Every activity has its experts and newcomers. Play tennis? You have to put up with new players who don't understand the etiquette, who wear incorrect shoes, or play past their reserved time, etc. Board Surf? Once you get good at it, you'll be irritated by those who come out once a year, at best, jump the queue for the good waves and make things difficult and dangerous for the other experienced surfers.

It's no different with airline travel. Those who travel often know the drill. They can get through TSA quickly and efficently. They get elite status and upgrades. Naturally an expert flyer is irritated with newcomers who don't know the procedures and etiquette of air travel, just as expert tennis players or board surfers get irritated with people who don't understand the procedures and etiquette of their activity.

There are plenty of inexperienced travelers ("Kettles") who are experts in other fields of endeavor. They are not necessarily a bunch of idiots. I have an uncle who is an expert at Civil War history and who is independently wealthy from his stock market investments (but not from any inherited funds). Yet, he has not been on an airplane since 1996. He would be flummoxed by the TSA procedures. My uncle is a very smart man, very clever and expert in his own world. When it comes to air travel, however, he would be a true "Kettle".