fireflybob,
It does sound a silly question to those in the know, but I wonder what Joe Public would say if we asked him or her to describe what they thought an Air Traffic Controller actually did?
Lack of knowledge by the public is one of the reasons why NATS will be hard pressed to get enough people to self fund a course, which is the ultimate aim of the management.
If you go on a bucket and spade flight you can buy little plastic dolls - they have pilots, stewardesses and 'ATCOS'... the 'ATCO' is invariably wearing a white overall and has bats in his hand
So it was actually probably quite a good question, because it would make the person answering desrcibe what goes on in a little detail!!