Howard Lester wrote:

That white shirt and tie was pretty intimidating, wasn't it?

One of the most rewarding experiences of my ham radio career was serving
as reader for a blind ham who was taking her Extra exam in Chicago, just
before the FCC stopped administering them. She wanted to take the exam
from the FCC. She passed. I felt a tiny part of her pride.

I suppose that the VE system is a positive and reasonable step for the
hobby. It sure is easier to convince class attendees to come to a VE
session than to travel to the nearest FCC examination location, so it's
obvious that we get more new hams with the VE system than having the FCC
administer the tests. Not to mention all the tax dollars that we're
saving. But the new hams are missing a memory that all of us old timers
have of being intimidated by the FCC exam process, and that's just a
tiny bit sad.

Times change.

73, Steve KB9X