Professionals Reveal Insider Secrets That Would Scandalize Outsiders
Ever wonder what industry insiders know that you, the customer, don't? If so, this thread is for you. Take a glimpse at the secrets businesses don't want you to know.
matthewesp asked: What's a dirty secret that everybody in your industry knows about but anyone outside of your line of work would be scandalized to hear?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
Invisible ink, sort of.
When repairing furniture, a lot of times we just use a marker to cover up scratches. Granted they're carefully selected to match the color of course, but they're still just normal markers.
A building my mom cleans was just massively remodeled. They have nice wood desks, and one of the remodeling guys scratched one up badly.
He used the marker method....but he didn't do it right, it just looks like a kid came in and scribbled a sharpie on it.
Mind. Blown.
Water stains on wood furniture can be removed with mayo. (I work with furniture too *fist bump*).
Back in the 1990s, I was watching a playoff hockey game on TV at my Mom's house with a friend. We ordered a pizza and when it was delivered, we set it on my Mother's prized possession walnut table in her living room.
From the time I was little, I learned not to put anything on this table. I know it makes little sense, but think of how grandmas cover furniture with plastic. The living room was not to be jacked up in any way.
Anyway, after the game was over, I picked up the pizza box and found white markings all over the table. I think the heat had lifted years of furniture wax and transmogrified it into a living nightmare for me. I couldn't sleep all night.
I carefully arranged some table decor to hide the mess and hoped that my Mom wouldn't find it. The next day I headed to the library (this was before the internet) as soon as it opened and looked through every Hints from Heloise book I could find. I found something about using mayo to fix water stains on wood furniture. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it was all I had. I went home and grabbed the mayo. It actually worked!!! It took a LOT of rubbing, but you cannot imagine the relief I felt as the markings disappeared.
Ha. I'm just picturing her walking in when you have the table covered in mayo and whooping your a**.
It's just business.
Lawyers generally do not dislike each other.
The prosecutor for your son's case and his defense attorney may very well be good friends.
My brother upon finding this out went and got a new lawyer, who basically told him, "Hey literally every lawyer in this area is at the very least golfing buddies with that guy."
My brother doesn't have the best sense for one reason or another and while he's sticking with this new lawyer he still can't wrap his head around the fact these guys aren't with or against him once the clock strikes five and gets pissy about how they're "probably plotting against" him.
When I was a corporate litigation lawyer, I was taking a deposition on a $40M+ case. The lawyer defending the deposition was really aggressive about instructing the witness not to answer and it got heated between the two of us. Screaming at each other, threatening to call the judge's hotline on each other, unilaterally pausing the deposition to argue in the hall.
After it was over, I mentioned I was probably going to miss my flight because the deposition took so long. He offered to drive me to the airport and we ended up bonding over liking the same music and both being stoners. He got me there in time to make the flight.
Raise your hand if you're shocked.
Parcels marked fragile are treated exactly the same as every other parcel.
I'm an ex USPS worker. I can confirm, but I still mark packages fragile that I ship for eBay. It makes the buyer feel like you took precaution.
I mean... why go home when there are free bagels?
Tech companies that offer breakfast, lunch, dinners, and other amazing-sounding perks are just doing whatever they can to keep you at work for as long as possible.
This was such a huge bummer to realize. I work in IT for a generic manufacturing company and always wanted to get a job with one of the big tech firms. Then I realized they give you all those perks so you can justify working 80 hours a week. I put in like, 35.
My company just started rolling out complimentary snacks and such in the kitchen, and thus far, it's been an abysmal failure. On the low end, things are gone mere moments after they're restocked for the day. On the high end, those in charge of maintaining the program have confused human nature with a vast conspiracy theory, and now being caught eating something even remotely healthy-ish is grounds for and inquest as to where you got it and when.
This wouldn't be problematic if I didn't bring my own oatmeal from home, which is one of their daily offerings.
ALL NATCH BRUH.
Those totally jacked-up personal trainers didn't get that way from the protein supplement they're trying to sell you.
Creatine + Shake Weight = 22" biceps. Pretty sure.
Want real live calls? Watch C-SPAN.
Almost all of the calls you hear on your local radio station are not LIVE. They were recorded during the last song or during a commercial break. There are many sneaky ways to make a call sound LIVE.
