Group Projects

So when was the last time that you were forced to work with near complete strangers for a common goal given to you by someone else?  If you exclude class projects, which are often argued to help you in the real world, the answer is almost certainly "never" for a majority of the population.  So then why do professors love giving group projects and saying things like "you should get used to it, because you'll be doing it in your profession for years to come" or some such nonsense?

That argument doesn't even touch on the topic of getting stuck with the lazy stoner who you wonder how he remembers to get the class each week, the dumb blonde ex-cheerleader who doesn't stop smacking her gum long enough to contribute, and the overbearing perfectionist that has to have the entire project done his way and cries that nobody else is doing it right in your group.  Luckily, I'm not actually stuck with any people like that in my group for my current "group project," but it's annoying anyway.  I work full time, have a girlfriend that I actually want to see sometimes, and am taking this class, as are most of my fellow group mates.  Attempting to actually get together outside the classroom is a near impossibility because we all have lives.   I just find the college group project to be a waste of time in the "preparation for the future" category and lacking in the overall learning experience.  Instead of learning what the project was supposed to teach, you spend most of your time worried about where you're going to find time to actually meet with the other people in your group.  And yet, every professor seems to have some favorite group project he must throw at you after the drop date has passed and you're stuck in the class!