Originally Posted by
Sideshow Bob
WTF are you talking about? It's not like you're Ghandi, Rosa Parks or Biko. You picked a career, you had [fill in the blank] bad luck, bad timing or made the wrong choice at the wrong time. Now if you were a teacher, who got into teaching based on the noble desire to improve youth and society and then had a run of bad luck, got disillusioned and quit you might have something valid to say...but that isn't the situation here. You seem like the kind of pudknocker who went out and bought a Rolex after completing IOE posing in the terminal on your days off in uniform...real noble.
Before you get your already up your butt panties anymore up your butt, I'm on my fifth airline including a furlough and bankruptcy, and guess what...I didn't give up and go sniveling to those who were doing "better" than I was at the time. I got off my ass, kept going to work (while supporting a family), did whatever it took to make ends meet. Now I've got a great flying job and likely will to retirement. That is both a measure of me doing my research and picking a job based more on business than emotion (cargo vs. pax) and...guess what, some good luck. If I had made a wrong choice and/or had some more bad luck I sure wouldn't be on a pilot website justifying my lack of fortitude and commitment, I'd be using my energies and hopefully knowledge gained by my shortcomings and get it right somewhere else. But for all I know, this may not be your first (or last) pityfest.
Diminishing regional captains on a pilot website is such transparent bitterness on your part it's pathetic. And you know what else? Management has NEVER respected pilots anymore than many here who have forgotten more about aviation than you'll ever know will ever have for you. Get a grip.
Maybe you are right. Perhaps this career is about unending sacrifice and hardship. Like I have previously said it seems like one is expected to give it all till there is nothing left of our lives but sleep and work. If you are comfortable with multiple furloughs, layoffs and shutdowns and still come back for more then my next question is that where does one draw the line? When do we start to respect ourselves? The industry sure will not. Not so long as they can kick someone to the curb for decades and they keep coming back.
I wish that for every one of these "
get over it" types we could preform a full audit of all the choices they made in their life to remain in the saddle and tally up all the losses to go along with them. My guess is that it becomes easier to give up things that you care about the more you do it.
I would say that in years past it was easier to pick up another job that had at least a hope of paying the bills. Today that isn't so easy. Once you are bounced out with a family in tow there is little else to jump to.
SKyHigh