FFS, just reading that article made my blood pressure go up.

I suppose it says something about me that, for a while, I was addicted to this game.

I usually plug my earbuds into that thingy on the seat arm and listen to air traffic control. It is amazing, what they do. Once my plane talked to Marine One, which what the helicopter carrying the president is designated as.

I love how they all say g'day, when breaking contact.

By the way, that was the article that was developed into the fictional drama Pushing Tin.

Read it when it came out, used to be in the same social circle as a controller. They thought it was ridiculous, but I beg to differ. Caught the personality just right in a lot of ways.

On the other hand, having had the opportunity to tour a working ATC center, it isn't nearly as complicated and wig-out stressful as it looks from the outside. Most of these guys are just keeping track, more or less, of one chain of planes moving across their radar screen (perhaps with a complication such as a turn and/or altitude change), and the computers alert them of most anomalies that aren't already getting their full attention. On the other hand, this article was about a TRACON (transition zone between tower control and cross-country center control), so it's a bit more crowded and complex than what I saw. But the same design principles hold.