All Engineers are NOT Jerks
It is very difficult to face this fact. I am not saying that just because someone is an engineer they are not a jerk. Not at all. Occasionally you will find a pretty cool one. What I am saying is that just because someone has chosen the field of engineering, it does not automatically mean they are a jerk.
Granted, you may know engineers who are jerks. I know some engineers who have intolerable behavior; know it all; belligerent; defensive; and generally have no clue about how to carry on a normal conversation without being the center of attention, or somehow better than whoever they are talking to.
I knew an engineer who could not talk without trying to be a smartass. His comments were not witty, just pathetic. I always regretted speaking to the guy. You wonder how a guy like that could have any friends. If they have any, they are probably engineers.
Engineers do have people who they can work with. . .other engineers. When engineers are working together, there is this competition among them to see who knows the most. In other areas, people are generally happy to be surrounded by competent people.
How do people choose the engineering profession? Either they got beaten up a lot, or were the ones doing the beating. At any rate their dads would probably not talk to them much unless they were building something fabulous. Jerks will never be successful being a salesman or a supervisor because they have to work closely with people.
Any person who is young and a jerk should first try not t be a jerk. If they cannot change, they should go into something that limits their exposure to the rest of us meaningless carbon units. They would be better off working with things, not people. Young jerk, be an engineer.
Package Identification
Most people are not aware of the meanings of certain symbols on food packages.
A "U" with a circle around it means the product is approved as kosher by the Orthodox Union.
You can also tell what company makes a product for a private store label, at least if it has meat as an ingredient. On the top of the can or package, you will see a code starting with "EST" or "P". This establishment or poultry number identifies the plant it was processed in for tracking purposes. If you look on the USDA website for the numbers that follow after that on the package, you can see what plant the product was packaged in.