The problem is I can remember thinking the 2 "old timers" I knew in I.T. (over 35) had bad attitudes when I was a chap.

I have seen the cycle repeat itself now. I've worked in the field long enough to see others bust their humps, to find out several years later it wasn't going to get them anywhere. Check out the percentage of CS majors still working in tech by the time they're 40. Trust me when I tell you not every career is like that.

I can tell you straight up, teaching is not easy. Not by a darn sight and the vast majority of us on this board, myself included, don't have what it takes to make a good one. But it is a solid career choice for the ones who have been called to it by virtue of a few facts:

1. There is career direction. You don't have to guess which of a gillion software products, hardware products, and/or languages to learn/certify in/whatever, in the hopes you guess right for tomorrow's flavor of the day. They have very specific specialties that change at an exponentially slower rate.

2. Experience is valued.

3. Perhaps an intrinsic value, but you get the opportunity to make a positive difference in a young person's life.