to justify their continued exalted presence in positions of substantial power, prestige, leisure and compensation. They have become the new royalty.

Quoting DarkSnowyNight (Reply 17):
In any case, if it's casual litigation you hate, you're looking at the wrong people. It's your fellow citizens that are the problem.

This is certainly true; it is said that "there is a lawyer for every client"; this can be both good and the bad. There are plenty of lawyers who will assert pretty much any claim, but in most instances, it started with a client. There are, of course, exceptions; attorneys who evade ethical restrictions against barratry and maintenance, essentially creating causes of action where no true harm has occurred.

Quoting casinterest (Reply 24):

Politicians, Lobbyist , and Consultants all get my vote with the following adage.

"There is money to be made in solving a problem, but there is so much more money to be made by convincing people that the problem needs to be studied for more time or blame on something else".

In the past, I might have agreed, subscribing to the doctrine, "Those who can, do, and those who cannot, consult." I must admit, however, that having used the services of an exceptionally good consulting group, one which is narrowly-targeted at addressing issues in our business, a truly good consultant can help you drill through to problems, identify them, and cure them, and in the process, the money they charge is peanuts compared to the improvement to gain in efficiency and quality of life.

Quoting StarAC17 (Reply 31):
Good and reputable Law Firms along with other professional industries get most of their business from referrals and do minimal advertising.

This.

777way · Tue Jun 30, 2015 5:42 pm

Quoting akiss20 (Reply 12):

Why all the hate on telemarketers? Obviously I hate being called as much as the next guy, but it's not like the people making the call have any power whatsoever over who they call or when. Direct your hate at the companies and their execs who make these decisions. The people on the other end of the line are just working a menial job.

I think you are more distrubed by the fact India is being mentioned, had it been any other nationality you wouldnt have cared.

casinterest · Tue Jun 30, 2015 5:46 pm

Quoting sccutler (Reply 33):
In the past, I might have agreed, subscribing to the doctrine, "Those who can, do, and those who cannot, consult." I must admit, however, that having used the services of an exceptionally good consulting group, one which is narrowly-targeted at addressing issues in our business, a truly good consultant can help you drill through to problems, identify them, and cure them, and in the process, the money they charge is peanuts compared to the improvement to gain in efficiency and quality of life.

The truth of the matter is , all three fields do the same thing. They offer a service of knowledge and experience that you yourself could do, if you somehow had all the time and experience that they do

sccutler · Tue Jun 30, 2015 5:56 pm

Quoting casinterest (Reply 35):
The truth of the matter is , all three fields do the same thing. They offer a service of knowledge and experience that you yourself could do, if you somehow had all the time and experience that they do

In a nutshell - well said.

bjcc · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:08 pm

"When saying attorneys are scummy, you are being a bit broad. I definitely agree that personal injury attorneys (the ones who have all the billboards) are scummy, but that is only one type of practice. Many law offices do not advertise and are much more respectable."

Broad? No. All of them, there's only one good lawyer.....I'm sure you can work out what kind.

Trouble is, you may be right, and some might do the occasional bit of good. But, you know what they are like, let one live and they breed. Soon you'll be surrounded by them handing out litigation like there's no tomorrow. After years of peaceful TV, you'll be bombarded again!

...No, the risk is too great, it's best they are all exterminated.

diverted · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:09 pm

Forgot one...defense contractors, or anyone else involved in the military-industrial complex plaguing the USA and other countries.

bjcc · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:18 pm

"
Forgot one...defense contractors, or anyone else involved in the military-industrial complex plaguing the USA and other countries. "

Especially ones who are lawyers?

fallap · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:22 pm

Police officers, meter-maids, astronauts, submarine-captains, sewage-workers

[Edited 2015-06-30 11:25:17]

diverted · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:32 pm

Quoting bjcc (Reply 39):
"
Forgot one...defense contractors, or anyone else involved in the military-industrial complex plaguing the USA and other countries. "

Especially ones who are lawyers?

