Most of us have jobs. Some of us have careers. We all have bad days. You know bad days, right? The sort where you stub your toes on anything available that doesn’t move; your hair won’t do what you want it to; you put your shirt on inside out and don’t realize it until you hear the guy in the next cubicle who you hate with a passion, sniggering… One of those days.
I was cruising around Facebook, wondering what in the world I could write about today, and I came across a picture which has no relevance to this post other than that it inspired me to think: would I want to go to the dentist when he’s having a bad day? The answer, still in my head, was a resounding NO. If you’re wondering, yes, it did resound, and yes, just imagining the idea of a sadistic dentist hurt me in ways that my imagination should not be allowed to hurt me.
Then I pondered other professionals with whom I would not want to deal on their baddest days: a mechanic, a chef, a radiologist whose job was to perform a breast x-ray, a journalist doing an interview… the list goes on.
All this led me to wonder if there’s a good job to be doing on a bad day. I suppose if the job is solitary, there’s only oneself to harm. But even as a writer – a job that can’t get any more solitary – I abuse the hell out of my characters.
So, what do you think? Is there a professional you would feel safe with if they’re having a bad day? Can you think of anyone worse than a dentist?
Comment away, lovely people!
February 5, 2014 at 7:15 pm
I am having rootcanal treatment tomorrow morning first thing so I hope my lovely dentist sleeps well and wakes happy and refreshed.;) xxx
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February 5, 2014 at 9:49 pm
Ohhh… I hope so too! Best of luck with that, Willow 🙂
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February 6, 2014 at 3:29 am
I am sitting in the waiting room as I type. I do hope he slept well. It is 8.28am 10mins to go.!!! 😦
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February 6, 2014 at 4:38 pm
…hours later – hope it went well! 🙂
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February 5, 2014 at 9:57 am
A police man – I would not enjoy encountering him and his weapon on a bad day. Not very much at all 😦
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February 5, 2014 at 2:22 pm
No! That could get ugly indeed.
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February 5, 2014 at 3:47 pm
Terribly….
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February 4, 2014 at 10:26 pm
Writing. The past few days at work people have been trying to use Inquisition tactics to screw me on a $200k job, and when I write I get to be somewhere of my own creation. Character abuse is par for the course, and on bad days I usually focus on setting. It sooths me. Add to your list hair stylist.
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February 5, 2014 at 2:21 pm
Haha! Hairstylist. Good one. Particularly if he’s Edward Scissorhands.
Sorry to hear about your troubles at work. Putting the thumbscrews to you, have they? Don’t you just love to be able to escape into writing?
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February 4, 2014 at 8:55 pm
Yes, an obstetrician was mentioned. I actually had that experience. I went into labor–and guess what? My regular OB was on vacation. So, knowing I was going to have a C-Section, I met the doctor who would be performing the surgery. He had been on duty all night–for 12 hours. I gave my husband one of those petrified looks. Then one of the OR nurses was late to work, and that set him over the top. When she finally showed up, we could hear him yelling from down the hall. Then they wheeled me into the room. So there I was, at the mercy of TWO people having a bad day. The man cutting me open, and the person helping him. I started having a panic attack, but the anesthesiologist wasn’t having a bad day, and he took care of my nerves.
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February 5, 2014 at 9:56 am
OMG!! NO! Just NO!
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February 5, 2014 at 10:00 am
🙂 On top of that, the table I was strapped to, overlooked the freeway, and the town. I figured if I could see out, someone with binoculars could see in. (The things that go through our minds when we are about to be cut open) I have to say, I loved my anesthesiologist that day.
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February 5, 2014 at 10:40 am
LOL! Yip – it is quite a test of the wits that table! Never mind that you feel like you are going to fall off the darn thing (right out the window in your case!) 😉
Anaesthesiologists always seem to be terribly calm and stable steady characters/folk in my experience – which is fortunate when they are about to spike your veins! *shiver* –
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February 5, 2014 at 2:18 pm
What horrible bedside manner, even if he was down the hall! I’ve had 3 c-sections myself, and I know the calm in the room was pretty much all that I had to reassure me. Lucky you had that anesthesiologist!
