Shackone,

I enjoy our debates however I think it all boils down to expectations and perspective. Perhaps had I entered the profession as a military retiree at 40 with a nice check rolling in every month on top of my airline pay I would have had a different opinion.

As a 32 year old man who was trying to start a family on $492 take home pay every two weeks it wasn't so much fun. Though I know that you don't believe me even after almost 9 years at Horizon I still would only be making around 54K. The median income for a family of four in the PDX area last year is 68K. A 1200 SQ Ft starter home is around 280K.

Today I have a stay at home wife and four young sons. There is no possible way I could support them in a manner that I would regard as even close to acceptable on 54K or $44,280 after taxes. (lower class for a family of four and I have 6) Back when I started in aviation my intent was to have a job that I enjoyed but it also had to provide an income that was suitable enough to provide for at least a middle class life style.

I don't care how much fun a job is if you are not earning a living or have the hope of earning one anytime soon it can become misery. If I had the same choice to make today I would take the same risk. Going broke slowly was never in my set of expectations.

SKyHigh