2Sheds - Aren't you assuming there is an ATIS...? (There isn't where I am.) Just common curiosity on my part having a/. an interest in aviation and b/. a wider view of the world than just mindlessly following what it says in some manual. You must remember the days when we were allowed/supposed to think outside the box? Given the wording of my post and the subsequent helpful responses, I see little reason for your tone. Questions are still allowed, as is curiosity. Indeed after an interregnum away from ATC I see we now have more emphasis on Human Factors etc which to me says that the human organism - it's rhythms, capacities, strengths and weaknesses - is being addressed in a way similar to that which is now common place in the piloting community. (About time.) So maybe the "caustic controller" and the "caustic OJTI" will be a thing of the past like the "caustic captain" on the flight deck. I've seen both the two former where any sort of enquiring mind was treated in an arrogant and disdainful manner and where - for example - the perfectly right and proper desire of a trainee to ask even simple questions was fraught with the risk of being torn off a strip. Why am I so concerned? Why not for Heavens' Sake?? (Thread drift I appreciate......)