The problem with claiming you've "paid your dues" is that no matter what you or I or someone else has done in the past, there's ALWAYS someone else that has "paid more dues."
That comes in an infinite variety, from really big airplane pilots that had their career swept out from under them, or got tired of flying around the world - seeing places and shooting approaches I'll only dream of - to the combat proven former military pilots, to charter jet pilots that were on call for 10 years, to the Lifeguard pilots that had a 15 to 30 minute response time.
I had a lot of pretty crappy jobs in my career, but I didn't know any better at the time and basically enjoyed everyone of them.
I know of pilots that have washed out that flew C-141's (blew my mind and was depressing), were former Captains at Legacy or Mainline airlines (same thing) and pilots with 15,000 hours in single pilot freight turbine aircraft (that was frightening).
Years of experience and "paying dues" does not necessarily translate to being a good pilot or a pilot with a good attitude.
The exception, for me, was training 2 Air Force Academy grads that came straight from the military to F9. Both of them were so sharp, it made me proud to be an American, but I know even the Academies can put out marginal pilots.
And calling any group "pukes" is hypocritical in the extreme. I know of FO's that say, "God, I have to fly with a reserve captain puke."
Comparatively, "8 years of single-pilot 135 cargo in the mountains" ain't all that impressive to those that did it for 15 years or did it for 2 years and were lucky enough to find a job flying a G-4 or a BBJ or went overseas to get enough time to come back to a job they loved at a LCC, Legacy or a Fedex or UPS or liked living in Montana (or where ever) enough to make a career out of that.
It's really a silly argument if you think about it. There's always someone who had it easier than you and someone that had it a LOT tougher than you (or anyone).
Now for my own hypocrisy, I'm completely unimpressed with pilots that came out of a flight school with 250 hours, went straight into an RJ, have been there a couple of years and think the world owes them a career.
I guess pilots and other people that feel "entitled" just bug me to no end.
