captainpaddy
I must be a weirdo in "controllerworld" because I do make the extra effort on occassion. I've a pretty good idea if you're late or not...if it's a regular flight.
However....if you bug me when I'm busy.....I can say "negative" in a manner that will melt your headset. If I find out a particular request is based on a lie.....I do the same sectors all the time.....work it out!
As for priorities, how do you think Concorde operated all those years. I worked that machine for nearly the whole of its working life and the closest I got to it was when it flew over Reading. Never quite sure how they allocated Fam Flights on that.......no surprise that Heathrow staff did rather well!
From the replies it would seem that different airspace affects the situation....the ground and terminal airspace scenarios are densely packed with little room to accommodate expedition requests. My sky is much bigger and perhaps that is why my colleagues and I have more flexibility. [workload permitting]