and then how would you have gotten the time for your prestigious flying job at CAL? How would CAL get all the passengers that want to fly from Abilene or Roswell or any small town to San Diego?

No matter what one thinks about RJ's "stealing" mainline flying how about this perspective. When Northwest gave Pinnacle 130 RJ's (which mainline pilots did not want to fly those little puddle jumpers at that time) did NW lose 130 of their aircraft? I think not. Did the RJ help open up new routes, establish marketing/customer support in new markets that it would be foolish to put a 320 on to start with? yes. Then when 50 people consistently book flights in the new market, they put a DC-9 on it. Same with the touristy in-season hot spots. Thus it doesnt tie up the mainline aircraft and they can continue their frequency between already established city pairs.