Thank you for saying this! Too many people cant understand that phone calls on air are clunky and awkward. If it goes smoothly, it's fake. You can tell when Everyone understands each other perfectly the first time without saying "what" , dropping a call, cutting out, or talking over each other. But over in the talk radio section where real calls are actually Happening, getting live callers to the point quickly is pain staking.
Edit: You can tell that I am live and not a recording because of my awkward pane steaks
I want it.
Not really my industry anymore, but I used to work in a pet store (and now I work for a vet that works closely with several pet stores): if you're in a pet store that sells snakes, there's like a 75% chance at any given time that there's a snake loose in there.
What about anoles? I hear they tend to bolt for the exit any time you open the cage to feed them or change their water.
Worked at a pet store. Our rates were 75% chance of a loose snake, 50% chance of a loose anole or frog (we kept them in a big community terrarium) and 30% chance of a loose crestie, since they're jumpy asf
My local pet store had an escaped leopard gecko that had gone really aggressive. I asked to see it once (it was in the top cage) it jumped out of the cage just to attack the employee. It was hands down the most badass leopard gecko I've ever met.
Wonder why?
Drug abuse of every kind is normalized in the restaurant industry. It's crazy how many alcoholics/casual cocaine users I've worked with.
Although heavy drugs are very much frowned upon, people will boast about killing a bottle of expensive whiskey the other night.
In my restaurant experience the heavy drugs weren't even frowned upon. The kitchen staff sold to everyone who worked there(definitely including management), and that was considered the "nice" restaurant in town. At any given moment the whole staff is probably high/drunk.
Good cake is good cake.
I work at a grocery store bakery and the cake comes to us frozen. We hand decorate most everything, but the cake part is baked at our warehouse and shipped to us frozen. People are genuinely shocked that we don't make every single thing from scratch every day. That would take so long, there's no way. My own family raved about how good our cakes are and when I told them how they come suddenly they're garbage. It's just a grocery store, idk why everyone expects hand crafted artisanal cakes baked fresh every 10 minutes.
Edit: just to clear this up in case you're imagining rock hard frozen cake, they don't get solid like ice. You can cut them while they're frozen or even crumble them up with your hands. They get way softer after they thaw but tbh some cakes taste better if eaten while frozen. Chocolate especially IMO.
I worked for Starbucks for a long time and this is super relatable.
No ma'am, no one came in and baked all these pastries so you could have cheese danish at 5 in the morning, it came from a freezer.
It's easy to get angry over little things. Being late for work, your phone not holding a charge anymore, or your favorite ice-cream shop closing early on a Monday for no reason. However, most people can think back to that one time when the anger was too much and they became a living ball of fury. These are those times.
Reddit user, u/Nacho36, wanted to hear about the most angst-filled anger ever when they asked:
What's the angriest you've ever been?
Parents Being Awful
My parents forcing me to intervene and pick sides in their divorce even though I feel like I'm too old for that drama. And if dont pick a side, I'm disowned from both.
That sh-t got me so mad I started crying
Stand Up For Yourself
My dad was once being an a--hole to my mother. I told him to stop. He threatened to break my jaw.
I told him to do it then.
Adulthood started early for me.
From One Brother...
This boy literally almost threw my brother over a bridge after school.
Over f-cking Fortnite.
...To Another
When my brother stole $700 from me when I was 16.
That was years worth of savings.
Standing Up For Those Who Can't
My dad has Parkinson's and some cognitive difficulty and a few years ago I was over and found out that a guy conned him into paying $100 to "fix" a spot on his bumper by spraypainting it silver. He didn't understand and had taken the money out of his wallet and given it to the guy.
I completely lost my sh-t and cursed him out on my lawn in front of my parents. My blood was boiling, they had never heard me speak like that before. I think it struck a nerve for me because he was fairly high up in the NYPD for 25 years and involved in a lot of heroic situations, so it was really hard to see him unable to deal with this simple crook.
Ugh, Kids, Again...
Background: When I was young, my family was in a car wreck. A horse had gotten out of its pen and tried to jump over our car. Landed on my dad's side and broke his neck. He's fine now, but that really screws up a kid.
Fast forward: I'm a freshman in high school. Class jerkoff decided to start giving me crap about horses and how my dad should've died. I started across the classroom at him, for the only time in my life fully intending on killing someone.
I'd been in martial arts for several years at that point and knew exactly what I was going for. The asst. football coach tackled me while the jerkoff was pulled out of the room.
