Those darn followers would be absolutely useless without you. Never learning new abilities, never getting their own equipment. The only thing they're good for is dealing adorable damage and dying.
But this was my legitimate reaction to the templar follower when I first started playing Diablo 3, before I realized that I could click on his little icon and make him learn abilities as he leveled up. Couldn't he see that I was a very busy man? I had my own problems to deal with, like saving all of creation from powerful demons. Meanwhile, this dude is just running around shouting about glorious creatures. Get your act together, man.