[cduzz]

Yeah, directories with a gazillion files tend to work okay if you already know the name of the file you're working with. ls has a -f flag which turns of sorting and turns off looking at the inode of the underlying files (is it a directory or a socket? ls needs to know to set the right color).

The there's also fun to be had when you start deleting those things. I've lost count of the number of times people are surprised that a delete is as expensive as a create or other io operation.