Originally Posted by
Shelby07
I've been thinking about this for a couple of days now and wanted to bring something up.
Kevin7 posted a message in another thread referring to the dangers of his job and how the decisions he makes every day keep him safe. His post seemed to imply that some who had soft cushy office jobs didn't have the pressure or responsibility of those who risk life and limb every day. While I have the utmost respect for those in high risk jobs, I would like to point out just how "cushy" some of these cushy jobs aren't.
Most of my life (better than half the years I've been alive) was spent in corporate America. For some of those years I had the responsibility of managing several people and being responsible for accounts that would literally cost my company $50,000 for every hour our product didn't perform. I was also in the position, as were my superiors, peers and subordinates, of losing my livelihood if things didn't go well. No, I wasn't risking life and limb. However, not only my own financial security, but that of several others was affected by decisions that I made. For those who work in Corp America you know exactly what I am talking about. I went to work every day, and if you think I wasn't "fighting" every day, you are mistaken. That doesn't mean I compromised everything every day, nor does it mean that I treated people badly. I did, however, learn to pick my battles. The pressure and responsibility was enormous, and I am not inclined at all to minimize it simply because I had a desk job. There was hardly a day that I "cruised" through.
My time wasn't my own. Sure I made great money, but at a cost. I had 3 telephones - a personal one, a business one and a cell phone. I carried a pager 24X7 (sometimes 2). My laptop had to always be on and connected to some kind messaging program, and I could never be more than 30 minutes away from it. I was so connected that I couldn't even get away when I was taking a crap. At times my vacations were interrupted or cut short because of my job responsibilities and although I worked 10-14 hours a day on the average, there were many times where travel and night/weekend projects ruled even more of my time. Yeah, it was that bad, and I am sure many of you can attest to that.
I worked my ass of to be able to retire at 50, and I succeeded. I stayed in IT for a couple more years, and when that was done, most of you know that I started running a flight school. Although I thought it'd be a fun, low pressure, "cushy" job, I soon found out how making the wrong decision or sitting by passively and not making one at all could literally cost somebody else's life. Flying is one of those things that, if done correctly, can enhance your life tremendously. If done poorly or recklessly it will kill you. Being a pilot and having had my share of close calls I took my responsibility very seriously, especially when you consider that we were sending student with just a few hours under their belt out by themselves to practice with no direct flight supervision. I soon found out that the pressure in my new "cushy" job was every bit as intense as the pressure in my previous career. In addition to making sure the people that flew our planes were capable of the mechanics, we had to evaluate their attitude when it came to flying a perticular mission. I always felt that I'd rather have a student or member mad than dead. If I didn't feel the pilot was capable of a flight I didn't let them fly. It was that simple.
You rarely have a chance to determine whether things you do are worth it. It's kind of like computer security. The better the job you do, the less people feel they need you. Unfortunately, I did have the opportunity to evaluate how my decisions affected others.
A young single mother of 2 came to us with a private pilot rating but not much experience. During her evaluation flights it was determined that she had the physical skills to fly a plane as far as the FAA was concerned, but we saw something in her that raised a red flag and caused us to decide to watch her. She had been renting from us for a few weeks, then on one flight she had to delay her return because of weather. She brought the plane in a day late at about 3PM and immediately wanted to rent another to fly to a superbowl party in Las Vegas, NM. She was tired from the previous flight, she had been delayed getting back on her previous flight, so she'd be taking off in darkness, and she'd be flying through mountain passes at night. She was making bad decisions. We refused to let her take a plane. She was very agitated and insisted that she was "legal" and if the FAA said she was qualified, then who were we to stop her. The kid I had working at the counter almost gave ger the keys, but I stopped him from doing so and sent her home. Usually the story would end there and we'd never have a hint as to whether our actions were justified... unfortunately that wasn't the case here.
This young girl was a member of another flying club at another airport. They rented a plane to her and she took off with 3 of her fellow co-workers. The results were tragic. All 4 were killed over the mountains.
Now, I'm not minimizing Kevin's job and his responsibility here, but sometimes it irks me that others think if we aren't risking life and limb like a police officer, or a firefighter, or a soldier, or even a dangerous job such as Kevin's that we have a "cushy" job and can't understand what pressure and responsibility is. Well I can tell you that nothing is further from the truth. The example above is just one of numerous decisions I made while I had that "cushy" job. While I may not remember all of them that's the one that stands out.
Something to think about
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