We had a substitute in an early middle-school biology class. I got tipped off that she knew nothing when most of what she did was get distracted by the popular girl & chat with her about non-school-related interests. Occasionally she'd get back to science. We were going over AIDS & I either asked if it had a survival time out of the body, because some pathogens do & some don't, or I asked specifically for what length of time the blood was considered 'hot'. She snarked at me that it was impossible in a 'duh, you idiot!' sort of tone. I knew she was wrong but I didn't argue her, just sat back kinda shocked & confused. No adult had never spoken to me as if I were an idiot before & no adult had never been so self-assuredly wrong before.* She didn't even take time to consider my question! What *was this nonsense,* little me wondered to herself.

But on the positive side, she didn't care that I read ahead in my textbook or stood the book up so I could hide a different book in it & read that. I was a bibliophile at the time, so it suited me fine.

*My parents, if they do not know something, they look it up. Dinner table conversation has been halted many times because someone said something, wondered if they were using the word correctly, & someone would run off to get the dictionary.