Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 15:19:34 PST From: ahoover@hoovermac.ans.net (Al Hoover) The thread of your question implies that the infrastructure of NEARnet and that of ANSnet are symmetrical. Providing national backbone services as well as direct attachments and gateways positions ANSnet within a different economic and operational structure. Now that I'm an adult, I stand 6'2" and tip the scales around 240 lbs. I'm pretty strong, and when I'm in shape, I'm fast. Even when I was growing up, I was generally among the largest and most physically powerful of my classmates. I also happened to be among the brightest, which made me somewhat of a favorite of the teachers. Situations occasionally arose in the schoolyard during which I could have used my size to advantage, and I frequently could have used my ability to quickly complete classwork in order to gain favor with my teachers. But I was taught at an early age not to impose my will upon others by use of my size, and I learned not to ask for special treatment from those in authority over me simply because of my intellectual ability. Either act (beating up a kid on the playground, or sucking up to the teacher) would have lost me the respect of my peers, and it's hard to have friends when they don't respect you. It was far better to hold my temper and talk my way out of arguments, and to simply let my academic performance speak for itself. I eventually learned that I generally ought not to consider myself better than others, or in a different class and deserving of special treatment. I learned that I should particularly not make such claims in their hearing, because it tends to antagonize them. This general principle serves me well, and I have lived more or less peacefully with those around me since I began to generally apply it.