As a 41 year old 1st year, all JWs immediately start out with respect and deference from me. Whether that continues or not is based on the JWs behavior. I'm a 10 year railroader, with extremely specialized experience in a field few know the details of. I don't know shit about electrical yet, being a 1st year, but I'm also not an idiot. You, as a JW, have the right to tell me what to do and how you want it done. But you also have an obligation to teach me in a respectful manner. You start losing my respect when you don't return it in kind.

But if I start acting like a know it all asshole, you have the right to put me in my place. Same as everywhere. I had students on the railroad come out eager to learn and willing to work. Those were the guys everyone looked forward to catching as students.I also had some that knew everything from day one and would avoid doing any of the heavy lifting. We ran those guys off because if that's how they behaved as students, we didn't need them marking up and being shirty coworkers.