The end or a new beginning?

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.

Horace (65 BC - 8 BC)

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Air Traffic controllers Association have been trying for nine months to reach agreement on a new contract. Today, they have announced that they were done talking. The FAA will try and impose their contract demands onto its air traffic controllers in sixty days.
Needless to say, there are no pay raises or increases in the amount of leave that I will earn in a given week. Actually, what I will be receiving is a 30% pay cut, no more sick leave and two weeks of vacation time ( the FAA will select when I get my two weeks off).
This new contract is going to adversely affect just about everything that is in my life now. It probably is going to affect everything in my life from now until I retire, maybe even beyond retirement. Thankfully, we had our daughter all ready. I shudder to think of how the new FAA will treat a controller who happens to get pregnant without permission from the FAA. My wife will probably only get two weeks of maternity leave when she gets pregnant again. This will be a trying time for the air traffic control community. I understand that the entire aviation community has gone through some ups and downs, mostly downs, over the past 5 years. I guess it was time for my family to share in the pain that the rest of the aviation community has dealt with. Then again, I have never gotten to work 9 days a month and make $255000.00 like most pilots had done before the cutbacks. Pilots are working more with less of them. Controllers are getting ready to do the same. If the paycut goes through as expected at least 4500 controllers will retire immediately. They will make more retired than if they keep coming wo work so they would be stupid to stay (in my mind they are stupid to still be there but that is a different story). Unlike pilots, controllers can't go work for jetblue if they get laid off or pissed off with United. The only option for controllers is the FAA or we can go up to Canada and hope for the best up there.
Thankfully, this contract will only be in effect for four years. Hopefully, the next contract will be more friendly towards the air traffic controllers. Hopefully, when my daughter is old enough to realize what her parents do for a living we will be treated like people who are worth something. Right now I am not looking forward to this period of adversity that we are going to go through. Right now I am glad that my daughter is young enough not to understand the turmoil that is about to engulf my life, my wife's life and my daughter's life.
Just another legacy that george bush has to add to resume. Thanks so much george.