Originally Posted by
Puck Hawg
Full heartedly disagree about the family part. I have lots of friends that sit in traffic, an hour each day, just to wheel into the same 9-5 rat race that everyone else is. Those guys miss more ball games and practices than I do....and I’m a 13 year regional guy still on min days off....Yes, holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries are never easy to miss, but if you make your time off more about enjoying your time together with family, the job is easy. I’m on 3 weeks vacay right now, and I picked up a trip because my wife is getting irritated with me being home (HA!)
If you and the wife want to make it work, you can. It just takes commitment from both people. In today’s morally bankrupt society, giving up is the easy part.
No life as a commuter? Depends, although, I would argue that living in the majority of cesspool legacy hubs is more than worth the commute. I choose to commute because I want my children to live near family. Commuting adds a few hours a week to this chaotic career, but it’s nice to not be hung up in city traffic, high tax rates, or riding in urine soaked trains/subways.
To each their own, but, I’m able to truly enjoy my days off.
I agree. People talk about the bad luck you can have, pilots who flew for Pan Am, Braniff, TWA. Well, that happens in every industry. In 1973 my dad went from being a VP at a Fortune 500 company to scrubbing buildings and selling firewood to pay the mortgage. I got to be good at fishing, not for enjoyment but because fried fish goes well with scrambled eggs for breakfast and we didn't have money for sausage.
No one wanted to hire a 50 year old executive. It crushed him, here he was a proud WWII vet with a Purple Heart but he couldn't provide for his family. He turned to alcohol but he remained a good father and husband. He may have been drunk when he came to my lacrosse games, but he was still there and he was a polite drunk- only my mom, girlfriend and I knew he was sauced. And he still spent what little extra money he had trying to make my mom happy.
So yeah, there are tough things about this job. But I've had jobs that sucked and can think of many that are worse than being an airline pilot.