Why the modesty? Why not just admit to the pax that your making 25/35k a year a and you're away from home 80 hours a week to do that?
By being vague or avoiding the question we are only perpetuating the stereotype.
Because so many "get off" on the thrill of being what the public perceives them to be. These are the same regional pilots who wear their mainline partners lanyard; "Look, it says United so that's where I must work."
Or the ones who actually say they work for the mainline carrier or just simply says "XXXX Express," all under the guise of not wanting to "confuse the passenger with a regional name they never heard of."