In hindsight, I'm really glad the coach did that. This guy was a lawyer's kid, and it scares me to think how my life would have been wrecked by that outcome.
Just Tell Me!
My gf cheated on me. Not a once-off, but over months with many guys.
What made me mega-angry is that pretty much everyone in my friend group knew, and it was so funny that they managed to keep it from me for so long.
When You Know They Did It...An Can Do Nothing
My moms crackhead girlfriend stole most of my pain medication after I had emergency surgery and sold it. She also sold a bunch of my other belongings like a skateboard and bass guitar.
When I confronted her she guilt tripped me and told me I was f-cked up for even thinking it was her because my mom died of drug related issues and I "know what she went through" with my mom.
Probably Won't Be The Last Time He Doesn't Get A Date
I was suspended 4 days from school based on false accusations from a guy because I didn't want to date him. Extremely abusive and manipulative person. Administration didn't believe a word I said and also suspended people who supported my side. 100% the angriest i've ever been.
Sounds Like You Need Better People In Your Life
When my ex cheated on me twice,acted like she never did that to me,and then I went into a blind rage for the whole day.
That and when my best friend of 4 years started to pretend like I and our other mutual friend didn't exist.No explanation,nothing.
She just pretends like we don't exist.
When I was in high school I was big into Warhammer.
For those that have never heard of it, Warhammer is a tabletop game played with armies of hand-assembled, hand-painted models. They are very expensive and take hours of personal work to be "finished." Now, as a high school student my army cost about as much time and money as I had. I kept it all in a foam-packed case that by itself cost about $90. The army itself cost about $350, and a good amount of it was a gift from my parents. I had spent dozens of hours painting them.
So imagine my reaction when I caught my twin sister trying to throw my case out my bedroom window. I'm not saying it was totally unwarranted - we had had an argument prior that I was totally complicit in - but I had just walked in on her trying to destroy months of work and money, and she was DRASTICALLY escalating the kind of tit-for-tat we had started. In that moment, to my reptile brain, she wasn't my sister - she was a threat.
I slammed her to the ground and pinned her by the neck. Not hard enough to choke her, but she wasn't going anywhere. I fixed her dead in the eyes and told her if she ever came into my room again, I would murder her. I didn't say "kill," I said "murder," and as far as I'm concerned that makes it worse. Then I blinked, took a look at myself and what I was doing, and let her go.
Not my proudest moment. She didn't know how much the models were worth, she thought they were simply toys, and I can only imagine I scared the sh-t out of her. To my parents' credit, they handled everything very well when they got home and heard what happened. I fessed up myself, I didn't want them to hear it from her. They were sympathetic about me protecting my property, but I was sternly reprimanded for using physical force to threaten anybody, however briefly.
No One Touches My Siblings
Found out a friend of my friend slapped my little sister for not giving him her number while my "friend" laughed, I went nuclear and knocked both of them out.
I've always been really protective of her since my dad was abusive to my mum, sister and myself.
A Big Bullet Dodged
The time that I found out my ex was looking at child p*rn and his family didn't find out he had been doing this until the cops came to his door.
At the time we were dating, I was hoping to get married one day and start a family.
He told me either the day after it had occurred or something. I still remember being so disappointed at the time, screaming and crying towards him.
Dodged a bullet with that one.
Why Do You Think I'm Here???
Went to the financial aid officer at uni and they spoke to me as if I was about to steal their money and treated me like sh-t the entire time.
I lost it when the lady said 'if your father couldn't afford it why did he send you to college'
SO THAT I LIVE A BETTER LIFE SO THAT MY DREAMS COME TRUE YOU CHEWED UP PIECE OF GUM UNDER MY SHOE
League Of Legends Is The Worst
A few months ago i broke my chair cuz of fkn league of legends
It was at that point I realized that sh-t aint healthy
Anger Needs To Be Discussed
Teacher here. Was on a sub assignment before earning credential. Middle school. Kid I knew had a sibling in Highschool commit suicide just days ago. Found her sobbing between bells, asked if she wanted to step out and talk, or if she wanted some privacy, or anything.
She doesn't say anything for an uncomfortable minute and slowly passes me a balled-up paper. I unballed it and read it. Someone who had been bullying her left her a note gloating over the death and all the reasons why they deserved to be dead and burning in hell.
