Hey, i'm ok with tossing out a joke if you know it's funny - but without knowing someone or what they do for a living, you're inadvertently making negative remarks about someone's livelyhood.

I'm not a kid... I'm a husband and father of three - and this is how I provide for my family. I take my career seriously, as will most people my age. The responsibilities we have and the amount of work we do is reflected in our titles. That may not have been the case for you, but it's certainly the case for me.

It's ok to joke with someone if you know them. But you don't know me. So tossing out the suggestion of "growing a thicker skin" is another hunk of advice I can do without. I'm proud of what I do and I won't take it lightly when it's the sole reason my family is able to thrive. When you have a family of your own, you'll know exactly what I mean.

And I'll leave it at that.

When you have a family of your own, you'll know exactly what I mean? LOL. I am 39 have been married since 1989. My wife and I have a 5 year-old (he will be 5 in May). Dude, I traveled 40 percent of the time as a software "engineer" but quit to help my wife run her vet clinic (6-doctor practice). We married when she was almost 18 and I was 21. We got her though 8 years of college and myself through 4 (I will go back to get my MBA once the boy is in first grade). Before going back to school I was a deputy sheriff. Your assumptions (that I am purely ingnorant and have no life experience) are a bit off base.

I made a generalized comment that you did not have to internalize as you did. If I really offended you I do apologize (I would not have done so had I realized you would get so bent). If you care to understand my "sense of humor" about our IT fields, go rent 'Office Space'.

Maybe we should just forget the original comment as we probably have more incommon than either of us care to admit (IT geeks, FX owners, etc).

Fair enough.

lol wow that was amuseing if anyone feels belittled here its me , im a nurse a part business owner and a chef, so everything but IT (though this is my passion) .... hmm makes me want to second think giving advice out to people when theres folks like you guys lurking around these forums.

Well, I think part of the reason is that the term "Engineer" is misused in the job market. You can pretty much use the term for any position. The very basic definition is "one who uses knowledge to solve practical problems."

Nurses, for instance, can be several engineers in one

You're a Pharmaceutical Distribution Engineer, not to mention a Hemodiagnostic Collection Engineer, the list goes on and on...

A lot of people trivialize the role of an engineer because the title is used so arbitrarily. Maybe it *should* be, I don't know. Remember Ed Norton from The Honeymooners? He was a sewer worker, but called himself a "Subterranean Sanitation Engineer".

DB's wife probably has someone walk the dogs in her vet's office from time to time. You could call them Canine Podiatric Mobility Engineers.

The guy who pumped my gas this morning was a Petroleum Transfer Engineer. (I live in NJ where it's illegal to pump your own gas. Doesn't that ROCK?)

Anyway, Nothing but love for DB. Simple misunderstanding cleared up.

Karl you hit the nail on the head. My first job out of college was Senior Programer Analyst. I preferred that title since much of my job was analyzing the business requirements, then designing a solution to meet the business need. In my field, an "engineer" would be someone who does something more like assembly programming (which is much harder).

Mick are you a teenage enema nurse in bondage (title of a song from when I was a teenager)?

We can confirm this as we have seen the little cutie running around in an oversized alienware t-shirt and cap to match!

On a serious note, DB your story is inspiring.
I am turning 20 this summer, My fiance (23) and I are getting married in a month. We will be moving to Japan. He is graduating with a degree in Economics and a degree in International Affairs from GA Tech at the end of this month.
I will probably try to finish school in Japan, as I am going to be a teacher.
It is just nice to know that school is still possible once you are married, and that if you work hard enough it all pays off.

--k1tty

My wife's a teacher.... totally unprofitable to be one here in the USA

In Japan however, if you can teach english, you'll make tons.

Of course, my wife doesn't do it for the money. She just loves kids.

Japan is nice because your income isn't taxed (at all!) unless you're making over the equivalent of around $125k/yr here. And when you cross THAT line, it's taxed an ENORMOUS, JAW DROPPING...um... 4% lol

I've had to do some work-related stuff there. It's definitely an interesting place to visit. What scares me the most about Japan is what those people will EAT!

As for college paying off, eh, I'm a self-taught high-school dropout. But i'm the exception rather than the rule, obviously.

Yeah, thankfully we will have made it through college with only about $5000 total in college loans. Gov't paid for rest of it, and most of that debt is from when my fiance went to Japan for a year for study abroad a couple of years ago.

--k1tty

YOu can make bank teaching English. My brother-in-law (now a professor) taught English while he lived in Korea (he got his bachelors degree there). He also professionally translated books. He now teaches ESL as a major university in DC.

i dont know how it is anywhere else in the world but in australia we weekly have job offerings in the news paper for people with no experiance at all in teaching they just need to know english , the company which runs it teachs you minimal but adiquate teaching skills and send you at no expense to yourself to these countrys to teach english , last time i heard my friend was earning 70000 a year which here in australia is quite a good earning for the year. as for what karl was saying its so completely true a job title is just that , a job title what your being called by others and what you call yourself really doesnt make that much of a differance the job is the same , in the same way you can glorify a possition , you can also down grade it for instance a nurse can be called a personal assistant , or a chef de passtisere can be simply called a pastry chef (which conicadently is its rough translation).Bottom line , who cares what your called by your peers around you if your doing your job and your good at it , you should already know how good you are , the thaughts and labels others give you are nothing more then there opinion which unfortunetly everyone has a right to have but it doesnt mean there valid.

Yeah, who cares what your title is... as long as you have an awesome laptop.

My title: Intern.

That was Monica Lewinsky's title as well.

Haha. It's just too bad my boss is a woman and I'm not a lesbian.

looks like a crappy laptop to me