Nice write, Gordy. I agree with your perspective.
Been in that "oh s**t" situation where the student has left the flare a little late and you (the instructor) didn't catch it in time. Fast slide-on with a collective pull will take care of it, let the skid gear do its job. Bell Academy did all their full-on auto to pavement, and there is more noise (and sparks at night) than grass. Sounds like hell, but the skid shoes do their job, and are replaceable. Almost doing a nose-stand on grass once that turned out to be mud teaches a few other cautions about checking the grass surface carefully - it is also less tolerant of side-drift than pavement. Almost funny the way some simulators are programmed to give you different feedback if you auto onto grass or the runway.
Recent AStar fatality on the West Coast here from an engine failure on takeoff had the comment that if had come down on level ground instead of deep snow, the gear would have done its job and absobed the vertical shock. Instead the cabin took the full jolt.