GA used to be a reasonable way to make a living and the pay was about the same as a teacher got. Endorsements were paid for by the company.
Then came a flood of wannabies who worked for nothing, paid for icus and endorsements and very soon stuffed everything up.
How can we respect them??
Narr the tide has turned on that one bushy. I know of guys in GA getting $50 000+ due to there being no applicants. I have also seen jobs advertised in the paper that in my day you were in a queue a mile long for. This is my point, we have moved on from what you're talking about now. Unfortunately many of the GA operators have gone broke or just closed the doors so I don't think there will be much of a GA industry left. Hopefully it doesn't return to the days you're talking about.