Not sure if this relates or not, but a wise old chief pilot once told me, "We could do their jobs for an entire day and not cause much harm, but they couldn't do our jobs for a minute without doing some serious damage".

Having said that, I really don't have much interest in doing their jobs, but I have a lot of respect for what got them there. The passengers that I get along with the best are the ones that feel the same way about me.