I think we have the source of the problem. If a simple comment is made to a screener, it would probably pass. However, if a crewmember who feels the way the following quote depicts; arrogant, haughty, high, and demeaning, picks a fight, he will probably lose.
quote:
"All of a sudden a bunch of under-achieving, under-educated, goons with a chip on their shoulder over their $8.25 an hour jobs have been given power over $200,000 a year sky gods - a few of the screeners can not help but turn into bullys. They have been waiting years to "teach these arrogant pilots a lesson." (School is now in session folks)"
Call in to a secretary to talk to the boss, you had better be nice to the secretary. You need to get past her, and it would do well to treat her as a person, as a human being. You may never get past her, otherwise. Same for the screeners. They have a job to do, and cop an attitude as shown in the quote, and you may end up having a hard time.
Two hundred thousand dollar a year sky gods? Is there someone out there who really thinks of themselves in this manner? Unbelievable. Sad. Pathetic. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE???
Underachieving? Who on earth are you to set the standards that another must achieve in life, or to dictate who or what that person will be? Do you think you are superior because you have a more extensive education, or that it makes you better? If so, you have a long way to go in life yet, and some import lessons yet to learn. Perhaps you studied Aristotle, and the screener did not. Are you greater in the eyes of the courts, the eyes of
God, the eyes of the law? Are you superior in some way that gives you the right to look down on others?
Don't tell me about those who have worked hard to get where they are. We've all worked hard. But we know nothing of the lives of others. We've all heard the comment that I cried because I had no shoes...but have you walked in the other person's shoes?
Do you deserve respect because of your uniform. You don't deserve squat. You deserve nothing. Respect is earned. Don't forget that you are not a "sky god," but a person doing your job. A human being. Five bucks worth of chemicals and water in a skin suit, doing your job.
Yes, you spent thirty or fity grand on your career. So what. Most people spend that on their house. It's money, it's been spent. You spent it. Big deal. We all got here one way or another, but you do NOT buy respect. Don't demand it, don't expect it; go earn it. One does NOT earn it by making snyde comments and looking down on others from the self-inflated position of a "sky god." I am sickened to think of sharing the cockpit with someone who would look upon me, or anyone else, with such a haughty point of view. And deeply saddened.
Someone commented that we deserve great respect, and are better than our passengers because we can fly an ILS to minimums. Wow. What arrogance. I've had passengers who could perform intricate heart surgery. Passengers who had been awarded purple hearts in the service of their country. Passengers who ministered to entire congregations in times of need. Passengers who fought for points of law in the highest courts and congressional sessions. Not a single one of them could fly a localizer to minimums, so does that make me better than them?
I've had passengers who had to borrow the money to get somewhere, or who were comped because they couldn't afford to go. Passengers who had no education, no status. Who's clothes were purchased second or third hand. Passengers who were old, sick, who had no great gift left to give society but themselves. Am I better than they? No. I am their servant; I am there to serve them and to do my humble best for them. They deserve my respect. They are human beings; people. They are my responsibility, my charge, my mission. Better? They are my equal, except that I will bow for them; they deserve no less.
When I leave the terminal, I am not better than the man who has nothing. The man in the old olive drab field jacket and ragged pants, with his belongings in a store bag, his hair wet, his eyes vacant, and his hope gone. Better? I am humbled to the dust; I could be that man. We are but one step from the gutter.
I will tell you this, and be done with this thread; it's sickened me. A short time ago I lost my employment. One day I had everything, and the next it was gone. Much like many of us. I lost my house, my car, pawned my possessions. I couldn't afford a single present for my children this Christmas. I had a potentially life threatening medical condition, and couldn't be seen by a doctor because I had no money, and no insurance. I sought public housing, but was unable to recieve it because of so many others here seeking the same thing.
I am back today, just barely, but thanks only to another person who helped me. Some of these events happened only weeks ago. I am flying, I am working, I have purpose.
Don't be lead to believe you are superior in any way to screeners, passengers, those who work with the FAA, or others in any capacity. You are not. You are a person. You have one vote and one voice in life, as do they. Your value is the same. You may make more money, but you are no more important. To those who would believe otherwise, I pity you in your prison.
