is this a habit of ALL engineers??

Semidevil

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2002
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Ok, so at my workplace, this nicely dressed guy comes in w/ his family shopping for some glasses. He's clothing is semi formal, carries a tiny briefcase, and inside his briefcase, he has a little leather notebook. He shops around, looks around, and writes down all the prices of what he likes in his notebook. Then he asks me for the price of the lenses, and whips out his calculator, calculates the total(including tax). Then he asks me about insurance. He then makes me calculate his insurance, and see which one is cheaper.

AFter that, he goes about asking me for the type of lenses we have, and wants to know pretty much all the advantages & disadvantages of them all. Then he calculates the total of his glasses, and we finally start his order.

AFter we were done, My boss told meet that "This guy must be some kind of engineer." I was like, yea right. Surely enough, when he came back to pick up his glasses, we asked him, and he said we were right. He was in fact, a civil Engineer. After he leaves, my boss then goes on saying that those are the characteristics of an engineer.

Wow, so do you think that is true? Do all enginners have that habit? taking notes on what they want, wanting exact price quotes(plus tax), wanting to know everything we have to offer, carry a briefcase, etc etc etc??

Is it just that *thing* that they build up during their school years or what??

anybody have any experiences similar to mine? are you an engineer? do you act like that sometimes??
 

ScottyB

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2002
6,677
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Every single one of them. They are carbon copies of eachother, didn't you know? Just like how all computer scientists have afros and smoke bongs all night.
 

iamwiz82

Lifer
Jan 10, 2001
30,772
13
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Originally posted by: ScottyB
Every single one of them. They are carbon copies of eachother, didn't you know? Just like how all computer scientists have afros and smoke bongs all night.


can you show me one who doesnt?

;)
 

rahvin

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,475
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When a Civil Engineer makes a mistake in a technical calculations it could cost millions of dollars or it could result in 1000's of people dieing. So yes, Civil Engineers are a bit anal. But in answer to your question, no he is not typical for the profession.
 

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
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I am a civil engineer, and I am not that way.

Is it really that bad to analyze every detail before making a purchase?
 

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
27,105
598
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Yep, sounds like a typical engineer to me. Oh God, then I'm only destined to become like this.....
 

Ameesh

Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
23,686
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i dont think there is anythink wrong with this, i dont have a little book but i do make sure i understand all my options very well before im make any purchase over $50.
 

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
Alot of people want to know the price, but most can easily estimate. That guy sounded like he was overly anal and the stuff he was doing was more along the lines of an accountant. Most of the engineers I know would try and take apart the glasses to check them out before buying :)
 

toph99

Diamond Member
Aug 25, 2000
5,505
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my dad does all that stuff in his head, and he shops around for everything. He's an electical engineer though
 

Rayden

Senior member
Jun 25, 2001
790
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I have an engineer personality/interests. I enjoy analyzing my purchases. Im only 17 so i don't carry around a briefcase and a calculator eveyrwhere i go.
go to www.google.com and search engineer jokes. :) they are great. but i suppose only really funny if you are an engineer.
 

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
0
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Originally posted by: toph99
my dad does all that stuff in his head, and he shops around for everything. He's an electical engineer though

EE's are in a class of their own...
 

WhiteKnight

Platinum Member
May 21, 2001
2,952
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I'm an EE and no, I'm not like that. I won't, however, buy any electronics over a few dollars without reading a review or at least checking it out in some detail first. But no, no little notebook or calculator or anything like that.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,484
8,344
126
He was in fact, a civil Engineer

Aye! I worked for a civil engineer for a year. That guy was fuxored in the head. His office was across the street from a golf course and he would make us walk over to the course early in the morning (5:30 AM) and look for rogue golf balls because he was too cheap to buy his own.
 

RalphWiggum

Senior member
Feb 20, 2001
466
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I'm a civil engineer, well, one in training anyways. I can say that I have never done this. I have never witnessed anyone of my CE friends or coworkers do this. When I charge other CE's for work, I don't think they even check my numbers. So, there you go...
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,374
6,196
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Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Originally posted by: ScottyB
Every single one of them. They are carbon copies of eachother, didn't you know? Just like how all computer scientists have afros and smoke bongs all night.


can you show me one who doesnt?

;)

I can ... me. I still have like 2 years left in comp sci major, so I have 2 years to grow my hair out to an afro :)

But as far as engineers go, I only have 1 guy who's an engineer and yea ... heh he's like that :)
 

Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
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That guy is just anal about how much he spends. There are people like that in every profession, and no... That's not typical of an engineer any more than most any other stereotype.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
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No they aren't all like that. That guy sounds like a dweeb and I bet his wife looked like my ass after a dump. I'm surprise he has one! :Q
 

MrBond

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2000
9,911
0
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Nothing wrong with getting all the info so you get a good deal. I do it too to some extent, although I certainly don't write everything down. Besides, it's a known fact that all civil engineers are crazy and that chemical engineers are the most attractive of all the engineering disciplines ;):D:p
 

SCSIfreek

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2000
3,216
0
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nope not all engineers are like that, but only stupid engineers who can't do it in their head needs a calculator(simple math or estimate). Being anal is good when it comes to calculations on building structures and cost estimating but not when you're in a mall looking for glasses. I'm a Civil Engineer :)
 

Michael1897

Golden Member
Apr 5, 2002
1,019
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i had a guy come in and ask about faxes, when we started talking, he had me figure out how many faxes per cartridge he'd get and how much each would cost and how much feet per sheet it takes in the roll.

another guy came in looking at printers and wanted one of the printers that canon made with the multiple color cartridges, he wasn't very intelligent about printers but he figured that that would be cheeper to replace one color and sacrifice quality then buy one big one at a time. again he wanted to know about how long each little individual cartridge would last and about how much they cost / per page and total.
 

Mani

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2001
4,808
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I'm an EE and I usually do that, though I do the calculations in my head.