The moment a student tries to abuse me -- I drop them. Thankfully I've only had to do that once.
Heh. I thought asking you to fly late at night for a week solid was pretty abusive, but you seem to not mind.
(And I'll admit, I was ready to drop dead by Friday. Dang youth! Haha! You're really observant though and noticed when I started dragging ass. Especially in the mornings. LOL!)
Seriously though, I think Jack just got his first taste of the younger crowd that grew up with no winners or losers. Everyone gets a certificate of accomplishment even if they came in dead last.
Then they get a real job and either get depressed and surly -- or they believe they're God's gift to whatever the job is. It depends quite a bit on what the expectations were of the parents and how much the parents paid to kick start the kid's career. The less the kid worked for it, the cockier they tend to be.
(I chuckle at Facebook and Twitter posts by nieces and nephews sometimes. Phrases like "I had to work on the yard the WHOLE DAY, FML!" from them when I know the in-laws are paying most of their tuition and all of their room and board. Another goodie today was a just-graduated high-schooler who said, "I just figured out that they scheduled me to work four days straight! They're trying to kill me with work!" Yeah sweetie... Try seven days on for three or four years and get back to me. Haha...)
Doesn't really matter if the job is CFI or Software Engineer. It's a pattern. With job availability low, most sadly, haven't had much of a chance to ease into real life with a part-time job or two while in high-school or really even college. They rack up loans and the parents pay out of guilt or whatever.
I'd wager good money a 20-something CFI is still living with their parents at typical CFI pay scales and couldn't pick up another part time job if they tried. There's too many 50-something's working at gas stations in the "robust" economy the bankers and insurers gave us. That kid was also probably looking at something like five years of well below poverty-line pay. If he had moved out, it was probably with three or four roommates.
So I dunno Jack. I can't decide if they drive me nuts with their attitudes or if their attitudes are to be expected from the crap-sandwich a lot of them were fed. They didn't work jobs in high-school to score high on contrived standardized tests so they could "be accepted" by these huge money-making colleges who're just there to vacuum up as many guaranteed government student loans as they can along with big football advertising money. They get told all the way through that this is the path to a great life.
Then they hit reality.
And as Doc Bruce says, not all are afflicted by it.
I just had a heartbreaking phone call with a young man who's the son of a very old friend on Friday. His dad is a lawyer and knows little about computers or the computer biz. He asked if I'd take a call from his son who's weeks away from graduating with a Computer Science degree. I of course, said yes.
A few minutes into the call I asked the kid what he specializes in. What small projects and accomplishments he could list as experience when looking for jobs in IT. "
What are you into? Do you like coding, or Microsoft stuff, or Linux, or robotics? Anything like that?"
Nothing. He said he just had the degree.
I tried again, "Have you helped any organizations like your church or Scouts or anything maybe with their computers or building a website or something like that?"
Nothing. I backed off but now was curious, "What do you like or see yourself doing in the IT world?"
"I'd like to manage computers and networks, everything really."
I didn't even go into what his definition of "manage" was. When I asked specifics I'd get answers like, "Well, we did some programming."
"Java?" I'd ask.
"Yeah."
"Pretty typical base language to learn these days. Did you play around with any others?"
"Not really."
We chatted for a while about how the "jack of all trades" in IT is almost a thing of the past at all but the smallest companies since they can't afford to hire multiple professionals and that small places are a good way to start if you want to do it all.
I shared that most places are looking for initiative beyond the degree, projects managed and completed. A reason why the newcomer will help the organization.
A bit of discussion about how personality and working with a team are often strong points these days and the story of a recent failed hire who looked great on paper, knew his specialty cold, but refused to do anything outside of his specialty and cussed out a Director on a conference call when under stress. The kid laughed and at least seemed to get that part of it.
But I never felt I'd really gotten though to him on the whole concept of "pick a specialty NO ONE likes and get GOOD at it". It'll get you hired and working while you build relationships and look for opportunities to shift your focus and move to more entertaining and lucrative positions.
I think if I'd have related that my ascension up the IT career ladder started as a phone operator at a growing company and volunteering to cable out wiring closets on weekends and follow senior staff around writing down everything they had to teach or offer in my notebook, he wouldn't have felt it was beneath him. He just followed all society's rules and got a fancy CS degree, after all!
I just don't know where he thinks he'll be useful to anyone with just a CS sheepskin. He's probably headed for "surly 22 year old working at Starbucks" until he gets serious and cracks the books at night. The spoon feeding is about to end.
I recommended some reading material and hinted that he should get some projects under his belt, even if they were done for free or low cost for people he knows, just to prime the pump a bit. I shared that I used to have a tight budget but always bought at least one tech book on a topic that sounded interesting and spent a lot of time reading and experimenting in those inevitable "sit here and monitor this system overnight" jobs that begin any tech career.
Maybe his dad can use his contacts to shove a foot in the door somewhere. The kid really needs to see the complexity level of the systems, politics, and get a feel for how the degree is just base material. It was never enough to garner him a job in the industry.
Tough road ahead for him. In parting I promised I'd watch for entry-level stuff and he was welcome to keep in touch with any questions. I had great (cranky, old) mentors. I'm happy to "pay it forward", but he's got to try a few things and find something he likes first. Like it enough to get up and go into a bad-paying job for a few years doing it to get experience.
I also shared the few shops around here that are known for hiring grads. And I warned him that they're great places to get started but are also ultimately pretty poorly managed sweatshops. That's why they're always hiring. Not because of massive continuous business growth. Get in, learn under fire, and get out. That's how you play those places.
Sorry this ended up long, but the kid and his phone call seemed to nail this. That CFI got his ticket. He now knows he's "done" and just waiting for that big airline job to come along. He's God's gift to CFIs because everything his schools and his parents have ever told him says that he's a winner. No losers. No need to step up.
Sad.
Did it humble him? Exactly how young was he? 5800 in C-130's= please teach me (if I were the CFI) some stuff as well! I'd think it would be common sense not to belittle any pilot that looks the same age or older at just first glace. 
