Well this thread certainly touched a few nerves and justifiably so. As one who had to work their way up, putting in 16 years in the grass roots of the business before getting into my first big jet, I never once felt humiliated. I knew that I was gaining some very valuable experience in that time and appreciated all of it. By working with some excellent colleagues who felt that every day was another opportunity to train, I also learned that no "Buffalo Joes" were going to browbeat me into taking a mission that was unsafe or illegal. I wouldn't have made for very good TV, all thanks to them.
Once I achieved my first big jet command, that time I spent working my way up also gave me an appreciation for the work that the support staff were doing to help us get the mission under way. The only time I ever saw a grumpy captain getting on the case of some poor support staffer - who was just doing their best - was when that captain was someone who had never done such "grunt" work himself. He'd come up through the ranks quickly - due to nothing more than good luck and excellent timing - and the world revolved around him, or so he thought.
If the attitude of the OP - "supported" by PFT and MPL - is really the future of our industry, then heaven help us all. There may be more 37,000 ft plunges in our future ...
