The messed up life of an engineer

Is it just me or is it the common consensus that the Sofware engineer is the most misunderstood living creature after the Lycosa Tarantulas ? After 6 years, I should probably be getting used to those sympathetic but insensitive glances, that one usually reserves for the sacrificial goat about to meet it's "divine" end on Eid. To be honest, I never felt awkward with them, but it's the lack of understanding that kills me.

I tried to put myself in the shoes of a layman and think from his perspective. To him, a sw engineer's life is all about staring at the dimly lit screen(which often carries on till unearthly hours), trying to come up with innovative thoughts to fix issues and to back stab others during appraisal time. Part of the blame should definitely goto films, where a completely insensitive version of an engineer is presented out to the public. He is always portrayed as the "America returned Maappilai' who is supposed to get married to the heroine. She of course, is deeply in love with the hero, who by the way, is that ragged, unshaven scumbag whose only job is to pick ticks from his hair. Minutes before the credits roll, the hero makes a clean shaven appearance and snatches the bride under the eyes of her relatives, mouths a couple of punch dialogues and earns the applause of the audience.

How could they be so insensitive to us ?
Have you spared a thought for that unlucky "Groom to be', who had
1. Fought with his manager for his 3 weeks of vacation, in order to get married
2. trained his backup for weeks to make sure that he is productive during those 3 weeks
3. created extensive documents to ensure that his backup will never have an issue
4. spent all his salary on procuring those gifts for the entire household, including that lovely diamond pendant for the heroine, who later elopes with the hero in front of his own eyes ??? The least said about the time spent in the women's section of Macy's, the better(Yech !!!!!)

The average SW engineer never earns the respect of the common man. He is always the soft target for those devious, hawk eyed auto drivers who easily hoodwink him on some or the other pretext. No sane girl(apart from those cursed to work along with him) would ever want to spend quality time with him. The bus conductors derive immense pleasures when the engineer mouths the name of an "incomprehensible" destination(We usually work in some god forsaken part of the country and have absolutely no clue about the dialect spoken by the locals). It is one of the greatest mysteries of modern times that how the well mannered, polite & responsible Engineer always ends up being the least liked in the society.