We pay engineers to build bridges that won't fall down. We ask lawyers and accountants to give us advice based on their logical analysis of our affairs. We expect bus drivers to stick to the prescribed route, and to resist any creative urges while on duty. Most of the time, we nobly strive to suppress our own irrationality, especially when people are relying on us to pretend, at least, that we are the dutiful servants of logic. Engineers' private lives are bound to be as messy and unpredictable as anyone else's - more so, perhaps, if they are inclined to expect those around them to be as tidy and predictable as quadratic equations.
Expectations are everything.
Hugh Mackay is an author and social researcher. The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.