Three things happened that day after reading that paper. The first is that I scared a cluster of incoming students and some faculty after slamming the door behind me loud enough to trigger a seismic event. The second is that I ran, literally ran into the principal's office, closed the door behind me and laid out the paper on her desk with a quiet, "look at this sh-t." The third is that the final straw was laid for said student to receive an expulsion.
I was upset during the next period and ignored the sub plan for the first time ever, and I talked about it with the students. They seemed relieved to be able to address recent events and talked about how jarring it all was, going through school assignments like nothing happened.
The affected students were not in the class. The bullied girl was prioritized for counseling services. I hope she's okay, I still think about it a lot. I was told later the letter writer was expelled and several other students received serious consequences. I appoligized for being unprofessional with the principal, but she took it in stride. I was hired a number of times after that incident, so I am guessing it was forgiven.
Days like that can change how one looks at humanity.
At the time of writing, Mother's Day is just around the corner. Though, if you ask anyone on any given day in the month of May, it tends to always be around the corner. It shouldn't though, because we should thank her as much as possible for putting up with many of us, but sometimes it's easier to share and discus what's the best thing they ever taught us.
Reddit user, u/giggglygirl, wanted to hear what your mom made you memorize when they asked:
What's the best advice your mom ever gave you?
Trust Your Gut. Seriously. Go With It.
If there's an uncomfortable feeling in your gut about a person, situation, or place, go with it. Listen to it and either protect yourself or gtfo.
Look In A Mirror Once In A While
Oh and also: "If you dislike someone for a character trait, make sure you don't have the same one. Things that annoy you in others, might be things you do yourself."
Never Not Mean It
Something my grandfather told her, then she told me: "Hugs and handshakes, give them like you mean it"
Always Be Looking Ahead
"Happiness is just having something to look forward to."
You had your issues, mom, but this advice has served me well.
Again With The Mirrors. Must Mean Something.
"Look in the mirror and see if you see a friend in there.
If you don't, take a longer look and get the friend back."
Stop Taking It All So Seriously
My mom said "you young people get confused about dates, a date is just suppose to be a fun get together with someone, not meaning you're picking out life partners and deciding what house to buy. Just go out on a date, and have fun together, stop taking it so serious", this is one of the things i keep remembering when trying to go out on dates...(not that that happens that often).
You Are Not More Important Than They Are
In exasperation, my mom told me, "When you show up late, it tells people that you think your time is more important than theirs."
I used to be [chronically] late to nearly everything. And that statement just crushed me because I love my mom and my friends and would never purposely be disrespectful. I had just never looked at it that way before. I'm rarely late anymore and it's been amazing how something so seemly small has improved my relationships and has all around made my life better and less stressful than I could have expected. Wish Mom would have laid into me sooner.
And Then What Do We Always Do?
"Don't touch that, it's too hot!"
I learnt that it was, indeed, too hot.
What I love about this childhood trope is that almost all of us touched it anyway
Guess it is hard for the danger version of the word 'hot' to have a real meaning without figuring it out yourself as well
It Only Happens To You Once
"You will never have to live this day again"- on my very first memorably bad day, coming home from school unable to stop sobbing.
I reuse it whenever trying to console someone after specific pains.
Everything Changes. Mostly You.
When I was a pre-teen she told me "as you get older you're going to think everyone around you is changing. It's not them that are changing, it's how you see the world that is changing"
I thought that was super weird advice, but as I got older and started to see adults for who they really were it really made sense. They weren't changing, I'd just never noticed that side of them before. I genuinely think it's why I wasn't a bratty teen, because I knew my parents were still the same parents, I was just seeing everything differently.
You can't tell what a show or movie will be like based on title alone. Sure, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 15: The New Blood" probably won't make it through your parent filters, but what about those shows with confusing names? You know, the ones you hear in the back of your mind and don't even give a second thought to the mind-melting it's about to inflict on your child? Well, it happens, and we're all here for it.
Reddit user, u/Sylvizard, wanted to hear the saddest screenings you've had when they asked:
Parents of Reddit, when was your worst case of not checking a show before showing it to your kids?
Maybe Skip The First 15 Minutes For Younger Viewers...
Shazam. For my 11 year old autistic son who is a big fan of superheroes. Everyone kept talk about how heartwarming and family oriented it was. I thought I was in the clear... until... a woman was incinerated and her flesh melted off and turned to charcoal dust... and then we were introduced to 7 demons which represented the 7 deadly sins. One of the demons bit the head off a man in a boardroom.
