2012 is coming ...tock,tock,tick,tock....

Looks and sounds like the seventies again. Man, I can dig it!:)

Sky,

Do all of your 4,800 posts consist of b****ing about the job and industry, or just 4,799 of them?

Come on now...you had your time at the airlines, and you didn't enjoy it. You quit, and now you're happier and at home. You cannot sit here every damn day telling people to stay away and that they wont be happy. You have no idea who these people are, what their motivations are, how much they love flying, or how much they'll love flying professionally. Not saying that they will, though. I know that many will be unhappy and hate it, but not all. You know what? Just sit there and be happy with your decision. You can't run around telling people how they'll feel and what they will like or hate, because truth is, you don't know. You cannot tell me that I'll love or hate something - you don't know me. Every ******* post someone makes asking for advice on what to do, you jump in and give them your story and tell them how miserable they'll be. How the heck do you know that it will be miserable it will be for that person? Just because you're wonderfully pessimistic doesn't mean the next guy is.

As for me, I'm gonna go for it. I love flying that much - I love it more than anything else by far. I love the thought of the whole experience of flying professionally. I think I'm going to enjoy it, but you know what? I'm not sure. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'll hate it. But I sure as hell am not going to go off the advice of some crotchety guy who makes 99/100 posts that bash the industry and crushes any little 12 year old that asks what it's like.

[/rant]

Sky is certainly one of the most vocal on the board. But you'll find many agree with his sentiment.

However, I commend you for your determination. Go do it! Worse case scenario, you realize that some of what Sky and others say is true, and you'll quit and do something else. No one can/will argue that you will be better off for the experience.

And if you aren't already a pilot, you'll have a lifetime of flying fun as a byproduct of having attained your licenses in the pursuit.

I am a bit sour myself after my bout of fairly bad luck at my first attempt at an airline career. But, of all my accomplishments, I hold my ability to fly and the attainment of my certificates as one of my greatest accomplishments and one of the best decisions I've ever made in this life.

Whether I go back to career flying or not, I don't feel I've a wasted a single second on aviation.

The other day, I gave a bunch of kids their first airplane ride for a charity event for a local flight school. I had to pinch myself that day for the ability to be in a position to do that. Those very kids who sat next to me that day with awe in their eyes are the ones who will inherit what we leave of this hobby/profession/industry.

Lets do them proud, eh.