At a career crossroads? Should you become an astronaut, a fireman, or a system administrator?
 
This is the kind of question that these "handy comparison charts" were just made to answer:
 
PURPOSE OF YOUR CAREER
Astronaut:  Advancing scientific knowledge for the good of humanity.
Fireman:    Saving lives and property.
Sysadmin:   Assuring uninterrupted access to alt.binaries.erotica.sheep.
 
ADVICE YOU'LL GIVE KIDS WHO WANT TO FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS
Astronaut:  "Study science and math and eat your vegetables."
Fireman:    "Study science and math and eat your vegetables."
Sysadmin:   "DON'T DO IT!  RUN AWAY!"
 
QUESTION YOU'LL BE MOST TIRED OF ANSWERING
Astronaut:  "Where do you go to the bathroom?"
Fireman:    "Do you really slide down a pole when the alarm goes off?"
Sysadmin:   "Can't you do anything about all this spam I've been getting?"
 
WILL YOU EVER BE ON TV?
Astronaut:  Yes!
Fireman:    Occasionally.
Sysadmin:   Only MSNBC's "The Site," which doesn't technically count as  TV.
 
WILL YOUR JOB EVER GET ANY EASIER?
Astronaut:  As computers get more and more advanced and able to control more of the functions of the space vehicle, yes.
Fireman:    As more and more people install smoke detectors in their  homes, yes.
Sysadmin:   As more and more clueless newbies discover the Internet, absolutely not.
 
INSPIRING MOVIE ABOUT YOUR PROFESSION
Astronaut:  "The Right Stuff"
Fireman:    "Backdraft"
Sysadmin:   Uh... gee, I'm really drawing a blank here... "Wargames"?
 
YOUR WORK HOURS
Astronaut:  Fairly long days during the mission, but lots and lots of time between missions to relax.
Fireman:    24-hour shifts, but 48 hours between shifts to relax.
Sysadmin:   Not really "work hours" or even "work days"... more like "work millenia."
 
FRINGE BENEFITS OF YOUR JOB
Astronaut:  Lots of good stories to tell to impress members of the opposite sex.
Fireman:    Lots of good stories to tell to impress members of the opposite sex.
Sysadmin:   You get ALL of the jokes in "Dilbert."
 
NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT YOUR PROFESSION
Astronaut:  A few, from people who think the government should be spending its money in different ways.
Fireman:    A few, from people who think you take too long to arrive following a 911 call.
Sysadmin:   You'll have to learn what comes after "trillion" to be able to count them all.
 
YOUR VEHICLE
Astronaut:  Multimillion-dollar space vehicle atop multimillion-dollar rocket.
Fireman:    Big red truck with flashing lights and siren.
Sysadmin:   1978 AMC Gremlin.
 
 
In conclusion, if the sysadmin option has seemed the most appealing in even one of these categories, you should become a sysadmin.