Wednesday, May 9, 2001

Billy Murphy insinuates that "pilots and athletes and entertainment-industry types" are the "highest paid segment of our society" and sit around with a "stroke and strike mentality" while "the rest of us really work." He insinuates that the only reason we command the pay we do is due to our "egos" and that we really do not do a day of "work." So, let's examine this insightful "fact."

First, let me state that I am neither an athlete nor an actor. Therefore, it is pretty obvious where I fall in the equation.

Billy doesn't seem to consider the CEOs of corporations as "the highest paid segment." I'm not sure why, since they tend to earn millions in salaries stocks, etc. Oh, well. But his theory that we are paid solely due to "ego" is terribly flawed.

No one really cares about Mark McGuire or Greg Maddox's ego, but about home runs and strike outs. Was it really Michael Jordan's "ego" that commanded his high salary? Or was it the fact that his talent drew millions of fans to the games, which lined the pockets of the team owners?

Or how about Julia Roberts or Tom Hanks? Do you pay your hard-earned cash to see their movies because of their "ego," or their talent? Do you think that maybe the movie sponsors and producers probably don't go away broke?

Well, this isn't ego talking, but pilots actually do "really work." We are paid not for our "ego," but for our skill.

We are paid because we take 400,000-pound aircraft seven miles above the earth with 300 people on board. We are paid because these 300 people are counting on us to fly them across the nation or the ocean safely, land it on a 150-foot-wide runway at 150 mph after flying all night in bad weather and gusty winds, and do it correctly and safely every time. We are paid because we have the skill do this. Our ego has no bearing on this skill.

In fact, do you think that passengers really care at all about our "ego?" I doubt it. On that "dark and stormy night" I suspect they only care about our skill. And if you don't think this qualifies as "real work," Billy, then I suggest you fly a "normal" trip with a pilot and find out.

So, as Billy suggests, what do we tell "Blue Collar Man" when thrown in a room with him? Well, I don't know what the actor or athlete tell him probably something like, "Sure, I'll give you my autograph." But what I would most likely tell him is what a great job I have, hand him an employment application for pilot at a major airline, and recommend that he, too, become a pilot.

Why aren't you a pilot Billy? The time has come, Billy, for the community to move on. It is time to start looking at individuals for whom they are and stop all of the inflammatory insults and "finger pointing" based on something so simple as a job.

Why don't we move our discussions on to something else like what you, Billy, tell "Blue Collar Man" about your job. Why don't you tell us how you explain to someone who builds houses or automobiles, collects trash, or does police or firefighter work, that you are paid to write whatever you want once a week in a little local newspaper, and that you are actually the one who is "really working"?

Jim Stinson

Peachtree City

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