"Jose" wrote in message
...

Well, he's at this point offering something.


Yup. All he needed was some idea of your intentions.



He could have been offering
something from the start, since he knows where I am and where I'm heading.


But not what you want.



A more helpful original call would have been: "Potomac can't take you
right now. I can take you around twenty miles to the East if you like, or
to the northwest direct XXX. Which would you prefer?"


Well, those are obvious and not the only options. Stating the obvious just
wastes time.



No, it doesn't usually work like that. However, "you can't do that, what
are you going to do about it?" sure makes it seem like the controller is
playing that game.


That's the way it seems to you. It's not that way.



It's not. But "we've revoked your clearance. Say intentions." is.


That wasn't said.