shaun ryder,
That logic works the first couple of times you tell your spouce you are missing their birthday or an anniversary. They are understanding for the first couple of christmases because they know you are working towards something.
Their understanding, however, wears thin after years and literally hundreds of "nope, can't do Im on call" or "sorry hun, but I'm on a layover in YYZ that weekend." type conversations.
Its not that the communication is lacking, its that people get sick of hearing "I can't because [insert reason of the day]" all the time and begin to wonder if perhaps a banker/broker/lawyer would have been a better relationship move than the "jet setting pilot who can take me to far off locations on a whim."