Throughout my time at TCFL, I have read discussions about people being "bingoed" not only about parenthood but about a multitude of other things (marriage, introversion, being tall, having an unusual name, etc.). I would like to believe that I always think before I speak, and that I would never be guilty of spitting out some tiresome observation or cliche that the listener has heard a zillion times. However, I recall some rare occasions in my life where I caught myself and had to add a penitent, "Sorry, you must hear that all the time." As such, I have always found it helpful to read about other people's bingo experiences so that I could be more self-aware and not fall into the same category as the thoughtless masses.

I must admit, though, that the impetus for this post is my own discouragement about the bingos I receive about my job as a math instructor. I realize I should not take them personally, but it's just so damn exhausting to hear the same things over and over and over and over (and worse when it comes from students, because those are the people I am working my tail off to inspire, assist, and encourage). The one I get the most, of course, is some version of "I hate / have always hated math!" The conversation usually goes...
Other Person: So, what do you do?
Me: I teach math.
Other Person, face twisted in horror: Ugh, I always hated math!

Particularly from students, other things I am sick of hearing include:
* When I am I ever going to use this? (mind you, this one usually comes even after I have provided 25 examples of how the topic applies to everyday life or various disciplines) Other versions include, "Why do I have to do this / know this?" or "Why do I have to take this class when I'm majoring in English/Art/Psychology/Education/etc.?"
* This is so haaaaard.
* Is this going to be on the test?
(And, without fail, "I hate math.")

And really, individually, none of these remarks are all that bad. But after more than a decade of hearing the same things day in and day out and feeling like people are constantly trying to tear down or demean what I do, I'm ready to retire!

So, now that I have had a chance to rant about my experience, I would like to know if any of you have similar experiences? If so, what kinds of comments are you sick of hearing about your profession?

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I have never even idly thought for a single passing second that it might make my life nicer to have a small, rude, incontinent person follow me around screaming and making me buy them stuff for the rest of my life.
-Tim Kreider

Haters are gonna hate, maths is very hard and you have to be extremely intelligent to be able to do it.
I wish I was good at maths, you have a gift that they are jealous of. It is fantastic you are doing maths because there is a demand for it unlike other subjects e.g media, it is good to not have high amounts of competition.

I am doing Environmental Science as a degree, people sometimes label me as a hippie but most people are extremely supportive. People are extremely ignorant about it though.

LC, my best friend is a statistics/calculus professor and expresses the same aversion to constantly being greeted in the way you describe. She has started responding with "I would rather not discuss it as I usually receive negative responses" when asked the profession question. She says she doesn't mind so much when the person says Wow, I've never liked math, but I'm glad that there are people like you to help people like me through it!

My pharmacist bingos- "All you do is count pills. or Why didn't you just become a doctor?"- Answers: 1) No, I'm an operating room pharmacist. I rarely count pills- I'm busy saving the surgeon's asses making suggestions for what they should use to fix a problem when they run out of ideas under pressure. 2) I AM technically a doctor- I have a doctorate degree. But if you are referring to a medical doctor, I didnt want to poke around and touch people and have to listen to every medical condition that every family member has.... I wanted to be able to troubleshoot and be a part of the team of people that provide solutions. Boo yau!

Thanks for the thread, LC; it does help to get it out!

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"Love is composed of one soul inhabiting two bodies."- Aristotle

The one and only SugarGliderFanatic

Although I'm not working at the moment, the work-related Bingo I get most is because I'm an Administrative Assistant... Yes, it's the job title of one million meanings... I've done everything from working in International Investment, Insurance, Medicine, doing everything from Reception, booking travel, hosting international seminars and tours, trending statistics, designing software, training staff, procedure manuals... but most people think I make coffee.

Oh, and don't get me started about not having a degree... I've got 20+ years of experience, but I don't have a degree so I must be an idiot. I got that one from a friend... Honestly, I'd love to get one right now, but a) I can't afford it because we have to send money to the In-laws and b) My UK education makes it tricky applying (don't have a GED, don't have a GPA) and I don't know if it would affect my Immigration status...

Before my career change in 2007 to full-time grad student/budding professor of some kind, I had a 17-year career that many people (including many kids) would consider a "dream job" (will PM a response if anyone really wants to know, but saying so publicly will reveal a little more about myself than I'm comfortable with.) So now I get a lot of "why are you here?" questions because the response to my previous line of work is always "that sounds like fun!" It is unimaginable to many why I'd set out on this road of voluntary poverty and grading exams after that.

