I flew 737-3/4/5 for 9 years, and was very used to it. It stopped surprising me after about 7. I've also done sim checks on 737-200 and 737-800. I'd even stopped noticing the trim wheel rattling round and the wind noise above 280 knots (actually, thinking about it, it was because we lowered the cost index and never flew above 280 knots).
I've now flown A319/320/321 for 10 years. It took me about half an hour to get used to it. I think it's excellent. I don't think I've ever needed the protections, except in the simulator, I've never had to pull full back (that is FULL back as hard as you can) and firewall the throttles (that is FULL forward to the stop) to escape from terrain (though I like the fact that you can and the aeroplane will do everything it can), I've never had an ECAM as confusing as the ones that they've thrown at us in the sim (and I've not had one in the sim that I've not managed to puzzle out), I've never used the RAT for emergency hydraulics and electrics. I've had one abandoned take-off in that time, miscellaneous electrical glitches, most of which were resettable, I've ended up poling it around at circling minima breathing prayers of thanks that the autothrottle will look after the speed whilst I point it where I want it to go. Yeah, the Boeing you can fly like a "real" aeroplane - but in poor visibility at 600', I'll take all the help I can get. This isn't (as somebody described it on one of the other fora) willy-waving - this is about safely transporting people from A to B.
So basically, give me an Airbus. If I want to fly a real aeroplane, I'll go and rent a Stearman or something. But I forsook being a "real" pilot when I started flying down lines on computer screens. An Airbus is better at helping me keep my job, which I would be the first to acknowledge is not being a "real" pilot at all.
(Yes, I do still have those skills, last time I was checked ... and they do still need to underlie our operation of the airliner.)