Stop worrying so much about how other people perceive you and your profession. Anyone worth talking to is going to realize that what they see depicted in a Hollywood film and B(or C)-level shows on Bravo is probably not representative of the vast majority of real experiences in the field.

I say stop worrying, not because I simply don't care, but because no matter what we're needed now and will continue to be needed in the future. If public perception sways a bit and begins to define us as 'lazy slacker partiers', then we should just get back to the keyboard and create something. It's just a function of society trying to come to terms with something that many of them don't have the slightest clue about. We all try to categorize the new and unknown using simplistic stereotypes. It's part of how we build mental models of how the world works.

With time, people will begin to understand more realistically what we do. Until then, let's just enjoy our relatively high job security, satisfaction and compensation while continuing to push technology forward.