Hierarchy

I was reminded of this randomly while driving just now. I've been yelled at by professors before for calling them by their first names instead of Professor Whatever or Dr. Whatever. Gosh, grow up. So may professors are so petty. They think they deserve to be treated differently just because they went through whatever number of years getting their doctoral degrees.

What about janitors or child care workers or anyone else in the informal sector who work for 12-20 hours a day for years and years just to get by? Haven't they put in MUCH MORE for themselves and others than doctoral students sitting in their labs or offices cranking out theories that benefit no one? Why don't these hardworking people get any honorific titles?

This student-professor hierarchy is so ingrained in students' minds too. A couple of weeks ago, a classmate accidentally called the professor by her first name while asking a question, and she audibly gasped at her own "mistake." The professor was cool about it though and said we can call her by her first name. She's a cool one.

Any lefty professors who criticizes discrimination and oppression and hierarchy and all that stuff in their research and teaching while insisting on being called doctors or professors by their students is a hypocrite. Now, there are professors on the left who are just liberal and want to affect change within the system and do not necessarily see anything inherently wrong with hierarchies. I don't agree with those people, but at least they're not preaching an end to hierarchies while enjoying the benefits of it.

I've had many cool professors who went by their first names with students and treated us as equals. Those are the only ones worth anything. Those are the only trustworthy ones. Sadly, I haven't encountered many of them at my new school.