Power Struggle

In the course of my various anthropological field trips (= outings to shops and cafés with LB...), I have been struck by something quite unpleasant: the way that people tend to abuse the little bit of power they have, whatever the context.

The most poignant example I witnessed was at the Flunch - a sort of canteen-style café. A round-faced guy who appeared to preside over the vegetable counter was trotting around like a little sergent and barking out orders at his "staff" (three obedient women).
At one point, he started making fun of one of the women, treating her as though she was stupid because she hadn't managed to light the grill properly (as you can see, I was a diligent anthropologist: no detail escaped me).
My blood boiling, it took a huge effort not to stride over and tell him exactly how I rated his pseudo managerial skills...

So, as I see more and more of this kind of thing - and the way that those further "down" the scale accept it, probably because they need the work and jobs are scarce - I think that, one day, I would like to be totally free of the professional power hierarchy.
No boss, no employees: just me, my computer, my ideas... and no-one to answer to but myself.