My son freaked the ever loving freak out.
You Grow And You Learn. Hopefully.
My Dad to me and my brother to see Wayne's World in the theater. I was 10, my brother was maybe 14.
Upon rewatch as an adult I actually understood the jokes. Not really appropriate for a 10 year old, IMO.
Edited to add: My husband totally thought it was fine to let the 5 year old and 3 year old watch Raiders of the Lost Ark, because "it's not that scary!" I then had to remind him of the part where THE NAZI DUDE'S FACE MELTS OFF.
And Then They Remade It!?
When I was a kid, it was Watership Down. I still remember the horror. Cute bunnies on the cover, but an absolute bloodbath filled with disturbing imagery awaits.
As a parent myself, YouTube! You really never know what you're getting on YouTube. There's plenty of great content for kids, but they're always just a few clicks away from a Holocaust documentary or true crime footage.
When You Can't Trust Anyone
I checked, but the response was misleading. A South American friend highly recommended this art film; the title was "Black God, White Devil". I asked if it were suitable for young children. She said that it was totally suitable; no problem. So I took my wife and kids, aged 5 and 6.
Just as they were preparing to hack a baby to death with a machete on screen, I yelled at my wife and kids and we ran out.
"How did anyone think that was appropriate for young kids?" I wondered. Still wondering.
Come On Now, It's Just...The Devil...
I have a much younger sister and let her watch "Rosemary's Baby" with me when she was five and I was old enough that I should have known to read the plot summary beforehand.
Emilio!
I played the Mighty Ducks to a group of first graders I was subbing for.
There's quite a few bad words I had forgotten about.
Freddy's Gonna Get You...
When I was about 6 or so my mom and dad had company over and were all sitting around the kitchen table drinking coffee and talking.
My sister and I kept running around and being loud and interrupting the adults, and after many repeated warnings to be quieter my dad escorted us into the living room, assigned us each a seat, and told us to be quiet and not to get up, and that the next time we interrupted them we'd get spanked. Then he turned on the TV and left.
We preceded to see some sort of sex scene where a woman pulled out a guy's tongue and used it to tie him to his bed. Then the BBEG appeared.... It was Freddy Krueger!
NSFW: The Scene.
We cried for him and he came in mad, but then saw what was on TV and apologized lol.
But, Chimichangas?
My kids insisted I take them to Deadpool because their friends saw it.
Being the nice why not you're only a kid once kind of dad I am, I sat through too many awkward gratuitous sex scenes and made them promise we wouldn't say anything to mom but they were cool about the whole thing.
Watching Someone Else Goof Up
I worked at a movie theatre once upon a time. I was working as an usher this particular night, so once the run of showings started, things got quiet for me.
Until some dad came storming out of a theatre with his wife and kids in tow, ranting about how he thought they were seeing a cowboy movie.
Brokeback Mountain ain't for everyone.
You REALLY Messed Up There....
Happy Tree Friends
Was hoping for this comment, thank you for traumatising your children for our entertainment.
Oh this ain't SO bad...
Blazing Saddles.
Anything by Mel Brooks! Spaceballs is also not appropriate for children. Woops.
I adored spaceballs growing up but as a little kid i just would say "I wanna see balls". Lot of embaressment on my moms part
Roger is the best.
Well My friend told me once that his parents didn't know what American Dad was and they let him watch it downstairs while they were upstairs one time (He was About 7 years old at the time )and then about 3 days later his mom told him she was doing the dishes and he said: "Yeah you do that bitch." He didn't know what curse words were until he watched American Dad. His mom got pisssssed.
Oh God
Sausage Party.
That's the worst one possible in this situation.
Wurst?
Grisly
My parents let me watch Robocop when I was about 6.
Funny enough, it wasn't the massive gun fights, or the dude turning into toxic waste when hit by a car, or the blood, but when Robocop took off his mask thing. That freaked me out horribly and gave me nightmares.
I didn't know Robocop wasn't a family-friendly movie until about 2 years ago. I still haven't seen it, but when I was a toddler my slightly older cousins were obsessed with it.
Frank n beans, hair gel
When I was a kid, we were taken to watch Something about Mary. HAHA then quickly left to watch cats vs dogs.
