Dear Citizen XX,
First of all, the dictionary, any dictionary is compiled after intensive study of common usage. But what appears in the dictionary is only a summary otherwise it would be an encyclopaedia. It’s like looking at the Oxford definition of “Food” and seeing what it says in a couple of lines trying to describe the means of sustenance for plant and animal life over 20 million years. (And in any case Bob Hawke went to Oxford so there’s a bit of a question mark over that dictionary anyway.) If you want to learn more about the difference between thae narrowness of a dictionary and the practical realities of life, I will gladly kick in my share to a fund to send you to your choice of coal mining towns anywhere in the world so that you can defend your narrow definition in public.
So don’t limit yourself to a few narrow words when you know the real truth. By the way, while at the keyboard I came up with this definition from somewhere out there on the ‘net…..I’m sure most readers of your post would agree that at least one of these definitions applies to what you did. (And I didn’t have to buy a dictionary!).
scab
n.
1. A crust discharged from and covering a healing wound.
2. Scabies or mange in domestic animals or livestock, especially sheep.
3.
a. Any of various plant diseases caused by fungi or bacteria and resulting in crustlike spots on fruit, leaves, or roots.
b. The spots caused by such a disease.
4. Slang. A person regarded as contemptible.
5.
a. A worker who refuses membership in a labor union.
b. An employee who works while others are on strike; a strikebreaker.
c. A person hired to replace a striking worker.
Second, and this is the real point, just truthfully answer a simple question please.
Given (and this is not really contestable is it?) that aviation is, in its various forms, largely reliant on teamwork. You might call it comradeship. Others use terms like CRM, others plain politeness or whatever. But the central theme is not necessarily looking after yourself first, or if you do find yourself at the top of some particular heap, help a few mates who’ve found themselves not so well off. If you get into the lifeboat first after a ditching, wait for the others before casting off. If you pop a few rivets in the aero club Chipmunk, tell someone so the next guy doesn’t get an unfortunate surprise during a loop. Etc, etc, etc.
So… at any time after you made your personal decision (i.e. 1990 to 2001)did you actively campaign for AN to recruit any (other than the “Dozen”) from the other side of the line, or did you by your inaction, support totally Dick Marman’s view that there would be a safety problem if ‘cultures” were mixed?
Simple question. You looked after yourself…did you then look after others?
And finally, lest anyone think you are a touch arrogant, don't ever, ever again boast in public about your good fortune in picking and choosing SQ bases and jobs when there are still lots of unemployed or underemployed pilots out there who have no such choice. Good men and women who have a right to respect and pride even without 4 gold bars and a shiny jet.