Well it was more towards things like, for example, the USS America. A ship built SPECIFICALLY for F-35B ops, which, you guessed it, can't handle an F-35B for fear of the deck melting. Rinse, repeat, ad nauseum for nearly every American military procurement that I can think of in recent memory. The fact that huge cost overruns are seemingly no big deal, all the while diverting funds away from the men and women serving.

Like the idea being tossed around recently to retire the USS George Washington halfway through its service life, because the Ford class is late and over budget and has catapults that can't launch an airplane!

Some call it "concurrency" others call it a farsical waste of money. Regardless, seems pretty scummy. Why do governments keep throwing money at Lockheed-Martin? Because of what Skunkworks did 50 years ago?

Or, how about Congress buying $120M worth of Abrams tanks that the Pentagon has repeatedly said they DO NOT WANT, so that Mike Turner (R-Ohio) could keep the line open as a make work program.

Anyways, it all seems pretty scummy to me.

Anyways, my post is getting off topic...I was just backing up my points.

sccutler · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:45 pm

Quoting bjcc (Reply 37):

...No, the risk is too great, it's best they are all exterminated.

Because, like, we can totally trust the government and every more-powerful entity to be fair and just, all the time.

pvjin · Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:55 pm

Quoting 777way (Reply 34):
I think you are more distrubed by the fact India is being mentioned, had it been any other nationality you wouldnt have cared.

Why, is he a person of Indian origin or something? Or is this about Pakistan - India relations?

777way · Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:53 pm

No India-Pakistan are not like Russia-Finland,we are like two sisters who dont get along then patch up then go all bitch on each other, then become freinds again and the cycle repeats itself.

As for poster he is more that likely Indian, but to defend something wrong is not right, had it been Pakistani telemarketeers being commented on I would never have popped in to defend them instead would have done a couple of paragraphs bitching about them, they disgust me and I'm sure its the same in India ad elsewhere in the region.

DIJKKIJK · Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:59 pm

Academic science is the worst thing one can do nowadays.

For the most part (active phrase) it is about pimping one's silly whims as the greatest scientific idea, politicking, kissing the backside of the person above and living off taxpayers money all in the name of 'leaving a legacy for future generations'.

For every scientist who does good work and makes really worthwhile discoveries, there are a hundred other egoistic, incompetent idiots with PhDs who can't add two ones to make a two.

I am so happy that I am no longer in the company of these so-called scientists, although I can't escape the fact that I am one of them by training.

BarfBag · Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:14 pm

Quoting Max Q (Reply 10):
Those are honest, hard working people,... and Indian telemarketers are not fit to lick their boots.

Racism remains alive and well here.

ER757 · Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:26 pm

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 4):
Consultants, far and above, living the idea that you can borrow my watch and charge me money to tell me what the time is.

Couldn't agree more. Every time our company brings one in I cringe. "Yeah, thanks for for telling me my job, I've only been doing it for 30 years. Of course you can improve upon it since you've never worked a single day of your life in this industry."
I'd like to point them to the door, hold it open and plant my foot firmly into their backside to make sure they get all the way out!

aloges · Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:31 pm

Quoting Pyrex (Reply 18):
Or seen in another way... your work consists in protecting you from some extortionist politician that has way too much power and will pass a bill of attainder to destroy you and your entire industry if needed if you don't pay up.

Yes, that is one possible consequence of one company's lobbyism against another one. How's that seeing it "in another way"?

bjcc · Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:50 pm

"Because, like, we can totally trust the government and every more-powerful entity to be fair and just, all the time. "

Obviously not, because if your Government is like ours, its made up mostly of ....Lawyers!

So under my plan, it matters not much, as the Government would mostly be joining the lawyers.

So a win win!

Mind you can see that being an issue for you septics who's going to argue about your second amendment, which keeps so many of the scum in business, either defending mass murders, prosecuting them or arguing that clearly the Founding Fathers had every intention of allowing one half of the population to massacre the other, just in case of a bad Government.

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