LOVE, Kloudiia

I read an article on today’s The New Paper who did a survey on 100 Singaporean women, mainly students with an average age of 21 on the type of men they would prefer to marry. This was done following an earlier research did by the US which said that American women “preferred a man with a medium-status job… over a runaway success” and that they are “more easily drawn to good-looking men”.

As it turned out, pilots and bankers topped the list among the 100 Singaporean women - “because of the ‘cool’ and ‘exciting’ perception of their ‘high-income’ jobs”.

I am pretty surprised, really.

Well, maybe because the girls they surveyed are young, or rather, not in the “ready to settle down” age I would say.

Because, as I know, pilots have to tackle some challenges when it comes to keeping and maintaining their relationships. Their job nature is one of the reasons. 

My cousin is due to be a commercial pilot soon, and he just narrated some breakup stories among his course mates during the recent CNY gathering, now that their jobs are taking them away from their loved ones so ever often.

I have another “brother”, who is in his early 20s, and is now undergoing training to be a military pilot. He too, faced the same situation in which the girl he fancied didn’t choose him because she’s not too sure of how things will go with him not being in Singapore for such a long time.

My take is this. If the woman is the type who can handle long-distance relationships, then she’s probably the one to consider. Otherwise, most of the women will not be so readily accepting to enter a relationship when the guy can be found amongst the clouds (and birds!) half of the time.

Not to say that pilots are doomed to stay single for the rest of their lives. That’s not true. In fact, I know a couple myself. No, two. They’re happily married with children and very loving.

So maybe pilots are so highly desirable because they belong to one of those jobs with a high “glamorous factor” – high pay, high status and high-flying, literally.

Beyond the “oohs” and “aahs” of “Oh, so you’re a pilot! That’s so cool, tell me more about it!”, when it comes to the real thing, the couple needs more effort to understand each other, since pilots are on the losing end when it comes to the quantity of time they can have with their partners.

Therefore, quality is critical to make up for lost time.

When the women know what is in it for them to date a pilot, especially those who are looking for a potential husband, then they will really sit down and consider if they can accept a schedule that doesn’t conform to the usual five-day 9-6pm workweek.

Then again, when love strikes, nothing can stop two people from falling in love. Not even the vast blue skies.

So it boils down to this! By really knowing the nature of this occupation and how to handle and manage the relationship, I am still very positive that pilots, too can have a loving and lasting relationship. A happy marriage is not determined by the occupation, but by the love and willingness to make it work!

Pilots can be very cuddly too! And cute… see!

 

[tags]pilot, american women, singaporean women, dating & relationships, marriage, commitment, long distance relationship, glamorous job[/tags]