In recent years, Hollywood has tried to show us that some of the before considered dull professions could actually be exciting. Fronting that trend, are the lawyers, often portrayed as a mix of Sherlock, James Bond and Casanova. By the way why do they always have a bottle of whiskey in the office? Is that a thing?
But lawyers are not the only re-invented profession, recently they even tried to make librarians interesting. There is actually, an action TV show dedicated to them, although this could be actually true, let's face it, who has been in a library in the last 10 years? ( and no, Netflix library does not count)
So, taking the lawyers and librarians out of the equation, that leave us engineers as the single most boring profession on Earth.
And yes I am not going to deny it: an engineering office can be as exciting as a funeral parlor, but don't judge a book by its cover ( sorry for that easy pan, its my jealousy to the now "cool librarians" kicking in).
Engineers may look dull, badly dressed ( I will dedicate a full post about the engineering fashion sense soon) but that make us the perfect cover identity for super-heros. We are the Clark Kens of our time, but since there are no telephone cabins anymore we cannot change into character and that is why people don't see it.
An engineer needs to be ready for any situation. You never what is going to happen. Just because you are an engineer you are suppose to be able to fix anything.
I still remember my College years, with Mum complaining that she was wasting the family money in my University education as I could not fix her washing machine. It was not easy to explain that although the tumble dry program and an aircraft turbine sound more or less the same, there are a few subtle differences. But I must admit she may had a point, and I would probably be making more money being a appliance technician than an engineer, and she could have enjoyed a holiday in the Caribbean with the savings.
Being an engineer is also not that far from being a politician. You are suppose to provide an answer to any topic they throw at you even if you have no idea. Sorry, I don't know how to explain the Big Bang or why the Jonas brothers split up.
A few years back in one of my multiple trips to South Africa had the opportunity to experience this first hand. I was told I had to do a site visit to an airport the government was keen to show as example of their investment.
So there I was driving several hours cross country to reach this remote idyllic village of Bhisho.
Little I know what was in store for me. When arrived at the airport, a large crowd was outside. Ladies wearing their colorful Sunday dresses and men in their traditional attire. Not your typical welcomed committee. Soon I realized there was no technical site visit but a community day where the entire village was invited to the airport to visit the airport and have a lunch there.
Before I could tell my colleague to leave, we were greeted by the local Bishop and invited to be seated while the local Church Choir was introducing the session with an upbeat African Spiritual Song. At that moment, I resigned to stay and enjoy the experience. Day was already wasted and there was nothing I could do about it so at least I would be getting a good local meal.
But that was not the end of the story. Somebody (Ten years later I am still trying to find the guilty part to plot my revenge) has told the authorities that I was an international renown aviation expert and had to address the crowd ( if they only knew...)
The Tribal leader and the Bishop started their speech in Zulu and suddenly my colleague kick me with her elbow and look at me with a big smile in her face.
"You are to do main speech, the entire village is here for you", she said. Since I was still enjoying in my head the Choir song I didn't fully understand her words. But few seconds later the Tribal leader announced my name and crowd started to cheer in excitement.
I panicked and grabbed my laptop. A laptop is to an engineer like the cape to Superman. It could also be used as a shield if people started to throw thing at me.
During those long 30 meters to the podium I felt like a dead Men Walking. The fact that the Choir decided to go for a soulful song at that moment, didn't help. And while I was asking why me, I was trying to understand what I was suppose to say to the audience. Shall I talk to them about my childhood? How much I like the south african braiis? Should I join the choir and sing?
Despite my shaky legs, I managed to reach the podium and I smiled. Smiling has been always my forte. Shacked the hand of all local authorities and tried to connect my laptop to see if I could use any of my presentations. Pretty pictures always help.
Murphy's law connection didn't work. This is another misunderstanding with engineers. I may know how to design things, but not necessarily how to make them work. Luckily the Choir was quick to lend me a hand and started singing while I was fixing it. There I was, sweating while the crowd was in full Gospel mood.
Song ended ,but laptop had decided to re-start to download some updates. I am small, but not enough to hide of embarrassment behind the podium. Again I was saved when the Bishop waved his hand to the Choir and they started to sign again. Thank God they had a long repertoire as it took me three and a half songs to make it work.
Finally, all technical issues were sorted and I was ready to start talking about the wonders of airport planning to the community when a voice in the crowd shouted Hallelujah!!
