With your background and what you recently went through, I truly appreciate everything you wrote, but there is a reason that you're sitting next to some twenty somethings, and it's not because...

Everything is relative. I heard a lot about WB being a different airline, how good the QOL is, etc, but you truly don't appreciate any of it until you experience it. They say to go WB FO when you're able to hold NB left seat with the seniority you want for QOL so, if you can't manage your rest and it kicks your ***, you can upgrade. The problem is that if it suits you it is difficult to think about going back to multiple legs, airplane swaps, inbound is late, short overnights, etc. So many more dynamics to eff up a day, trip, etc. I imagine similar to if you were a CA now with the more efficient operation and had to then operate in the NK environment. What you used to deal with as a matter of fact is now exponentially more painful😂
Occasionally I look at the NB CA PBS awards for my seniority, and while not horrible, I do question wanting to go back to that mess.

Having said all that, if anything will push me back, it will be missing flying - honestly. I really wish there were a middle ground.