them & us
A coroner's report into the death of an inexperienced civilian pilot some years ago here in Oz was critical of the less than helpful role played by military air traffic control. ATC are normally very good but there is always an element of disconnectedness between them & what's going on in your cockpit.
The westerly approach into my pad takes me up to 4000' & into controlled airspace. On less than good weather days, when I just want to get home, I'll track out of my way just to avoid the yakity yak with ATC & keep my cockpit workload down. Seems those buggers always want you to talk them over some triviality just when your busiest with the actual task of flying.