Okay, I've had about enough of all of the fellow pilot bashing ... for now. So in the spirit of lightening things up a bit and giving us something else to bash, get a load of what someone said to me last week:
A friend of a friend of a friend heard that I was a pilot. Soon I was the center of conversation amongst about 5 people, and I felt like I was in the middle of an E F Hutton commercial. They asked various questions and I answered politely. One of them then asked what kind of plane I flew. Knowing that any real detail would be over their heads, I just said "a turboprop, that is one that has propellers." "One of those puddle-jumpers, then right?" someone asked. Taking it in stride, I just nodded and said "yeah, they've been called that a time or two."
AND HERE'S THE PUNCHLINE:
"Oh then you're not a REAL airline pilot are you?"
Immediately I recalled all of what I've been through to get to the "puddle-jumpers", all that I've sacrificed, all that I've spent. After a couple of secondsI came back to reality. For one of the few times in my life, I didn't know what to say. I was hosed: the E F Hutton commercial had broken, the others were suddenly no longer interested and only one person was looking for my answer.
"Well I wear a uniform and a hat." And I got up and left the room, politely.
Sooooo...there you have it. Struggle for years, pay out the a$$ for training/time building, suffer through the insults of crusty types, and you too can NOT be a "real airline pilot."
Uuuggghhh. I'm done for the day.
A friend of a friend of a friend heard that I was a pilot. Soon I was the center of conversation amongst about 5 people, and I felt like I was in the middle of an E F Hutton commercial. They asked various questions and I answered politely. One of them then asked what kind of plane I flew. Knowing that any real detail would be over their heads, I just said "a turboprop, that is one that has propellers." "One of those puddle-jumpers, then right?" someone asked. Taking it in stride, I just nodded and said "yeah, they've been called that a time or two."
AND HERE'S THE PUNCHLINE:
"Oh then you're not a REAL airline pilot are you?"
Immediately I recalled all of what I've been through to get to the "puddle-jumpers", all that I've sacrificed, all that I've spent. After a couple of secondsI came back to reality. For one of the few times in my life, I didn't know what to say. I was hosed: the E F Hutton commercial had broken, the others were suddenly no longer interested and only one person was looking for my answer.
"Well I wear a uniform and a hat." And I got up and left the room, politely.
Sooooo...there you have it. Struggle for years, pay out the a$$ for training/time building, suffer through the insults of crusty types, and you too can NOT be a "real airline pilot."
Uuuggghhh. I'm done for the day.