Ever wondered what it's really like to be a vicar or a dominatrix? Or what a brain surgeon or a bikini waxer think about their job? Here, 15 people with very different careers reveal – anonymously – the trade secrets of their working day
Undertaker:
- The secrets tend to come out in death. Those of the individual, yes, but also of the family – and I do approach the day as one for those still living. I'm privileged to see them at their very best: death makes the living draw on enormous resources, and I learn more about human nature, kindness and resilience every day. Oh, there's a tremendous amount of emotion about, and occasionally I become the scapegoat, but very rarely. Mostly I learn about love and about the hard lives many people have led; and about sacrifice. And learn again that dying is easy. It's life that's the bloody, bloody hard work.
"When I trained I worked 120 hours a week, so life is quieter now." - brain surgeon 17 hours a day, seven days a week. Brain surgery. How reassuring. EDIT: the rest of that article was really interesting in a cursory sort of way. I could read books on a few of the professions and don't care at all about the others.
What do you think the call center (oops, centre) woman means by: I really like articles like this where you get to poke around other people's lives for just a little bit. I thought the judge's perspective was really interesting as I had always assumed that doing that for a living could make you go numb. I also felt bad for the lady who worked in a kitchen. In my experience, restaurant work tends to be pretty sexist behind the scenes, especially the guys on the line.And if you enjoy that American, high-five culture then you thrive.
I'm not sure what she means by that. My guess is that it's a very competitive job and when someone lands a "sale", there are high-fives. If you enjoy that sort of competition and public recognition amongst your peers, you will thrive. -Perhaps this is a uniquely American trait? We are often portrayed as boisterous cowboys in the US.