A recent survey by jobs board Dice.com yielded what was to me a very surprising statistic: Some 94% of technology folks said they were as happy in their careers as those proverbial mollusks, expressing satisfaction with everything from the pay to the field itself, to the amount of creativity they use in their day-to-day work.

My response was something along the lines of: "Huh? And why are clams so dang happy anyway?"

But I digress. You see, generally speaking our blogs and forums at InformationWeek and TechCareers are filled with campers of the decidedly unhappy variety. The overwhelming majority of the feedback I've seen comes from IT professionals kvetching about everything from the long hours they put in to few if any opportunities to learn new skills or do things like get certifications. Many say they worry about outsourcing's effect on the long-term stability of their jobs and on the industry as a whole, and others have said they'd just as soon move their kids to the planet Xephorb before encouraging their progeny to enter the IT field.

On top of all that, another interesting stat jumped out of the Dice survey: Although almost everyone inside IT is well-satisfied with their jobs, people outside of technology have a less-than-stellar impression of the field. Out of the 1,000 adults surveyed, roughly half were folks engaged in other professions. Of those, 64% said they would recommend a friend pursue a career in technology, compared to 73% who said they'd tell a friend to go for a career in health care. Only 48% would give the nod to a financial services job, though.

Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. After all, in the last issue of our careers newsletter, my colleague Judy Mottl penned an editorial that said the IT field is truly solid and all it really needs is a PR campaign to tell everyone the water's fine and to come on in. And another survey, by staffing firm Hudson, says technology workers were more optimistic in July than they've been at any other point this year. The company conducts monthly phone surveys of 9,000 workers in several industries, including more than 400 IT and telecom workers.

I do have to wonder, though. If IT folks are so happy, why does Dice.com have a game on its site that lets "Joe the IT guy" take out his CIO with a bubonic-plague-infested dart, or turn the sleazy sales guy into a piñata, after both give Joe completely impossible or incomprehensible jobs to accomplish? (The game is called "Being IT," and it's politically incorrect, silly, and, yes, fun for a few minutes' diversion.)

Scot Melland, Dice president and CEO, said in an interview "there is a difference" between loving your career overall and maybe not being so in love with a particular job, or boss, or co-worker. He says the latter situation doesn't mitigate the former, which was the major finding of the survey--that techies are by and large happy with being, well, techies.

Further, Melland added, "this tends to be a very vocal group. In some occupations, you may not hear about it. In this one, you do."

OK, maybe those of us in the media hear primarily from the folks who want to let off some steam by complaining, and just maybe most ITers really are as happy as these new surveys say they are.

And so I ask you, how are you doing? Are you mostly happy, and if so, what makes you smile on your way to work in the morning? If not, what do you wish you could change? Comment below.