The truth is that we all chose this profession. The days of the $250K per year with 20 days off per month airline pilot are gone. For the most part however, we all like what it is we do. I'm sure most of us wanted to be pilots since we were children. Management knows this, so they can exploit us and treat us poorly because there is a line of guy out the door who are itching for a chance to "live the dream" and are willing to do it for less. At the end of the day I am happy with the profession I chose. Nobody ever said "I want to work at McDonald's when I grow up!"