Perhaps 'Shats' as you so affectionitly call her, knows something about me that the rest of you don't, as in she has seen more of what I have done in my life, the work I have, by Gods Grace, produced, then the rest of you.

Perhaps it is because she recognizes the struggles that I have undergone, and knows some of the reasons why I have undergone them, and continue to undergo them, FREEDOM!, my right to say "NO"! to someone, something, and to have that "NO!" respected without being punished for saying it, still being allowed to enjoy the 'fruits of my labors' A.K.A. in the U.S. as your right to the "Pursuit of Happiness".

I clearly have not been permitted to do this, based upon a long past history, and an easily overwhelming opponent. By perception, by position, and by capitalist contacts. (which means the ability to have me suppressed)

As for intellectual snobbery, you have no real right to any form of intellectual snobbery. no one does, as there is nothing that I know that you cannot learn, all the rest is simply time dependant, interest dependant, and concern dependant.

That some of the older persons seem incompetent to you, it is based upon the level of there knowledge, there skills set, and there previous experiance.

For some people aging is a scary experiance as they have specialized there knowledge to such a degree that when they find enough time has passed, that speciallity has become completely devalued, and is now obsolete. At this point they are required to go back and relearn, something that they lost the skills for, in the performance of there job, over all of the time that they have worked, as there learning skill set became truncated to the point of need based upon working time.

To go back now, and have to 'learn to learn' all over again, tough stuff for some of them, especially when you add in the psychological values that are also at play, the loses of seniority, respect, pay scale, (it is difficult to go from a decent pay down hill to a lessor, the work is the same, the rewards a lot less, ergo less fulfilling, and a lack of sense of acomplishment) authority, sense of self worth and value, and lots more.............