"I just wondered what you thought of this. Are pilots and ATC a world apart"
I spent several hours "up front", including the landing at Heathrow, in a BA 747 some time ago. The crew were the nicest guys you could hope to meet and did all they could to make we welcome. However, in the cold light of day it was obvious to me that yes, we are world's apart. Pilots have a demanding job which bears no relation to the work of ATC and vice versa. I was aware that the constant instructions from ATC were a severe intrusion on what they were doing, but they handled them all with no problem. I'd have cracked up after five minutes and told the controller to shut up!
Something similar happens on the very rare occasions when aircrew visit ATC (I'm talking about LTCC here).. I've certainly had very experinced pilots sitting with me who have had enormous difficulty understanding how on earth I do my job (most of my colleagues do too!)
I don't think it ever hurts to thank someone who has helped you; crews flying into Heathrow seem to work miracles on a daily basis to fit in with our requirements and I don't hesitate to thank them if it's appropriat6e.