I'm an oddball, in that I have equal passions for flying and engineering - which come together on my particular passion of test and research flying.
But ultimately, where the hell is the joy of spending your life sat in the left (or right) seat of an electric jet - or being abused by airline management and airport security. It's money and a fancy uniform, with a little bit of flying.
Personally, I would be quite happy to fly night mail, inter-island ferry, offshore fishery patrol (or best of all, prototype test flying - but that takes rather more than a pilots licence or two, and I do a bit of that already). Right hand seat in a 737 or A320? No thanks, and to hell with the extra money.
And if I had my current passion for aviation (which is rather stronger than when I was 19) I might try for the services - who have better aeroplanes, better training, and a natural home for talented but arrogant 19 years olds (which I definitely was - well, arrogant anyhow). I'd not be looking to go massively into debt, with a grossly overpriced training product, to chase a job which is much less interesting than it could be - in the hope that one day I'd get senior enough to be able to pay the debts off.
Sorry, that was a bit of a rant, but I feel better now.
G