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February 4, 2014 at 7:38 pm
I noticed you refrained from mentioning your annual *cough* prostrate exam. Sorry, that’s gender bias. };_)> (Appears as if my face is still frozen from the dentist.)
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February 5, 2014 at 2:16 pm
Ha! No, I don’t suppose you’d want your doctor to be in any way overenthusiastic whilst checking your prostate.
Funny face. 😀
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February 4, 2014 at 6:14 pm
An obstetrician. I definitely wouldn’t want them to be having a bad day come delivery time. As for the other question, I think road construction would be a great job on a bad day. Another would be a fighting career, such as a boxer. Being angry would be very beneficial.
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February 4, 2014 at 7:24 pm
Yes! That would be very satisfying to take one’s frustrations out on hard work. Although with road construction, they do have the power to hold up traffic… 😛
And no, obstetrics is not the place to be in a bad mood. At all.
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February 4, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Teachers…I know if it’s a bad day, one must try reeeally hard not to snap at the kids! Negativity never works in the classroom, I find, only positive vibes and half-glass-full philosophy. 🙂 (and that’s not necessarily half glass of wine 😀 )
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February 4, 2014 at 7:19 pm
Anything to do with kids, it pays to be patient and calm.
…wine does help however. 😀
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February 5, 2014 at 9:55 am
indeed – wine – oh wine = where fore art though wine.?
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February 5, 2014 at 2:22 pm
😀
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February 4, 2014 at 4:10 pm
I wouldn’t mind if a priest will have a bad day on a funeral. it will spare couple of tears. ):
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February 4, 2014 at 6:15 pm
That’s a good point, Adrian.
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February 4, 2014 at 7:17 pm
Very good point, Adrian. 🙂
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February 4, 2014 at 3:52 pm
I don’t know. I tend not to take my bad days out on people, and would hope others do the same. There’s nothing more miserable than people who want to make you as miserable as they are!
Any day involving a dentist is a bad one, for me. Oy.
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February 4, 2014 at 7:17 pm
Ugh, me too. I hate the dentist. …wait, let me rephrase that. I LOVE the dentist. Niiiice dentist. 😀
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February 4, 2014 at 3:49 pm
I managed to tear some tendons in my left hand on the day when there was an orthopedic surgeon’s conference. Because of that, there were only a few orthopedic surgeons available for all of the local emergency rooms and I ended up having to wait for several hours with a good sized gash in my arm.
The attending ER doc kept telling me, “We’re getting him here as fast as we can!” and I said back, “I don’t want him fast–I want him nice and relaxed after a nice lunch and maybe a nap. I’d rather not have someone carving on my arm when he’s rushed.”
As it happened I got full range of motion back in all my fingers, so I guess wasn’t too rushed.
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February 4, 2014 at 7:16 pm
Haha! You’re way ahead of me! That sounded like it was really painful. I’m glad your surgeon did a good job. 🙂
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February 4, 2014 at 3:03 pm
If the doctor who is about to operate on me is having a bad day, I’d like him to mention it before he picks up the scalpel.
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February 4, 2014 at 3:09 pm
Yes! I have visions of people with their legs sewn back on backwards. Haha!
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February 4, 2014 at 3:02 pm
Not the answer to your question but I remember the band The Black Crows pointing out that a ‘journalist’ had reviewed their album and wondering how that could have been possible as it hadn’t been released yet.
The worse thing about it was that the review was terrible and it was a very influential magazine. That made me so cross that someone first through laziness would review an album they hadn’t heard and because probably they were having a bad day, give it a terrible review. The fact that someones livelihood could be in the balance was irrelevant.
And as it happens I haven’t heard much from The Black Crows since then.
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February 4, 2014 at 3:06 pm
That’s terrible! Trollish even. But then there are so many ways a professional having a bad day could screw up someone’s life. Think what a surgeon could do!
Thanks for sharing that. Quite interesting indeed. 🙂
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February 4, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Hmm, I kind of like my job now, lol.
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February 4, 2014 at 3:02 pm
I’m not even sure what you do for a living, Bradley… except that you’re bored a lot. Haha.
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February 4, 2014 at 2:56 pm
The IRS? Only because I assume a bad day for them is when they don’t audit or harass anyone.
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February 4, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Good one! Someone who’s paid to be sadistic in the first place. 😛
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