I was hired at UAL in 1997. The average new hire then had about 4,500+ hours. I had much more than that. My new hire class had 21 guys no girls one minority. The only special cases we had were the three Marines that somehow slipped through the cracks and got hired.
The only low time people I know of who were hired were several interns and most of them had about 1500+ hours and previously there was a group of minority pilots who were hired due to an EEOC law suit which UAL lost. Some of those folks were super low time and a couple were real problem children but most have done fine.
The minimums listed on the application did not reflect the average pilot being hired by UAL in the mid 90's. The lowest time guys on average were fighter pilots the computer was set up to give them two for one on their total time credit due to the lower total times these folks get due to the mission length segments they fly.
As far as the OP. I guess I've seen what you are talking about but....I don't think you'll find many major airline captains who will take too much crap off gate agents, mechanics, flight attendants or anyone else when it comes to the final authority and safety of the flight. As far as being "scared" of these people, no, I'll work with them I'll try and accommodate them but nobody and I mean nobody closes my door and tells me to leave before I am good and ready to go. I've never worked for a regional so I can't comment on that side of things.
There is a huge difference between being a good captain and acting like a crusty unfriendly old sh!t head. The two usually don't go together real well. An effective leader can get everything they need to get done without intentionally p***ing everybody off. If some one needs a smack down you've got to be willing to give it but 99% of the time there are betters ways to deal with the situation.