In a revealing compilation, more than twenty individuals from a variety of industries share secrets often hidden from public view, highlighting the sometimes disturbing realities underlying seemingly straightforward services and products. This collection of confessions sheds light on practices ranging from deceptive marketing strategies to disturbing food preparation methods and questionable health and safety standards in industries such as hospitality, healthcare, and more.
A tech writer reveals that many companies pay for fake positive reviews that distort consumer perception. Food service workers, meanwhile, admit to recommending more expensive or nearly expired menu items to customers. More worryingly, some supermarket staff are discussing using out-of-date meat to make new products, highlighting the financial pressures that put food safety at risk.
In the airline industry, pilots admit that the insistence on turning off cell phones is more about caution than actual necessity. Restaurant staff share that the food served may not be as fresh as it is supposed to be, it is often pre-cooked and reheated. Hospitality workers explain the disturbing practice of ‘sheet-covering’, where sheets are not changed but simply straightened to make them look fresh.
“No matter what the situation or circumstance looks like, know that nothing is ever what it seems,” is a famous saying. This applies to both extremely good-looking things and bad-looking things. Unfortunately, this applies to all professional fields that we encounter in the course of life. For this reason, we felt it would be beneficial to inform you of a few relevant resources.
Technical writer on the side: Many businesses actually pay people to write fictitious favorable reviews on websites and post them on social media. So you can tell it’s a real person profile with a fake review when you see someone on Amazon reviewing a frying pan for example, and they say something like, “This is a great product, I really enjoyed it and the instructions were clear. “
worker in the food industry. “What’s your favorite thing on the menu?” For inquiries like these, we are obliged to provide anything that is either more expensive or close to expiry. Here’s some advice: if you’re not sure what to choose, ask the staff for help and go with your gut.
an employee in the meat department of a supermarket. Hopefully, things have improved, but our management has insisted on making sausages, hamburgers, and other beef dishes past their due date. I once got in trouble for not crushing ammonia-scented chicken nuggets into chicken patties instead of throwing them away after they expired two weeks earlier.
Pilot: 99.99% of the time, the whole “turn off your phone” issue is irrelevant.
That, 01% of the time, is what worries us. Most modern cell phones like iPhones and Androids don’t run on the same frequency as the devices we’re supposed to care about, but there’s one man with a cell phone from 1996 who’s going to screw it up for everyone else. Can we spend more time looking at everyone’s electronics and saying, “You can use this, this, this, and this, but not that unless we’re over 14,500 feet?” We could, but it would take a very long time and you wouldn’t remember anything and you wouldn’t do it right.
So when we’re landing the plane, please turn that thing off.
restaurant employee. Avoid visiting a restaurant 30 minutes or less before it closes. In an effort to go home, the cooks had already cleaned up; at best, you end up with leftovers on the counter; at worst you have enraged them.
Pub bartender. Soups, curries, pies, bread, Sunday dinners, beef, fish, and poultry are delivered frozen to pubs. That delicious dinner you had with the chicken with the beautiful grill marks and everything extremely moist… I popped everything in the microwave and gave the chicken another 30 seconds on the grill. When someone asks, “Oh, so you’re a chef?” I laugh. Hehe. No, I’m a microwave technician!
radio host. On top 40 radio stations, almost every caller you hear is either an intern or someone who works near the studio; everything is fake. Reddit/Puff_puff_*** Construction Worker: If sliding doors or windows are difficult to open and close. Nine times out of ten we have successfully installed your own track cleaner.
It takes five minutes and costs $150.
Music performer. I was in a songwriting class at Berklee School of Music when Grammy Award winner and Kendrick Lamar collaborator Anna Wise informed the group during a presentation that when someone “magically” becomes popular on YouTube or SoundCloud, it’s not real. The label stealthily signs the musician, then suddenly dramatically increases his audience to give the impression that the independent artist has achieved success on his own.
Restaurant employee: The bigger the menu, the more likely the food you order at a restaurant has been frozen and then reheated.
Hotel worker. Housekeepers in some hotels engage in a practice known as “covering the sheets”. To make it look like they made it out of brand-new linen, they dust off the crumbs and arrange the sheets. The fact is that it depends on the cleaning.
Nursing home worker: It’s shocking how much black mold there is in these facilities. If you are thinking of placing an elderly family member, look at the vent or inside the air conditioning unit; you can see it too.
kindergarten instructor. During your visit to kindergarten, your child may take their first walk or say their first spoken word. However, we won’t tell you that.
skin care employee. The products range in retail price from $20 to $150, but none of them cost more than $2 to make. The amount of money people would pay for lotions containing snake venom or volcanic clay always amazed me.
Coffee Vendor: The caffeine content of coffee increases with the level of roasting. I seem to hear it over and over again: “I’ll have a light roast, I don’t want to be up all night haha.” Recall that although caffeine is initially present in the beans, more is burned during roasting because it is found in the natural oils of the beans.
Doctor. This is probably a very good thing if you find yourself waiting a long time to see an emergency doctor. That’s where we get straight to the important stuff. For the avoidance of doubt, extreme suffering does not equal seriousness. Even if a broken arm is extremely painful, we’ll take a guy who’s sweating and complaining of chest tightness before we take you.
Because you’re not dying and he might be.
preschool instructor. Your children tell us almost everything about what happens in your home.
airline worker. Pilots and flight attendants do not receive compensation for delays, boarding, or landing. Therefore, we are also angry and delayed when you are. Even if we are not profitable, we must continue to operate.
bus driver. Tell me you don’t want my bus when you’re the only person at a stop where many routes stop so I don’t have to waste time stopping for you. Turn away from us, shake your head, move away from the stop, or do something else.
airline worker. It is always, always, always recommended that you NEVER use or put anything in the seat pocket. They get the trash removed, but they never “clean up.” From there I pulled out and saw different things.
Sick bags, apple cores, people’s feet, underwear, socks, chewing gum, half-sucked candy, and dirty tissues are all there. Then you put your iPad, laptop, or phone there on your next trip.
Bank employee. It’s probably because I forgot if you’re wondering why it’s taking me so long to process your loan application.
Grocer: It is not always true that “organic” food is produced without chemicals. Pesticides labeled organic are widely available, yet many are just as dangerous as those labeled synthetic. When I refer to something as “grown without chemicals” I mean artificial items like pesticides and herbicides.
Worker cheese: Any cheese aged at least two years, such as Parmigiano Reggiano or aged Gouda, is lactose-free, as are most Swiss cheeses (Gruyère, Emmentaler, and Appenzeller). When I tell clients that I work in a cheese factory, they are usually taken aback.
Dental professional: The skinny toothpaste is as follows.
They are all essentially the same if fluorine is present. The package is the only thing that is different. Therefore, it does not matter what it says – whitening, gum protection, or anything else. The exception is Sensitivity toothpaste, which usually contains another active ingredient. KNO3, which aids sensory perception.
What are some potential trade secrets in your industry that most people would be shocked to learn about?
In a world where transparency often takes a backseat to the market, confessions from various insiders serve as stark reminders of the hidden realities that shape consumer perceptions and business practices. From embellished reviews that skew our purchasing decisions to unspoken practices in gastronomy and healthcare, these revelations prompt a rethinking of trust and truth in business exchanges. This compilation not only reveals the often-masked aspects of various industries but also encourages consumers to question and educate themselves beyond face value. As we sift through these insights, it’s clear that a critical eye and informed skepticism can be invaluable assets in a world rich in hidden agendas and masked truths.