Back in late 01 when I was getting close to my furlough date at US I asked the Captains I would fly with what they would do if the company shut its doors tomorrow.

The number who said, "I guess I would go to Southwest" was astonishing. Oh... You would just go? Just show up on Monday and they'll be holding the door open for you?

That's not the way the real world works. A lot of Pilots who have had careers free from speed bumps or who are at their first and only airline don't seem to get it. The ones at this airline are no exception.

This place wasn't my first choice either, but between relatively low PIC turbine time before 9/11 and the high quality of my competition during the the lost decade, this was one of the only places offering me a chance to get back into the 121 world. (Could've accepted a recall back in 07' but suffered a big case of the stupids and turned it down)