What gets me, is despite being a stranger charging at me out of the gate with hostility, repeatedly insulting my intelligence (as noted, without evidence), telling me *explicitly* I cannot talk about something that I’m self taught in, she had the gall to be like “why are you being so disrespectful?”
I think there are a lot of academics going through the equivalent of the “guidance counselor looking for the perfect carton of eggs” bit from Clerks because of added stress. Of course, could be academic credentialism, and “you can’t convince someone of a thing they are paid not to understand”.
"No, no, NO! That's MY subject area. See? I have a certificate in that! You don't get to touch MY stuff! You don't even get to LOOK at it! MooooooOOOOOoooom! They're looking at my subject matter again! Make them stop!"