Immediately the entire room responded in excitement Hallelujah! ( the engineer is here)
PS. Perhaps if my Mum had more Faith in me, I could work a miracle and fix her washing machine.
But lawyers are not the only re-invented profession, recently they even tried to make librarians interesting. There is actually, an action TV show dedicated to them, although this could be actually true, let's face it, who has been in a library in the last 10 years? ( and no, Netflix library does not count)
So, taking the lawyers and librarians out of the equation, that leave us engineers as the single most boring profession on Earth.
And yes I am not going to deny it: an engineering office can be as exciting as a funeral parlor, but don't judge a book by its cover ( sorry for that easy pan, its my jealousy to the now "cool librarians" kicking in).
Engineers may look dull, badly dressed ( I will dedicate a full post about the engineering fashion sense soon) but that make us the perfect cover identity for super-heros. We are the Clark Kens of our time, but since there are no telephone cabins anymore we cannot change into character and that is why people don't see it.
An engineer needs to be ready for any situation. You never what is going to happen. Just because you are an engineer you are suppose to be able to fix anything.
I still remember my College years, with Mum complaining that she was wasting the family money in my University education as I could not fix her washing machine. It was not easy to explain that although the tumble dry program and an aircraft turbine sound more or less the same, there are a few subtle differences. But I must admit she may had a point, and I would probably be making more money being a appliance technician than an engineer, and she could have enjoyed a holiday in the Caribbean with the savings.
Being an engineer is also not that far from being a politician. You are suppose to provide an answer to any topic they throw at you even if you have no idea. Sorry, I don't know how to explain the Big Bang or why the Jonas brothers split up.
A few years back in one of my multiple trips to South Africa had the opportunity to experience this first hand. I was told I had to do a site visit to an airport the government was keen to show as example of their investment.
So there I was driving several hours cross country to reach this remote idyllic village of Bhisho.
Little I know what was in store for me. When arrived at the airport, a large crowd was outside. Ladies wearing their colorful Sunday dresses and men in their traditional attire. Not your typical welcomed committee. Soon I realized there was no technical site visit but a community day where the entire village was invited to the airport to visit the airport and have a lunch there.
Before I could tell my colleague to leave, we were greeted by the local Bishop and invited to be seated while the local Church Choir was introducing the session with an upbeat African Spiritual Song. At that moment, I resigned to stay and enjoy the experience. Day was already wasted and there was nothing I could do about it so at least I would be getting a good local meal.
But that was not the end of the story. Somebody (Ten years later I am still trying to find the guilty part to plot my revenge) has told the authorities that I was an international renown aviation expert and had to address the crowd ( if they only knew...)
The Tribal leader and the Bishop started their speech in Zulu and suddenly my colleague kick me with her elbow and look at me with a big smile in her face.
"You are to do main speech, the entire village is here for you", she said. Since I was still enjoying in my head the Choir song I didn't fully understand her words. But few seconds later the Tribal leader announced my name and crowd started to cheer in excitement.
I panicked and grabbed my laptop. A laptop is to an engineer like the cape to Superman. It could also be used as a shield if people started to throw thing at me.
During those long 30 meters to the podium I felt like a dead Men Walking. The fact that the Choir decided to go for a soulful song at that moment, didn't help. And while I was asking why me, I was trying to understand what I was suppose to say to the audience. Shall I talk to them about my childhood? How much I like the south african braiis? Should I join the choir and sing?
Despite my shaky legs, I managed to reach the podium and I smiled. Smiling has been always my forte. Shacked the hand of all local authorities and tried to connect my laptop to see if I could use any of my presentations. Pretty pictures always help.
Murphy's law connection didn't work. This is another misunderstanding with engineers. I may know how to design things, but not necessarily how to make them work. Luckily the Choir was quick to lend me a hand and started singing while I was fixing it. There I was, sweating while the crowd was in full Gospel mood.
Song ended ,but laptop had decided to re-start to download some updates. I am small, but not enough to hide of embarrassment behind the podium. Again I was saved when the Bishop waved his hand to the Choir and they started to sign again. Thank God they had a long repertoire as it took me three and a half songs to make it work.
Finally, all technical issues were sorted and I was ready to start talking about the wonders of airport planning to the community when a voice in the crowd shouted Hallelujah!!
Immediately the entire room responded in excitement Hallelujah! ( the engineer is here)
PS. Perhaps if my Mum had more Faith in me, I could work a miracle and fix her washing machine.
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