That's all very well scroggs, we're all aware of the "student job" scenario, but it's an entirely different matter in terms of doing such jobs in your mid to late twenties or thirties.
Moreover, we are not necessarily refering to manual labour here : HGV or cab driving involve about as much of that as being an airline pilot.
I know plenty of people who are underpaid and overworked in "managerial" jobs who nevertheless gasped in disbelief when I packed in that game to work as a cabbie, declaiming by way of barely concealed admonishment that they could never possibly consider giving up their job to do so something like that, even for double the money! The implication being that I had somehow dropped out/lost the plot/gone off the rails or whatever.
If my understanding of the social coditioning behind this state of affairs is simply "a load of old tripe", I would be gateful if you could explain it for me without reverting to that hoary old chestnut of "gosh, I had to wash dishes in the summer when I was a student!" or whatever.
This is an earnest and entirely relevant contribution to the subject matter of this thread, in that it would have been much more difficult for me to organise the time, money and mental energy to tackle FI, CPL or IR flight training if I hadn't done something like this.
I have no desire to criticise anyone for their background, just a deeply ingrained and almost subliminal self-delusory way of thinking that holds many back from a comprehensive "reality check" with regard to their own personal circumstances and opportunities.