Point taken BS,
Maybe I was a bit blunt. I can see where you are coming from having known the type of individuals you allude to, I understand your intent.
As for the fuel though, surely its company SOP that the Captain CONFIRMS the fuel before it is uploaded or delegates that to the F/O. If it isnt, why isnt it? if it is, then thats a breach of SOPs!
For what its worth, any F/O with a jumped up attitude needs to be brought back down to earth with a BIG bump. The examples you use though could be interperated both ways.
Prof Fogg, Your second paragraph alludes not only to safety but also to professional and personal courtesy and if the f/o did what you alluded to, and ordered fuel and asked the captain what sectors he wanted then that f/o very definately needs an attitude re-alignment!
Is the preflight brief (where fuel and sectors could be reasonably assumed to be brought up) a discussion or a lecture? If it is a lecture, then somthing is seriously wrong (and yes, I know the captain has the overall say! How he/she gets to that final decision is very important in todays Multi Crew environment!)