I think that opinion is changing. I regularly see engineers come in with gaps, and rarely do they not have a good explanation for it that anyone but the worst

I think that opinion is changing. I regularly see engineers come in with gaps, and rarely do they not have a good explanation for it that anyone but the worst managers would be ok with. Whether it's child-rearing, testing early retirement, starting their own thing, whatever. About the only thing that would raise a flag for me was "I was in prison" and only because for regulatory reasons in my industry it's not possible to employ convicted felons.