But the truth is, if any job were as fun as it sounded, you wouldn't get paid for it, so I have to respond that at some point, I got tired of all the looming deadlines, 70-hour work weeks at times, threats of layoffs every single week, and constantly looking for work. After 15+ years, that kind of instability can really wear you down. Starry-eyed undergrads and high school kids are always pumping me for information, though, and I always start out with, "well, it's a rough way to make a living..."

Oh I've definitely had some job bingos. When I was an administrative assistant/front desk, one of the clients asked me if I was a nurse (my company is in the medical field). I said "No" so she replied "Oh, so you're just a secretary." Fuck you, you're the one calling ME to ask questions here! My ex used to give me grief when I'd come home tired. "It's just an office job! How hard can it be?"

My other job gets some bingos, too. What I REALLY want to do is teach piano and I do that in the evenings (I'd like to do it full time, though). I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has called it my "hobby." Yes, I do very much enjoy teaching piano but it's more than just a hobby for me (hence the music degree, membership with MTNA, and continuing education). And no, I'm not doing it just for "grocery money." Next to my house, my piano is my most valuable posession... if it was just a hobby, I wouldn't have been able to justify spending $10K on it. And yes, it is actually a business and I do pay taxes on the income. And yes, I can actually make a living from it.

Math was never a strong point of mine, yet algebra was a whole different story. My algebra teacher once asked me why I took pre-algebra, because I had straight A's through the whole class and into the other advanced classes, but I was so poor at math that I was told to take pre-algebra from another teacher. Maybe it was teaching styles? O.o

Anyway.. I once worked at a Dollar Tree, where everything is a dollar(or less if it's a candy bar) and more times than I care to count, I had people ask me how much an item was because there was no price, when it's written on the windows, walls and on the shelves. Then I'd get the "trolls" who KNEW what the prices were, but felt it appropriate to distract me from my work with the cutesy "how much is this, and this, and this, and this..." questions.

I also have a passion for animals and would like to be a vet assistant one day or at least help animals in another manner, so because I'm a bit more educated on animals than the people I know are, everybody comes to me for free advise on what to do with certain issues their pet(s) have. I've had people give me dead-pan descriptions of parvo, and I tell them to take their dog to the vet immediately, get "we can't afford that" and then the dog dies. Unless it's something like asking what I use for our pets regarding fleas/ticks or grooming supplies, I always tell them to go to their vet. After doing that, it stopped.

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“I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.” ~ Albert Einstein

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor." ~ Unknown

Mrs. Potato Head- For what it's worth, my father successfully ran a business with a great reputation and outearned my mother (who has a degree in her job field) all with a high school education. He learned through self-teaching and experience. He is also one of the most intelligent people I know and I'm not just saying that because he's my dad.

For Pete's sake!!! Maybe it's because I sometimes advice pre-pharmacy majors and know the intense and competitive study of mathematics and sciences that is required, but how can people not realize the vast amount of knowledge, understanding, and responsibility required "just to" dispense medications?! I would not have expected that bingo.

And to the administrative assistants (having also been one myself)... it never ceases to amaze me that people can be ignorant of the cardinal rule in business -- get on the good side of the administrative assistants! They are the ones who know all of the answers, they can fix everything, they know how to connect you to the right people for any situation, and they are sometimes the gate-keepers for a company. And you definitely have to be quite intelligent to handle all of that. In every new work setting, the first person I have befriended is the AA!

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I have never even idly thought for a single passing second that it might make my life nicer to have a small, rude, incontinent person follow me around screaming and making me buy them stuff for the rest of my life.
-Tim Kreider

Hehe - thanks! It's particularly annoying because employers are asking for people with degrees for min wage jobs, because the job market is so bad people are taking them. DH doesn't have a degree either, but he's a special case - he's a self-taught computer programmer who grew up during the infancy of the games industry and got in early. Not only did they not have degrees in his field, the computer degrees at the time were completely irrelevant for him. Plus the friend who Bingoed me's Husband (my DH's business partner) doesn't have a degree either...

I thought about going to Le Cordon Bleu to do the Patisserie course (because the world needs more desserts!), but it was almost $20K for a 9 month course... and I wasn't sure I could make a sensible living afterwards. Plus I'd eat my own profits... LOL!