This is very well put and well argued, but I still believe that if I ever start doing D/s in real life, I'd much rather be trained by an experienced sub than by a Dom/me. It seems to me that there're going to be a lot fewer ego clashes between a Dom and a sub than there will be between two Doms.

Think about real life situations. If you receive a promotion, and your new position comes with a secretary (sorry, administrative assistant), wouldn't you rather learn the job from the secretary who's staying on than from the person you're replacing? Or, in the military, as the new officer transferring in, wouldn't you rather get advice from your top sergeant than from another officer? In medieval times, who was the best person to train the prince? Not the king, the prime minister.

Of course you still have to pay attention to your own common sense (keeping that 'grain of salt' handy), and learning from another neophyte is out of the question. I guess what gives me the most trouble is the intellectual disconnect: Unless you're going to be topping other Doms, why would you learn to top FROM a Dom? It just doesn't compute.

On the other hand, learning from a switch (of the gender you're learning to top) might be the best situation of all, since s/he's familiar with both sides of the whip.