I think the one point I would raise is that people who "despise" spotters may have nothing to be passionately interested in, themselves. That's the sad part; if people criticise you for being an anorak, airplane geek etc, ponder (or even ask) what they are passionate about. Life is too long a journey to go through it without being passionate about something.
The Chinese curse, "may you live in interesting times" is one thing, but a much worse curse would be to go through life without having any real joy, anything to make your heart beat a little faster, to throw yourself into. That's what aviation is to me; it's more than just photography; it's an incredibly wide area that can actually take in many other areas.
So, when I'm standing in a field beneath the 09L approach tomorrow, people may see a geek, but it'll be someone who is just exercising one particular part of his hobby. And someone who'd be an awful lot happier if the 27s were in use. Well, you can't have everything!