the age thing

Another example of how stratified things are by age here...
a couple of weeks ago I went to a student theater production with the two secretarial staff and another teacher from the English department. Outside the theater one of the office staff was being greeted by some of the students. I asked the other office assistant (a grad student) if they were friends. Her first comment was that they weren't the same age. I realized that meant they can't really be "friends." When the staff person was a student, she'd known these current students, but she was their "senior," not their friend. So, they still bow to her.