Intereresting observation from an ATC controller while doing an observation trip -
"How do you guys keep track of when ATC calls you?"
From his perspective at work every conversation is either started by him or directed at him. He didn't have to ignore 95% of all the transmissions, so it was very enlightening for him to see it from a pilot's perspective.
And it's always "XXX Center, etc". It's not XX 123 this morning, XX 223 next, followed by XX 2223, etc, etc, while XX 123, 223, and 2223 are on the same frequency.
Nothing like flying into a hub on XX 422 with XX 1422 behind you, and then departing the hub on flight 1422 right behind XX 422.
"Uh, was that for us?"
Two hardest parts of the job - 1. sleep cycle 2. "who are we today?"