Considering leaving the profession for good, could use advice

[Autothrust Blue]

My typos are hilarious. I really need to bring my reading glasses out with me if I’m going to do any writing on my iPhone. Autocorrect just murders my writing.

350A confirmed.

 

[Ian_J]

My only organized activity was band, but it was a pretty low time commitment. Most of the rest of the time I was on my own, riding bikes or hacking away on a computer or video game. I’m glad my parents weren’t hovering over me 24/7, especially on the weekends because I was able to explore who I was as an individual.

But then, of course, a lot of us are “Generation X” so we were largely feral. We didn’t want our parents driving us to school, making us lunches, screaming from the bleachers or standing in the middle of the auditorium with a camcorder recording the moment your saxophone’s reed broke and your chirped your way through a movement.

So much yes to all that. K and I are always shocked when our same-age parent friends over-manage their kids. Either they don’t remember the joy of being a “free-range” kid or there is some sort of current parent peer pressure thing driving it.

 

[derg]

So much yes to all that. K and I are always shocked when our same-age parent friends over-manage their kids. Either they don’t remember the joy of being a “free-range” kid or there is some sort of current parent peer pressure thing driving it.

I think the best thing my parents did for me growing up is, well, nothing. Just being there if I needed them but I had to learn to navigate the world fairly early and since I was the “mistake child” everyone else was approaching adulthood when I was a kid so no one wanted to deal with “kid stuff”.

Back in the 1980’s, in high school, I had forgotten to close a flight plan and the FSS called the flight school to see if I had checked in and they called my parents to see if I had checked in and of course this pre-dated cellphones. So I got home, my folks weren’t even pissed, they said “Call the FAA and close your flight plan dumbass” and that was the last I heard of it.

I couldn’t imagine a parent in 2024 and the Uber-blog they’d have up with the TikTok videos about their missing child moments after someone alluded to them being missing in an airplane. Tearful videos, t-shirts, Sarah McLaughlin-scored reels on Facebook.

That was probably the last era of the “if you’re going to eff around, you’re going to ‘find out’ on your own, we’re not here to save you” parent style. I think if we had kids and I raised them the way I was raised, I’d draw the ire of the neighborhood. ‘Junior shooting paintballs at your garage? I’ll throw one over your back fence, light his ass up, just watching out for his eyeballs and we’ll talk about it when he gets home”

 

[ozziecat35]

It’s all perspective. If you live in base, personally, it looks great. If not, it’s pretty challenging.

One thing I didn’t mention about my schedule is the fact that 0% of my trips are commutable so for every block of days I start, I’m leaving the house a day before about 1400 to get to Detroit to be rested. My trip in on now is a six day, non-commutable on either end, $164/base stay because I’m bougjie and stay at the Westin at the airport, so I’m down $328 for this trip alone.

I go home tomorrow for a night and then head to Atlanta, over the Fourth of July, in order to be in the simulator the morning of the 5th. The I have a few days off before commuting back to Detroit to do a theee-day PVG with a OE pilot so my days off are reviewing and learning about the pilot so I’m able to custom tailor my approach to bringing him through OE. Even now, I had dinner, going to head back to the hotel to paperwork and first flight evaluations for my last OE pilot, off the clock, and have to flip my circadian rhythm over again, somehow get to bed in order to launch on a domestic leg tomorrow.

I’m not complaining. This is the reality of the business even in a top-rung job. Mid-seniority widebody captain.

But I love it and wouldn’t do anything else.

26 years in, I miss holidays, some weekends (which I can give less of a poop about), some birthdays, most events and most of my friendships are “remote”.

When it comes to sacrifice and a super healthy way to prioritize friends, family and even children, I heavily suggest having a chat with @ozziecat35. He had me rolling in laughter, amazed, impressed and full of respect for his work/life/family/friends/children balance.

Were we in the same conversation?

I’m the first to admit I don’t have it figured out, but happy to chat with anyone.