I am afraid that I have had both good and bad episodes with ATC - remarkably enough the good ones have always been outside my home ATZ when I am en-route (London Info are gr8! and very professional, and likewise for Luton App when they aren't too busy!)
G-SXTY, take consolation in the fact some of us have also suffered the humiliation on RT from ATC. This happened to me in my training when I mis-read a clearance given to a just departed aircraft and jumped the holding point stop-line, thereby effectively entering the active (although believe me, where I fly there is a good 150ft of taxi way between the line and the runway) I got a screaming female controller saying "G-****, hold short and read back!!!!!!" She was so stressed she completey panicked me and I just clammed up. As a student, that is a very negative experience.
I am by no means generally labelling controllers as snappy or unprofessional because the majority do a stirling job. But it is true to say that there is little understanding in what each person is trying to do, and as G-SXTY underlines, flying an aircraft (esp. in a busy circuit) can also be v. demanding. It is nonetheless rare (correct me if I am wrong) that a pilot snaps at a controller
