I've been thinking about this a lot, lately.

This may sound misanthropic, but it seems to me that sometimes people tend to take advantage of the young and inexperienced.

I can think of two specific instances where this happens:

1) In a retail/public service situation, where the service staff brush you off or ignore you in preference for clients who are older in age. Whereas, if you were accompanied by a parent, they would serve you politely.

2) In a more "personal" relationship; eg. at work, school, home, where authority figures (your boss, your professor) criticize in a way that is emotionally hurtful. For instance, one of the greatest and most contradictory insults i've received from an employer was "you should have had the confidence to do this without consulting me," when clearly his expertise was necessary; and if i hadn't asked he would have equally blamed me for not asking and clarifying. Professors (and some parents i know of) bully their subjects by telling them they are inferior to other students, and by playing favourites.

Of course it's a competitive world of the survival-of-the-fittest. (the fact that I work/study in a field full of arrogant people who never like to admit they're wrong doesn't help.) so how do you survive?