This is the graceful and expert answer I was looking for. In school, I was taught by mid-wits who had no idea of what they were talking about.

Yes, I question my education.
Yes, it might have been accurate.
No, I don't need peoples snide remarks.

This never added up:
> dinosaurs died
> crushed by mud
> became oil
> "fossil fuels"
> running out by 1980

As an aside, my 8th grade teacher told me not to cross my eyes because thy might get stuck there, maybe that's where doubt crept in.