things only engineers can relate to
25 Things Only Engineers Can Relate To
Oh yes, you are finally an engineer! By default, perhaps, but you made it! Whether you understand the technical aspects thoroughly or not, there are certain situations you will perfectly relate to. On that note, the Buzzle article below enlists 25 things only engineers can relate to.
Popular Online Joke About Engineers
Optimist: The glass is half full.
Pessimist: The glass is half empty.
Engineer: The glass is twice the size it needs to be.
So, you've finally done it! The torturous nights of exams, hours of slogging in the labs, deriving complex formula, submitting papers, and working with circuits among things engineers have to deal with, are finally over. You are dancing with joy ... until you realize you have to deal with more of this at work (gasp!) For reasons unknown, the field of engineering has become a sarcastic ground that rings with peals of laughter. And rightly so, to quite an extent, since engineering has become a guaranteed, fall-back career option.
In the true sense, this field teaches a person to engineer a product in an ingenious way. Off late, with ever-increasing syllabus, horrendous competition, and less time, the quality of education has been compromised. Rather than learning something from the course, students focus on assignment completion and research paper submission. The social media world is ablaze with engineering memes. The paragraphs below enlist some funny instances that engineers will perfectly understand and relate to.
Things Engineers Can Relate To
1. Counting starts from 0, not from 1.
Well, of course it does. The binary system is the base of computer engineering. And then you start computing regular math in binary code, don't you?
2. You can actually create a 'child' within seconds. And 'protect' them from 'inheriting' unnecessary 'characteristics'.
Talk about convenience! The child-parent flowcharts have a permanent residence in your ever-confused brain.
3. Your name is not your identity anymore. You are a resource.
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You do have a name, right? Well, not anymore. Whether you are a civil engineer or a computer engineer or an aerospace engineer, you are now labeled as a 'resource' inside the company. You wonder why your parents even bothered to name you.
4. A sentence ends with a semi-colon.
You would completely relate with this. You are so embroiled into software codes, you start using a semi-colon at the end of regular sentences. Don't you deny it! Why did you even learn grammar?
5. The root is at the tree top.
Certainly qualifies for a funny quote on computer engineers. Yeah, the root is still the foundation of the tree. But here, it is depicted at the top (why? No idea.). And you conveniently forget that real trees still have roots at the bottom.
6. You are now expected to know everything about every appliance that was ever devised..
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Yes, I know it's frustrating. Everyone thinks you can repair every equipment, and it takes every ounce of your willpower to resist the urge to slap them.
7. Your code works and you do not know how.
Your code worked ... wait ... how ... when ... who cares, it just did! When your code works without you having a clue as to how it happened, it is all you can do to keep from shouting out loud and thanking the Almighty for this unexpected miracle.
8. You are in love with coffee and beverages.
How can you not be? They are what kept you going through the frustrating grad assignments and nauseatingly sick exam nights. Hurray for caffeine!
9. You dismantled every electrical and electronic appliance in the house.
The inquisitive techie that you are, you cannot resist taking a peek into the inside assembly of the radio or the television or the CPU. Not that you understand much initially, of course. And then? You do not know how to put it back together. Now what? I am not going to pen down the reaction.
10. Class population at the beginning of semester - 120. By the end of the semester - 20.
No denying this engineers. Whoever sat in the classes for the whole semester? Wait ... those nerdy guys did! No wonder the population is still 40.
11. If a small kid asks you a simple question, you provide an elaborate answer.
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Not your fault, certainly, your brain is wired like this. You tend to complicate a simple thing to the point of no return. So much so, you do not even notice when the child has probably run off, assuming you were a lunatic.
12. Girls?? In mechanical engineering courses? Where?
Better now perhaps, but the population of girls taking up mechanical engineering courses is still comparatively low. Looking for a girl in the workshop was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
13. When you start speaking about your projects, people have a confused expression.
Well, of course they think you are crazy. Because they cannot understand what you say. What's more, they do not realize that you yourself know nothing about the nonsense you are spouting! (Wink wink!)
14. Once they were children's crafts, now they are real-life projects.
And, you have your heart in your mouth of course, wondering what prompted you to enter this complicated world of formula and codes and machines and circuits.
15. One day before the exam ... and you are blank.
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Most certainly. You stay up all night, you borrow the best notes, you cram up the most important questions. In the morning ... you are still blank.
16. You were an integral part of the math club or the robotics club and so on.
Strange for non-engineers, perfectly normal for you. Once the President of the Arts Club in high school, and now the President of the Coding Club. Whatever next?
17. The world thinks you guys are born geniuses.
Lap up the praise! Lap it up before they realize you do not know much!
18. Your work life is completely different from what your learned in grad school.
So here you are, trying to make peace with your first job. And then you wonder why there are no integrals, or differentials or microprocessor 8086 theory, or any of the stuff you crammed up. And you come to the painful realization that you still have to learn a million other things.
19. Try as you can, you never remember anything while writing the exam paper.
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You've tried to learn as much as possible, and you still have no idea what to write in the exam. Makes you wonder if you have been preparing for the wrong subject.
20. You envy the liberal arts or the economics majors.
You certainly have a right. No qualms there. I'll bet your face would've resembled a sobbing monkey when they go to the movies, leaving you behind.
21. The programming cycle is a series of conflicting emotions.
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Just check that out. You are so happy and eager to start programming. And then you hit a series of road bumps. Wait until you hear yourself snore.
22. You spend more time behind a computer screen than anywhere else.
When was the last time you spent with your family or friends? Well, of course you don't remember. The computer screen has been your best buddy all this time.
23. Woman: You cannot smoke here. Didn't you read the warning?
Software Engineer: We only worry about errors, not warnings.
Coding away all day and night, it's all you can think of in the most ordinary situations. Seriously, who on earth gives a lame answer like that?
24. You use computer commands and terminology even in normal conversations.
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Well well ... whoever frames a reply in a software command? It's a wonder your spouse tolerates this nonsense.
25. Jobs ... err ... what???
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Yeah ... you suddenly realize there are no great jobs after all, and you have to actually understand the concepts to even clear the interview. Well, nothing to say about this. Engineering ain't easy fellas, you have to slog to get where you fantasized yourself to be.
Never mind the sarcasm engineers; point is, you made it. You stayed up nights, submitted papers, studied as much as you could, and here you are! Cheers to that!