Typical IWA smartass. If you have that much time to spend giving him a hard time and it's that important to him, then file on the pilot instead of treating him like an idiot.
Wow, major difference of opinion here. I think "smartass" is in the eye of the beholder.
It seems safe to assume that this pilot accepted and read back a taxi instruction, and then ended up in the wrong place, so the controller had little choice but to correct him.
You may have bristled at the "...so I know I've got to keep an eye on you...", but that's just a statement of fact from the controller's perspective. I suppose pilot ego might react badly to that comment, but the controller goes on to offer an explanation (almost an apology) that since they get a lot of ATP Seminoles in there, they tend to assume they are locals unless otherwise advised. I didn't hear any unpleasant attitude in this explanation. It seemed like a pretty friendly interaction to me - depending, of course, upon a pilot with an ego who doesn't like being corrected. (But again, this pilot ended up where he shouldn't have been, so you can't really have a lot of ego about how you don't need to be corrected at that point.)
Finally, the controller was thinking ahead, on behalf of the pilot, when he asked if they were flying out again that night. Apparently getting the affirmative, the controller thinks to point out the runup location for the outbound trip, so the pilot can build a better mental picture in advance. As before, I didn't hear any unkind attitude here - it sounded like the controller was thinking ahead and trying to help the pilot out.
Again, it's all in the eye (ear) of the beholder. Since you seem to think that bring a smartass is a "typical" attitude at IWA, I'm not surprised that you hear this through that filter. And again, pilot ego comes into play. If one doesn't take well to being corrected or instructed, then this would certainly be an embarrassment, and the assumption that the controller was being a smartass would be understandable (especially combined with the preconception that "smartass" is typical at IWA.)
But for me, when I screw up and end up in the wrong place, if guiding me back on target in this fashion AND also taking the time to help me build a mental picture to assist in my departure taxi and runup is "treating me like an idiot", then yes: please treat me this way. My ego will be fine.
