Glory

Depends largely on your feelings about Big Brother. Uncle Sam. The All-Seeing Eye. The majority of cryptography jobs are in government, either working directly for a government agency like the CIA or FBI, or working for a government contractor. If you're cool with the feds, and the idea of catching bad guys with serious intelligence gathering, then you'll find some scraps of glory in this job.

Not the same sense of glory that Jack Bauer feels on the Counter Terrorist Unit...but when you watch 24 with your significant other after a pleasant eight hours spent in front of a computer, you'll get some satisfaction in explaining what cryptanalysis really looks like.