There's a big difference between turbulence which makes you spill your coffee, and that which has hosties bouncing off the ceiling and shakes your eyes in their sockets.
I've flown through a mountain wave and also landed at LBA with -25 shear on short final and preceeding jet moaning about turb, both in a light single. Yet I've also been onboard a jet out of JFK which flew through CBs and got stiffed by 3000ft/min up & downdrafts. The former were unnerving, the latter just plain scary. When was the last time you had the hosties tell you to pour all hot drinks on the floor?
Noone's saying turbulence is nice, but remember that the ICAO definition of severe turbulence is that likely to result in airframe damage. The majority of people I would suspect never experience anything more than light, or occasionally moderate turbulence. Some scoff at the "fasten belts when seated" speech, but once you've seen people slapped between ceiling and floor you don't need to be asked twice!