Airline Pilot

Flying Ninja said:
Happiness can be bought by money,
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No it can't. Money is a hygiene factor. It can't act as something that will make you happy, it'll only keep you from being unhappy by lack of money.
 
We can argue this all day long. Obviously some people feel differently like myself. I know I was pretty damn happy before with a good paying job and flying on the weekends at my leisure before I sunk myself chasing my dream. Now I'm jobless, dream turned nightmare, with monthly loan payments, and running out of money, I KNOW HOW I FEEL WITHOUT MONEY. And I KNOW HOW I FELT when I had money. I can tell you I was happier then with money than without it today.

"And that's all I have to say about that..." --Forrest Gump
 
Ninja,

You're arguing with someone in college. I agree with you - having money is certainly extremely important. If it weren't, pilots and others wouldn't be pissed at paycuts. We would all work down in Florida at a bar at night, and sleep in a hammock all day.

Once Chris leaves the sheltered life of being in college, if he has to support his way in life, he'll understand. I'm not talking living at home with mom and dad, I'm talking cutting all ties. It's a totally different world out there - worrying about making rent, food money, gas money to get you to work, etc. Unfortunately, money IS everything. Having a "few bucks" left over should go to retirement, not making rent each month.

FWIW, I worked two jobs back after high school during the summer before college. One as a receiver at a grocery store (in the back, unloading trucks and accepting vendors) 6AM to 2PM, then a break, then 7PM to 11PM at UPS loading airplanes. I got 8 hours of sleep, and it was split between two sessions of four hours each. I was also doing my private at the same time.

That lifestyle was rediculously hard, and I was at home with my parents, who did all my errands for me (ie food shopping, etc.). I couldn't imagine a life of 2-3 years of that (and that's without paying taxes, LOL).

Any chance you could sue ERAU? I flew with a former flight safety guy who did their "direct track" program back in early 2000, and he recently won a lawsuit that covered all of his expenses there. They didn't deliever as promised. I'm not someone that likes lawyers, and hate frivilous (sp?) lawsuits, but you may have a case here.
 
I've already spoken to a lawyer regarding my situation and he did say that I do have a case. I'm not inclined to sue anyone just yet. My face isn't quite deep in the mud yet for me to want to play that card. However, he did say that the more complaintants I get with the case, the stronger the case will be since it won't be just me complaining. However, given that most people will be more interested in keeping reputation in the industry than get their money back, I suspect I'll be alone. We'll see.

Thanks for sharing your story. It's nice to have someone else that understand what I was trying to get at. :)
 
wheelsup said:
Once Chris leaves the sheltered life of being in college, if he has to support his way in life, he'll understand. I'm not talking living at home with mom and dad, I'm talking cutting all ties. It's a totally different world out there - worrying about making rent, food money, gas money to get you to work, etc. Unfortunately, money IS everything. Having a "few bucks" left over should go to retirement, not making rent each month.
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With all due respect, wheelsup, I *do* fully support myself. I pay my own rent, car costs, gas, etc. It entails working 40+ hours a week over 4 days and going to school the other three, so I'm well aware what the "real world" is like. And I'm not saying that having no income at all doesn't matter, I'm saying that once you're able to pay for your basic needs (food, shelter, transportation, etc), you can be happy. In my opinion, making $500k a year isn't going to make someone happy who wasn't happy making $50k a year. Having a big TV and a nice car are great and all, but does it make you feel self-fulfillment? Perhaps it's just me in a dream world, but I like to think that in the end, I won't based my satisfaction with how much money I make, but whether I have lived on my own terms.
 
"he recently won a lawsuit that covered all of his expenses there. They didn't deliever as promised"

Really...very interesting. You should invite him to jetcareers.
 
Money can't buy happiness but it sure helps :)

To quote Marlena Dietrich

"I've been rich, I've been poor. Rich is better."
 
Chris_Ford said:
I'm saying that once you're able to pay for your basic needs (food, shelter, transportation, etc), you can be happy. In my opinion, making $500k a year isn't going to make someone happy who wasn't happy making $50k a year.
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Sorry I jumped the gun - I had just read another forum where an FO responded to a "how to supplement your income" thread and smugly replied that he was 23 and lived at home, so he didn't have to worry about money. WTF? The guy asking the question wasn't looking for that type of answer...I guess that just set me off :).
 
Like I said in another post of another thread: you never know what true happiness is until you get married. But, then it's too late.:sarcasm:
 
I think being happy is about living a balanced life. For example, you could be the richest person in the world, but if you have no friends, live no social life, and have no one to love then you would most likely be very unhappy.

Following your dream and achieving it will bring you happyness as long as you have the other factors in balance as well. If you neglected everything to achieve that one goal, then I doubt you would be happy.

To be happy I believe you must be healthy, have a reasonable level of sucurity (money), social life (friends, family), goals (eg, wanting to become a pilot).
Neglecting all other factors just to achieve one I believe is not the route to happyness.
 
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