I hate the old ladies that go back to school. I don't mean the ones in their thirties or forties, but the ones in their fifties and sixties. I have nothing against them personally, it's just that they suck when you have a class with them. Great example this morning in my Sociology of Women class: This lady is older than the professor, so I guess she feels like she has a broader base of knowledge to offer, or else she just likes hearing herself talk, so she raises her hand every five minutes and goes into this long disposition that is usually off-topic and only of interest to her.  So when she goes into these rants everyone zones out and you can see the professor-who sort of sucks herself-scanning the room, realizing she's losing the class and trying to figure out the nice way to tell this old broad to shut the hell up.  Look lady, I know the kids are all gone and you're realizing how empty your life is, but find a hobby, work for a charity. So you get this degree, it's hard enough to get a job when you're young, how many places are hiring fifty year olds with no experience. You're not supposed to discriminate by age, but come on, we know they do. Why am I going to hire someone who's ready to retire in five years and probably will call out with all sorts of familial obligations? Get real. Join Oprah's book club.   Ok, I guess I'm being unfair in saying I hate the old ladies, when really I hate the old men that go back to to school too. They might even be worse, but they're so few and far between.  There are some interesting sociological inferences you could make from that. Most of those women have husbands who make enough so that they don't have to work  can go to school as a hobby. The reason there are fewer men is that they're obligated by society to be the bread-winners and can't afford not to work to go to school. This isn't me saying this is a good thing or this is the way it should be, I'm merely pointing out how it seems to be working. As we're supposedly making all these social advancements in our society, we're actually seeing less men in higher education. I'm not sure how I got on this, but whatever, maybe somebody will actually respond and get a conversation going on here.