Everyone makes a cerebral contract about their work.
The analogy with a Doctor does not hold water. With a dying person on your hands and following 6 years training for this day then this weeks pay packet is not really that prominent in your motivation.
Nurses are not angels. They often get hacked off with patients, have a bad day and think sod 'em and sod the job. Well, the ones I know admit that after a few glasses of wine and I don't blame them one bit.
Lazy hacked off teachers totally jaded with the profession who came into it because their plans to do something else didn't quite work out? Yep - tens of thousands of them about - all starting on £16k and rapidly above £20k with generous leave and a job for life.
How many teachers get killed at work? I don't know but I got my PPL instructors job by filling the shoes of someone who flew into a mountain the fortnight before. I can recall at least three other instructors who ended up dead at work since then.
Your average instructor is making maybe £9k a year, his job is in jeopardy every winter and there simply are no benefits.
The comparison is not with doctors, nurses or teachers who all enjoy a highly unionised public sector job for life career.
It is with sweat shop workers and contract factory workers and black marker labourers.
Yet we expect the highest standards from our Instructors. Which is something that can only be maintained by the devout enthusiast (rare), the part timer or the person who is happy with this temporary arrangement on his way to somewhere more financially rewarding. Not neccessarily the airlines - commercial instructing pays a just-about-living wage.
PPL's have always benefitted from this reality. There is no way in hell I would have given up a decent job to teach joe average a cheap PPL if I didn't know it was just a period to endure (financially) on the way to something better. In the meantime joe average is effectively getting subsidised tuition. Subsidised by my career ambitions and the pay/conditions/status of my future employer(s).
Cheers
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