TV got broke somehow when the wife put The View on, so I'm bored and on a desktop with an extra large keyboard (of course) and need to keep those freaken kids the hell off my lawn, so here goes.

I was shocked at our popularity with applicants during the great hiring blitz of the last 10 years. The crazy growth didn't feel right. The weird enthusiasm by the new guys was yucky. Seemed much safer not to get the attention of the legacies and keep our little gang of roustabouts employed. A MILF sale here, a stripper truck there, here a MILF, there a MILF, everywhere a MILF MILF. Nope. We needed to grow!

It really doesn't take a big brain to figure out seats sell in baskets and we're pretty easy to undersell out of a market if we start to threaten their turf. It almost seems as though the guys in the corner offices only cared about themselves, but I knew that couldn't be true.

Shiney new jets, happy CP's, new sims, great training, and a pretty good life after reserve. But that "Free High Five" thing gave me the creeps. Then the whole "we're shutting down FLL and your job's in Nashville, PSYCH!, no it's not we're building a Glass Palace right here!" thing was attention getting. Almost like those guys were wingin it.

Then the engine thing. Does anybody seriously buy a new model of a car when it's first introduced? No! you wait until the recalls and the kinks are worked out, then see if it's a viable purchase after a few production runs. What's next, a fleet of Cybertrucks for tugs? 3,000 of those were made so if you see one in the wild that's your hometown moron.

When the few guys would ask me about moving on I would always say if you're 45 or younger and you can get hired by a legacy, that's a solid 20 year career and you need to do the math on what that retirement looks like compared to staying. It's a no brainer unless your personal life is too complicated to leave and pay your dues for a few years yet again.

This is a great gig after a few years in, and I get that's what makes the decision to leave so much harder. If I were in my 50's, and not the oldest guy on the frequency everyday, I'd probably shoot for one of those corporate gigs Linked In feeds me every day. Really sucks for the lost decade guys, but the not knowing can take a real toll on your family too. Hard times do make tough people, but that's how we got here right?

What I'm saying as a proud Boomer is it's not only timing, but age (versus the opportunities available to you). Do the math. What would 15 years at a legacy do for your retirement with the last five/seven in the right seat of a wide body?

TLDR
I'm old.
If your 50 or younger get out because it's always been my advice.
If your older than 50 you better have apps out and pay off your house.
Get off my lawn.