HA...you all can call BS on me, but every time I've been in a tower I would have gladly voluntered my time to do what they get to do everyday. I feel the only thing I can say from these threads about the trainee classes coming in, is that the majority of you feel like this is a "job". Is anyone else going to OKC because this is something they've always wanted to do?
Trust me I know some people will say that the conditions suck, the pay is horrible, that the parking lot has 3 speed bumps too many and the grass should have been cut yesterday, but you don't get to complain as a newbie. You get to learn the most important job in aviation, especially for safely moving millions of people around.
I would love if a controller would back me up on this but I think my soap box isn't nearly high enough, this is NOT a job, this is NOT a career, this is something that not everyone else can do, you lucky SOBs that have passed the at-sat above 85 this is a ticket to a life, don't complain if we have to wait a little longer, or alot longer. And for those who are still reading this post bababooyee howard stern rules.
You're soap box IS high enough. Maybe a little too high.
I was making a joke. I could explain that, but I'm sure wikipedia would do a better job. Trust me, you're not the only person who doesn't just view ATC as an alternative to McDonalds. I could explain how I have toured towers and every time, I have left without a shaddow of a doubt that this is my intended career path. I could even list the number of very strange "coincidences" that have without a doubt been responsible for me making it to this point of the process.
I can also explain why the pay is the least contributory factor for me choosing this career field.
But I won't.
Because I was joking.