He asks a very good question - why work for so little? Especially in today's economy where there are many jobs to be had for well over $15K that let you stay home and not take so much crap.
I know pilots starting out have the long term vision that they will be at six figures (if they last at the same airline) some day. But I don't think that aspiration exists with other employee groups, so people - when you email Bill O'Reilly, tell him why you choose to work for $15, $20, $30K versus somewhere else with much less stress.
I concur. Everyone who emails him should tell him their story.
I am curious about what everyone's story is here. As for mine - I was hired right out of college. I didn't want to work in an office setting. Since I loved traveling and had spent so much money on it, I decided to start letting someone else pay me to travel. Then I took a voluntary furlough to go back to school and got my teaching certification (MAT) so I did that, taught school for 3 years, got burned out, and in April 06 I got a letter saying US Airways was recalling so I decided to go for it so I would have a less stressful life. It was a weak moment for me because in April many teachers are burned out and ready for Summer and I was so ready for a change. I had no idea things were this bad here. I may go back to teaching next year since it truly is my passion and always gave and will give it 110%. I thought I was making very little money teaching but I made twice what I make now, plus I got a supplement, bonus money for high test scores, and every weekend, holiday and Summer off. Even if I don't return to teaching school, I am working on some business ventures during all of my spare time. I just can't imagine working for US Airways for much longer. To tell you the truth, there are many similarities to teaching. The great thing about teaching kids though is in my classroom they are required to use manners such as please and thank you and they don't leave until the room is clean. Whenever passengers say things such as "I want some water" or "I want a pillow" I cringe and want to correct them and say "May I have some water please?" or just say "Please?" At least teaching I could correct bad behaviors that would hopefully stick with the kids.
What really bugs me is that there are a lot of people here who say they don't have anywhere else to go nor do they don't think they can find a job that pays what they are making now. That is very sad and I feel for those people. I know some of these people are capable of being successful in another career but why they don't make the effort and make it happen is beyond me, especially when those people are so unhappy here. Are they happy with settling? Is their self-esteem so low that they truly don't think they can do it? Are they lazy and don't want to make the effort? I don't get it.
While I am here I do take advantage of all of my free time to work on things for my future, I go see the cities where we overnight if I have time (Hey, how many people do you know who have gotten a full day of fun in Albany or Norfolk or Manchester? I really live it up when I go to Europe or the West Coast!
😉 ), and I try to just make the best of it and look at it as an adventure. Otherwise, I would drive myself crazy...I wish I had more time to travel on my own time when I am off but that just isn't possible when you commute and only have 2 or 3 days off. When I am off, the last thing I want to see is an airport or an airplane though.