What should I expect from a good breeder's rats?

Not long ago I had an adopter here picking up her new babies. As I placed them in her hands and she began admiring them, she exclaimed, "You can HOLD them!" I replied, "Of COURSE you can, that's why you came to me!" I have been thinking a lot about this little exchange. Why was it that this lady assumed she "wouldn't" be able to "hold" her new pets? What kind of experiences had she had in the past? Had she gotten a breeder's rats and had them so wild and crazy that they'd shot out of her hands, clearly not wanting to be held? What should an adopter expect when getting rats from a (good) breeder? Well-bred rats should have good temperaments, plain and simple. They shouldn't bite. They shouldn't fearfully run to escape being picked up and shouldn't fight being held. They SHOULD be friendly and curious, eager to explore but also interested in the "sweet talk" and gentle handling of people. Good breeders do handle their babies, socializing them to being handled by people but really well bred, quality rats, will display this gentleness, curiosity, and willingness to interact with and be handled by, people, even with minimal handling by the breeder. This is because good breeders choose breeding pairs carefully, selecting and using only those with good, stable, temperaments, and those who come from "good families", temperament-wise. A good breeder KNOWS the rats they produce will be friendly with people. When you adopt from a good breeder the babies don't need to be "tamed down". You should EXPECT (and not be surprised by) being able to handle them easily.