feel rather lucky, found a different job outside of aviation, and will hopefully start sometime soon...starting salary is 53k, 9-5, weekends and holidays off, better vacation and sick time gains, and some retirement....downside, i'll give up flying for a living.

Navy, with all the crap you guys have been through in the last couple years, you deserve it. Go out on your terms. I hope those terms include an outstation departure :)

When someone asks how much I make as a first year FO I say, "I'll tell you over a drink, as long as you're buying"

im working on becoming a pilot and have already accepted that ill be on food stamps lol.

How 'bout instead of just accepting it you actively contribute to help changing it? Would love to see fewer of you noobs happy to work just for peanuts just because you get to fly a bright shiny RJ.

Management takes the cake for misleading the public. They downright lie to them about what we make. Yes i do make $70/hour. Sort of. What is more accurate is that i make $50k as a captain. As an F/O i barely passed the $30k mark. Remember the comair strike? Comair management put out a newpaper ad that said our new hire pilots can make $55k/year.
They got that from a new hire going through training then after IOE they upgrade. And then they are making the $55k. Now have you ever heard that happen? Most airlines post first year Captain rates, but they don't really happen. Just like you thinking that you make $70k/hour that you will make $70k for your 1000hrs work. What do you think is the percentage of people that actually make it too 1000hrs? We might have 3 people out of 500 at my job.
So i couldn't care less if we lied to the travelling public, management has been doing it for years and now it's our turn. If that is what it takes to get a decent pay for our job then so be it.