I first saw parts of that movie (Something about Mary) when I was younger (around 10 y/o) and always wondered why her hair was standing up like that... only just realized a few years ago after re watching it as an adult what it was (0.0)
Our society might tell us to follow laws that we don't necessarily agree with. While we could delve into all the messed up rules and regulations on the books, there are some out there that are so ridiculous that it's amazing someone had the audacity to think them up.
Redditor MaxienLai is responsible for today's burning question: "What are some of the dumbest laws that exists in your country?"

"One lemonade company..."
One lemonade company had to up the sugar in one of their products, cause it was called "Die Limo" (german word for lemonade) and in order to call something "lemonade" in Germany you have to have at least a certain percent of sugar in it. German logic at its finest.
"In Montreal..."
In Montreal, Canada, there's a municipal regulation that says you can't build or store a nuclear weapon within city limits. The fine is $100.
"Not so much a single law..."
Not so much a single law as the unintended effects of how two laws interact.
- It's illegal to dig up a specimen of an endangered plant species (sensible).
- Sometimes the authorities need to hold controlled burns to prevent uncontrolled wildfires (sensible).
- Want to rescue endangered species plant specimens growing in a place slated for a controlled burn area? Scrooged.
"In Pennsylvania..."
In Pennsylvania, there's a state law that you can't buy a car on Sunday.
Also, it's illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator at night.
"Not passed yet..."
Not passed yet, but in order to reduce the consumption of beer, some lawmakers want to make it illegal for the sale of COLD BEER in MEXICO CITY.
"I can enlist..."
I can enlist, train, and see combat in the armed forces, fly home and still not be old enough to legally have a beer while talking about it.
"Dressing up like a member of the armed forces..."
Dressing up like a member of the armed forces is illegal and punished by a 0.00036$ 0.28$ in today's money fine, however soldiers take it to mean that wearing camouflage is illegal which they use as an excuse to beat up civilians.
"In the Netherlands..."
In the Netherlands it's forbidden to insult a foreign head of state. The only exception is if we are at war with that nation. The only foreign leader assholy enough to charge someone over this law was Erdogan.
"In Connecticut..."
In Connecticut, the law states that for a pickle to be considered as such, it must be able to bounce.
Otherwise, it's just a salty cucumber that's "unfit for human consumption." Thanks CT!
"I know it's a thing here..."
The "cannot collect rainwater" laws baffle me. I know it's a thing here in Canada, probable elsewhere?
"Civilians..."
Civilians cannot wear camo patterns in Barbados. Even if it's pink camo it's illegal and the police can request that you take off the offending garment. If customs find camo clothes in you belongings when you enter the country they will confiscate it.
"Oh there are a BUNCH..."
Oh there are a BUNCH of super dumb laws in the US, and in specific states:
California: It is a $500 fine to detonate a nuclear device
Hawaii: it is illegal to stick a penny in your ear.
Alabama: Sticking an ice cream cone in your back pocket is illegal.
The entire USA: You can vote, join the army, and are required to pay your taxes when you turn 18. You are not allowed to drink, rent a car, purchase a pistol (or rifle in certain states), or in some states, smoke, for another three years.
Also the entire USA: Except for Maryland and California, it is legal to own and use a flamethrower. There is no background check for this.
California YET AGAIN: It is illegal to attempt to ride a bicycle underwater.
The Entire USA: The National Firearms act has very specific requirements for what is considered an "NFA" firearm that requires a tax stamp. Here's a helpful guide
And many... many other laws...
"It's illegal..."
It's illegal to kill a whale in Nebraska. IN NEBRASKA! Where are you going to get a whale in Nebraska?!
"In Korea..."
In Korea, the libel laws are so broad that you can be sued for telling the truth, even if you have demonstrable proof that you are telling the truth. The only way to get out of this is if you can prove that your telling of the truth is "for the good of the country".
I'm not Korean, but I live here, and I can tell you the most common way this affects the non-Korean community is when we are looking for jobs. We will get approached by a company, and start asking around in online forums to see if anyone has worked there before and if they have a good reputation.
No one will ever respond, because... well, if you are found to have ever said anything bad about a company, no matter how much proof you have of it, they will sue you for defamation.
There are also cases where rapists (yes, actual rapists) have sued their victims for naming them because it "defames" them. This has actually been a factor in the Korean MeToo movement, because victims cannot name their abusers or harassers without threat of being sued (which is something that has happened).
DQ: What's the dumbest law on the books in your area?