One day I was acting doorman at circa £45k pa, and remarked to the visiting gp capt, who was the other doorman, that the star count so far was 21.
He complained to my boss, a mere sqn ldr, that I was being disrespectful. I usually found senior officers not in command appointments to be almost human. In his case I noted that he was medically discharged not long afterwards as the his post-operative cerebumectomy had been unsuccessful.