There was a 182 that had just called in, so he was 5+ miles out. I
agree the 172 stopping was the basic problem, ...

If you believed the basic problem was the 172's unexpected stop why was your
ire directed solely at the controller?

Because I'm not going to blame a student for stopping short. Hell, he
probably didn't even know I was behind him, if he was nervous.

Face it, the controller should have had the 172 follow me in. He
misjudged the spacing. (He didn't have a GPS either... :-)

but the controller
should have instructed him to land long or keep rolling. He did
neither.

Why should he have done either?

Because it would have easily fixed the mess the controller caused.
Stretching out his roll-out would have made everything mesh
effortlessly. Instead, the controller kept mum, and caused a runway
conflict.

You think people will choose to be control tower operators when they can
make more money doing something else?

Yes -- for many of the same reasons that I choose to run a little
aviation themed hotel next to an airport, even though I could be
making exponentially more money doing something else.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"