SkyHigh,
You and I both know that at the end of the day, it's about money. Pride and excitement of the career aside, in order for you to make it (read: survive), you need money. It's the first order of business. Some have parents that gave them every penny they needed, therefore making $19K is a charm. Those of us who paid every penny for our pursuit understand just how insane $19K is to live on. And those who think it's an awesome idea to max out their credit cards to make it work, well, I'm interested to see how their lives turn out in 5-10 years. If someone can make the math work for them at the initial starting salary of a regional airline FO, then all the power to them. Essentially, there are two sides to this coin. Those who are airline pilots, and those who tried. Both sides of the coin are trying to convince those who are on the edge of the coin their side of the story. It is everyone's hope that those who are considering and subsequently get into this career succeed. I think it's great that airline pilots are cheerleading how wonderful the job is and how much fun it is. But these same people need to let people like you and me express our experiences as well because they are just as real and just as legitimate.
I know from my experience that I got screwed by a flight school down in FL. 10-12 months became 18 and the added time translated to unexpected expenses that effectively placed me in a very difficult financial situation to make the career viable at an exciting $19K that first year with the possibility of making top pay of $35K at year five. Not to mention living in the red for the first 48 months. I got ripped off and got my balls kicked in by these dishonorable, gutless, immorale clowns. Nevertheless, I must be the biggest loser for being taken by these expert con artists. But I digress.
I don't think you're being negative like some of these others say. I applaud you for continuing to educate those who are seeking information. You have a story to tell, just like I have a story to tell, just like those who are on the other side of the coin, have a story to tell. What I have learned out of all this mess is that there is one universal language that everyone better get used to. And that is MATH. If you can make the numbers work from 0 hour to jet hours and manage to side step the land mines, then congratulations. Have a great time flying the friendly skies. For those of us who stepped on a mine or see the mine field before trying to cross it, well, we have just as much right to tell our side of the story.
What these folks on here also fail to understand is that while you and I sing the same song over time, the new people don't exactly dig into the past for information. The perception is, if it's old, it's old news. I don't go to the library and dig through microfilm for news in the 60's for the current events. It makes zero sense. I had someone asking "What is the CAPT program?" last week. I having been away from the forums for some time. I'm sure that person didn't dig into the past to find out how badly I got screwed by the CAPT program and how they should stay away from the CAPT program like a cheap ***** with AIDS. So I'd say, keep singing your tune and educate these newbies. The regulars on this forum really should pass up your posts (and mine) and seek new topics to scour, if it's even possible.