What do you mean why “WERE” we glorified so much? We still are. It is a rare day I don’t get at least one unsolicited phone number walking the airport. There is one thing that is constant across languages and cultures – Gold Wings = Damp Panties. Women will go out of their way to talk to you in an airport. Seriously they will go to their gate, check in, sit down, read 50 Shades of Whips and Chains. They see a pilot, they will get up circle back, and stand right there under the sign that says GATE 36, and play “damsel in distress” EXCUSE ME, CAPTAIN, IM LOST COULD YOU TELL ME HOW TO FIND GATE 36….. Its HILARIOUS to watch them… Undoing buttons, turning the skirt so the slit is on the front instead of the side, repositioning the bra to show just a little lace…. Shit, one time a sobbing pregnant chick deliberately spilled her purse in the jetway to get my attention as I knelt down and helped gather her belongings…. (If I knew then what I know now, I would have dragged her out on the ramp and thrown her into a jet engine. I ended up married to that psycho for four long agonizing years. You know it’s a bad marriage when you have to use SERE Level C resistance techniques to get through Thanksgiving Dinner) But women aside – how about parents wanting to bring their kids to the cockpit? How many other jobs having parents trying to hand their kids to some old dude they dont know??? I was apparently six months old when I got my first set of SAA Junior Pilot wings LOL There was a picture of me at like age 2 in a KLM cockpit sitting on the captains lap wearing his hat and holding the yoke. Try it at a cocktail party. So what do you do – “Im a molecular chemist in oncology research developing novel chemotherapeutic agents…” OH, eh, thats nice…. Have you met Kev??? KEV IS A PILOT!!!!!! OMG ARE YOU REALLY! THAT IS SOOOOO COOL!!!!!!! DO YOU KNOW SULLY????? WHAT DO YOU FLY??? HAVE YOU EVER CRASHED? WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED ON 9–11? DO YOU FLY SMALL AIRPLANES TOO???? I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO FOR A RIDE IN A SMALL PLANE. MY HUSBAND WILL BE OUT OF TOWN NEXT WEEKEND. ALL WEEEKEND…. IS THERE REALLY A MILE HIGH CLUB???? REALLY I DONT BELIEVE YOU YOULL HAVE TO PROVE IT…

As for why we are so worshipped…. Aside from the obvious – free travel, six figure income with lots of time off, mandatory retirement at 65.. There is also a little thing about being in the top 1/2 of 1% of men in America. I graduated with a 3.87 GPA in the #8 engineering school in the world, got picked to go to aviation officer candidate school, was commissioned a Naval officer by presidential action, earned my wings of gold, and then earned my living as “the tip of the spear” enforcing American foreign policy by flying a 60,000 pound plane at tree top level in the dark. I could take off and land on moving boats and was trained to deliver nuclear weapons if needed. From there we were hired by the airline to fly their $347 MILLION dollar plane full of almost 400 passengers with lawyers. We are worshipped because we are pretty fucking awesome. Thats also why Im arrogant. I know how awesome I am.